Another Day, Another Nod to Kingston

  |  January 5, 2015
West_Strand_Street_Kingston,_NY

The first time I visited Kingston, it was in 2000. I had just moved to NY state (Cornwall-on-Hudson, to be exact, in order to teach English at the New York Military Academy) from Ann Arbor, Michigan and was day-tripping like crazy all over the Hudson Valley. Kingston was a prominent Thruway exit, so it was one of the first places I ventured to in my 1996 Geo Metro (try to control your envy). The Wall Street farmer’s market was happening that day, and I enjoyed observing what the local food scene was like. I stayed for several hours, wandering around uptown and the Stockade district, marveling at the incredibly cool old architecture around every corner. But as soon as the sun went down, it seemed like the whole city zipped itself up, shut off all the lights, and called it a day. I headed home.

My oh my, how times have changed.

When a popular Brooklyn-based travel website is encouraging downstaters to weekend there, you know a place has arrived. Escape Brooklyn pinpointed hotspots like BSP, the O+ Festival, Yum Yum Noodle Bar, outdated cafe, Boitson’s, and Church des Artists, places that Kandy from the Year 2000 would have never envisioned back then when the only joint to get a sandwich in uptown was Market Basket, but only on weekdays.

Hang onto your hats, Kingstonites. The secret’s been out for a while, and I would bet you a Cubano torta from Diego’s Taqueria that Kingston is only going to get more popular through 2015 and beyond.

About Kandy Harris

Kandy is a writer and musician/music teacher living in Saugerties, NY.

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