Bon Voyage: Upstate New York, Part 1

Where to eat, stay, and play in parts of Ulster and Dutchess counties.

Growing up, the term “upstate” meant nothing more than a lengthy car ride from Long Island and likely sleeping the night in “The Blue Room” inside my grandpa Harry and almost-grandmother Rosalie’s cabin near Bethel. (And, yes, it’s exactly as it sounds: everything is blue.)

Did I realize we were, in fact, north of our home? No. Did I realize we were still in New York? Also probably no. Do other states use this term to refer to the upper part of their state? Still unsure. Either way, “upstate,” as I knew it was just…far.

My memories of visiting them there consist of an attempt to learn how to water ski on White Lake and tread water in the deep end of the pool at their local Clubhouse—neither of which resulted in my becoming anywhere close to an aquatic champion let alone someone who still isn’t fearful of swimming.

But I digress. The fact of the matter is that going “upstate,” specifically north of Manhattan towards the Catskill mountains has now become trendy and is, apparently, not nearly as far as I always thought. Some time over the last decade when I was gallivanting around Europe, East Coast artists and general creative types started fleeing the city in droves for their own cabins in the woods. They opened craft coffee shops. They woodfired sourdough pizzas. They turned old banks into trendy hotels.