UPSTATE NY SUNDAY FUNDAY.

Upstate New York is a fantastic weekend escape plan for the city-dweller. A simple hour and half drive up (provided no confusion finding the Lincoln Tunnel and no speeding tickets accrued on small suburban roads) and you can find yourself surrounded by the lush greenery of the East Coast.


We started off our day trip with a visit to Applewood Orchards in Warwick, NY - we were lucky to come the very first weekend of Macintosh-picking harvest!!


Half-bushel bags were 50 cents - $11 for 1/4 bushel, $22 for 1/2 bushel. With our bags in hand, we were off.


We did not let anything come between us and the perfect apple.


I spy you...perfect apple...


Hmm..feelings of trepidation shining through as I didn't realize it might be a bit harder getting down...


After apple-picking to our hearts content - we headed straight towards the Applewood Winery!!! They have some surprisingly excellent wines there - I, myself, bought some of their buttery Seyvall Chardonnay Reserve and their Harvest Time red which is nicely spiced with cinnamon and cloves!! My roommate was obsessed with their Blackberry wine (which you can apparently mix with vodka..smartest idea I have ever heard). Can't wait to warm up with a glass or two during the chilly autumn and winter nights!


After that it was off to Storm King Art Center, which is an outdoor art museum sprawling an impressive 500 acres. Huge, abstract sculptures from the likes of Alexander Calder, Louise Bourgeois, Isamu Noguchi, and Richard Serra (to name a few) dominate the vast landscape.


Here we are standing in front of Maya Lin's Wavefield - interesting wave formations made out of the grassy landscape.


I saw these steel slabs jutting out of a hill from a distance...


So naturally I had to run over and perform several gymnastics feats...thank you, Richard Serra.


Roy Lichtenstein's Mermaid painted on a sail boat embellishes the scenic ponds of Storm King. What an absolutely gorgeous day - love the reflection of the clouds in this picture!!


A little self-timer action...


There were so many amazing pieces on the grounds of the Storm King Art Center - make sure to leave enough time for a leisurely stroll. We sped through most of it within 2 hours but allot yourself more time to relax and enjoy. Don't forget to pack a picnic and spread out underneath your favorite sculpture!


Brotherhood Winery was next on our agenda - the oldest winery in America!! They offer an hour-long tour and a wine tasting for $10 (actually $8 for us because they ran out of their keepsake wine glasses) - what a bargain!!


The grapes they use in their wines are not grown in Washingtonville, NY - but they have an experimental grape vineyard on the grounds.


The tour is extremely informational - it went through the history and evolution of the winery and also explained the techniques behind wine, champagne, and sherry-making. Walking through the cool tunnels where they keep the wine barrels!!


Some barrels of Pinot Noir and Cabernet Mariage we encountered on our tour.


And afterwards, of course - the wine tasting!! I will say that the Brotherhood Winery does not pump out the best tasting wines...but their Holiday spiced wine (which I had to convince the sommelier to pour for me after the tasting) sure was tasty!! 1.5L bottle, let's get it.

Upstate NY is absolutely perfect for a day/weekend-getaway!! Fruit-picking, art, and wine-tasting...what could be better!?!? Looking forward to another trip in the near future - pumpkin-picking anyone!?!?