Lonely
Planet Road Trip: Hudson River Valley ,
by China Williams
The thing that always delights me about
Lonely Planet Road Trip guidebooks
is that despite their diminutive size (8 x 4 x 0.3 inches) and
relatively few pages (this one has 64), the authors imbue these
books with a personality and point of view that is both in-the-moment
and timeless at the same time. This new guide to the Hudson
River Valley is no exception. Whether author China Williams
is describing traffic woes like Route 9's bottleneck in Tarrytown
as being "more congested than a winter head cold,"
assessing the wait staff at the Cripple Creek Restaurant in
Rhinebeck "where every sandwich-slinger is a CIA graduate,"
or comparing a road's route to a symphony, her prose is riveting
and evocative. My favorite sentence in Hudson River Valley
is probably this one: "…A graceful C-loop spirals
the rim of the bowl-shaped valley crowded with bowing cornfields
and a succession of violet mountains cascading in the distance…"
The scenic route that inspired this effusion is on Route 6 near
New Paltz.
The Hudson River Valley is
generally considered to occupy the area south of Albany and
north of Sleepy Hollow. The Catskill Mountains form the border
on the west, and the Connecticut state line is the eastern
edge. As in the other Lonely Planet Road Trip books, the author
outlines a couple of itineraries that provide a great introduction
to this historic and scenic valley. Williams provides tips
for lodging, dining, and attractions throughout the valley,
and there are sidebars on just about every page with background
information about the local history, culture, and customs
of the communities mentioned. One of the sidebars that I found
very helpful was a quick summary of the four types of residential
architectural styles -- Federal, Greek Revival, Beaux Arts,
and Gothic Revival -- that can be seen in the valley. I also
found her discussion of the Hudson River School of Landscape
Painters enlightening. I look forward to visiting Olana, where
Frederic Edwin Church, one of the earliest painters of that
movement, once lived. Woodstock, the site of the famous 1969
musical festival, is also in the Hudson Valley, and the author
provides plenty of tips for visiting this mecca of rock music.
Not only is Hudson River Valley an excellent
guide for visitors from afar, it is a great resource for city-weary
Manhattanites seeking a slower pace in the rural towns and
villages located only a short distance from New York City.
The maps alone make this guide worth keeping on hand.
Other books in this series that we recommend
are New England
by Kim Grant, Route 66
by Sara Benson, Napa
& Sonoma Wine Country by Richard Sterling, and
perhaps our favorite in the series, California
Highway 1 by Paige R. Penland.
Mark
Sedenquist
7/3/05
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