Weekend Getaway: The Natural State

As we drove away from Dallas and officially became "en route to Arkansas," Dan and I wondered out loud, What is Arkansas known for? We'd never met someone from Arkansas, and the only claim to fame we knew of was Bill Clinton's upbringing. (It must be tough to broadcast a state identity when your downstairs neighbor is Texas.) A little mobile Googling provided some insight: Arkansas is known as The Natural State. Great news for us, as our Jeep was loaded with camping gear, and we were headed to Hot Springs National Park and picturesque Lake Ouachita.

Five hours and one Taco Bell stop later, we arrived at Lake Ouachita State Park to check into our $11-per-night campsite. This being Labor Day weekend, it was completely packed (lucky for us, Dan had thought ahead to make a reservation). After setting up the tent, we walked to the park's beach and the on-site Three Sisters Springs - said to cure everything from diabetes to dysentery. (Scout sipped all three cold streams of water and experienced some pep in his step, but that was probably due mostly his newly found freedom in the wild.) We made it back to camp just before sunset to heat up two cans of Amy's vegetarian chili on our kerosene stove, sit around the campfire, and be blissfully free of all distractions.

The next day's adventure led us too Hot Springs National Park. If you think breathtaking canyons and peaks when you think national park, think again. A tourist town has been built around this preserved plot, and it all started some 200 years ago when word got out that these steamy waters had healing powers. Bath houses and hotels were built at a frantic pace, and folks came in from all over. While most of that kind of tourism has died off (though you can still take a hot spring bath), the town remains - and has been filled with shops and restaurants. The preserved Fordyce Bath House on Central Avenue, which now houses the Park's visitor center, is a great place to get a backgrounder -- and see how these things were set up. Not settling for a visit to a national park without at least some out-of-the-car, off-the-sidewalk- exploration, Dan found us a nice hour-and-a-half hike through the woods. We even stopped by a cold spring-fed spigot to fill our gallon water jug.

On our last day we rose early to score a lumberjack breakfast at the closest diner, the Home Plate Cafe (holy heavenly hash brown casserole!) before tackling the four-mile Caddo Bend Trail which weaves a circle around Lake Ouachita State Park. It was our first hike with Scout, and after battling the leash for all of three minutes, we lit him free. Being the perfectly well-behaved beast that he is, he made a habit of running 30 feet ahead, stopping to look back, and then doing it all over again. Our city dog even got his feet wet when we took a detour to a secluded shore.

My Home in the Catskills

Since last Tuesday, Dan and I have assumed the role of doting innkeepers at Catskill Lodge, the bed and breakfast in Windham, New York, that we co-own with Dan's brothers. (The front-porch photo above was taken on our wedding day last September.) While I have to admit that after six days of egg-frying, pancake-flipping, and laundry, we're ready to be free of the chores that come with a seven-room house filled with guests—we both share a great love for this place. Built in 1893 and filled with furniture and decorations that span the last century, it's homey, charming, and absolutely unique. And while the role of host naturally comes with early mornings and endless housekeeping, it also gives us a chance to meet new people and explore the breathtaking natural landscape. In the last seven days we've chatted with folks from as far away as Belgium and China, picked produce and prepared meals from the garden, and sparked up a bonfire in the backyard every single night. Then there's the comforting, unplanned moments—like watching an eight-year-old's eyes light up with excitement in front of the crackling campfire, or Dan stopping in the middle of his chores to play a song on the antique piano. Of course, we've also had our share of adventure vacation activities, from floating the Esopus River to scaling a 3800-foot peak. The two of us met here. And then we got married here. Now we're just soakin' it all in...

Road Trip!

We took of first Texas road trip over the weekend! The reason, above all, was that we were attending a party on Saturday night in San Antonio...

On our honeymoon back in September, we met five couples from San Antonio on our small cruise ship. Granted, they're my parents' age, but still, we had a great time hanging out with them that week. At the end, we were officially invited to the party they throw annually the second week of November.

So, on Friday afternoon we got in the Jeep and headed to Austin, where we spent the night to break up the trip (it's a five-hour drive to San Antonio). We had a fantastic dinner at East Side Cafe. It's tucked into the leafy neighborhood of Cherrywood, and housed in...a house. It's one of those places that has had its own garden since way before it was cool to do so. For starters, we ordered the crudité plate full of radishes and carrots fresh from the garden. My favorite was the watermelon radish - it's fairly mild for a radish, and when it's sliced it looks like little watermelon pieces. Dip it in a little kosher salt. Mmm.

The next morning we parked downtown and had brunch at Taverna. Freakin' good breakfast potatoes and $1 mimosas and bellinis! We meandered around downtown, stopping to partake in the Green City Festival and the farmers' market. Yes, Austin is every bit as chilled out, green, and delicious as we'd been told.

There were three items on our San Antonio to-do list: 1.) the Alamo, 2.) the Riverwalk, and 3.) El Mercado, the cluster of Mexican shops (if you went to Mexico and didn't bring back souvenirs, just come here). By 6 o'clock, we'd done it all, and that includes the educational video at the Alamo and a pit stop for margaritas.

Rather than taking the interstate home from on Sunday we took 281, which is a long stretch of country road that passes cattle ranches and small towns that post their population numbers on their welcome signs, as in EVANT, TEXAS. POPULATION 393. We passed through LBJ's hometown, (surprise!) Johnson City. We even pulled over at a farm stand to sample some fresh pecans. We passed the entrance to the Chisholm Trail, and the place where we'd turn to get to Dinosaur Valley State Park, which we're eagerly awaiting to check out on our next long, lazy drive...