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Winter Fun Possibilities in Dutchess County
Don't let the cold keep you at home this winter. Whether it is fine cuisine, nature, laughs, music, art, or history, Dutchess County, has all of these and more. Enjoy a romantic weekend, visit the nation's first Presidential Library, savor dinner prepared by student-chefs at The Culinary Institute of America, tour art galleries, and take an invigorating winter hike.
Follow the signs for the Dutchess Wine Trail to heated tasting rooms at award-winning wineries; www.DutchessWineTrail.com . Combine a wine tour and tasting with lunch, or visit a highly rated restaurant for refueling. The celebrated Culinary Institute of America presents their annual CIA Dining Series, a festival of themed lunch and dinner events at the Hyde Park culinary arts school. For brochures call 845-451-1554; make reservations at 845-471-6608; visit www.CIAchef.edu. Save the dates March 9 through 21 to join in a celebration of the culinary riches of the Hudson Valley. The popular Hudson Valley Restaurant Week returns with three-course lunches for $16.09 and dinners for $26.09; http:// hudsonvalleyrestaurantweek.com/ home.php
Saturdays at the DEC's Stony Kill Farm (just north of the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge in Wappingers Falls) features free family activities with environmental themes that encourage interaction with nature.
The National Park Service's historic Hyde Park sites are open daily all year round. Tours are given 9am-5pm of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Home and Presidential Library, Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site at Val-Kill, and Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site, all located within minutes of each other; www.NPS.gov. Just north of the Vanderbilt's home is another Gilded Age mansion, Staatsburgh State Historic Site, open on weekends this winter. Tours are given every half hour with the last tour of the day at 3:30 pm. Estate grounds are open year round from dawn to dusk. www.Staatsburgh.org
Dia: Beacon Gallery Talks provide a reason to return to tour the contemporary art collection at Dia: Beacon, Riggio Galleries, within walking distance of Beacon's Metro-North train station. The lectures are held the last Saturday of the month at 1pm and are free with museum admission; www.DiaArt.org Many other art galleries, restaurants and shops stay open late, hosting openings and special events, during Second Saturday Beacon every month, www.beaconarts.org .
It may be winter, but you can escape! Call to have your copy of the "Happenings" event calendar and a Dutchess County Travel Guide sent to you free of charge. Access www.DutchessTourism.com for the online calendar, or call Dutchess County Tourism at (800) 445-3131. Dutchess County Tourism is an agency of the Dutchess County Economic Development Corporation and is funded by the County of Dutchess. Their offices are located at 3 Neptune Road in Poughkeepsie.
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