The Big Apple Weekend Getaway

Imagine if we all had huge bank accounts with large chunks of our financial pie charts exclusively dedicated to traveling the world at our leisure. We’d spend our days scouring the internet for the most fascinating destinations that tickle our travel fancies and spend evenings sauntering through our favorite clothing stores in search of the perfect attire that would eventually make its way into our Louis Vuitton luggage set and onto our international flight of the month.

*logs into Bank of America*
*peeks at account balance with one eye open*
*logs off*

Um, yeah….that’s not happening for me, and unless you’re that friend with the secret bank account in Sweden that is hiding money from me because you know I’ll convince you to take me somewhere or buy me something (why you gotta be stingy like that I thought we was friends from way back when?), then it’s not you either. Most working professionals indulge themselves in the occasional destination wedding or anniversary getaway, but overall, our kids Mortgage, Rent and Loans need to be fed regularly so we reluctantly move boarding passes to the bottom of our responsible adult checklist.

With this insight I thought to myself, “Self, why don’t we come up with ways to give these overworked and underpaid New Yorkers a way to escape the gangsta bite-your-toes-on-the-subway-platform rat race of the city?” From there the Brooklyn Travel Addict Local Adventures series was born and our the first excursion was taken this weekend, in the Hudson Valley of New York. I decided to co-host the trip with my dear friend Latoyia Matheiu of Breuckelen & Honey lifestyling to elevate the experience with the personal (and unbelievably fabulous) details that characterize her company’s offerings.

Below is a selection of photos from our inaugural trip. It was a pleasure to host the ladies that joined us on this first adventure and we are already thinking of new and creative experiences to give New York city residents a chance to get away without having to spend 3 hours on the runway at LaGuardia Airport.

Each guest received a customized gift bag containing a boarding pass, Absolut Brooklyn cocktail recipe card, Orchard granola bar, ginger candy and business cards for Brooklyn Travel Addict and Breuckelen & Honey. We arrived at the cabin early evening so the first place we headed was the bar (first things first!) Our signature drink was the Stoop Party” cocktail by Absolut Brooklyn, which is a limited-edition vodka infused with apple (representing the Big Apple of NYC) and ginger (representing the spice the Brooklyn brings to New York. What? I can’t make this stuff up! It’s on the bottle insert and endorsed by Spike Lee. So there.)

After we settled in to our clubhouse, Latoyia began preparing our dinner with help from her friends David and Josh while the rest of us provided them with moral support and encouragement (sipped wine and gossiped while they slaved over the hot stove.)

One day when I grow up I will be able to think of ideas like “Oh, I know! I’ll cut a pumpkin in half, make butternut squash soup from scratch and serve it piping hot from inside the pumpkin,” but until then I’ll just hire Breuckelen & Honey to handle everything lol. Dinner was so pretty I didn’t wanna eat it but if you know me you know that would never happen in real life.

After dinner we were so pooped from traveling and slaving in the kitchen *wipes forehead* that we pretty much passed out after dinner and prepared for our trip to the orchard the next morning.

Once we arrived at Dubois Farms, our first stop was the pumpkin patch. This random rusted thing shown above sparked a 15-minute photo shoot but hey, that’s what girls do when they’re on a farm for the first time surrounded by pumpkins, grass and random farm equipment. Nearby children participated in the apple cider donut eating contest (sidebar: can you imagine riding home with the kid that won the sugar coated donut eating contest? It’s probably enough to wanna slip them an Ambien but that would be unethical, not that I would ever do that. Maybe.) and Dads lugged their family’s selected pumpkins around the farm (Lets give a hand clap to the men that carry pumpkins around for an hour without complaining! Go men!)

There was so much to do at Dubois Farms we didn’t know where to start! There were 3-4 different types of apples, pears, concord and niagra grapes, a petting zoo, a corn maze and more trees than I have seen in the 7 years I’ve lived in Brooklyn. We had a blast tasting the apples (I didn’t even like raw apples until I tried a fresh-picked Cortland apple – it was so good) and exploring all that the farm had to offer.

After we finished picking fruit and paid for our selections, we sat down for a BBQ lunch. I heard the burgers weren’t anything to write home about but the pulled pork sandwich blessed my belly tremendously. We also purchased treats and souvenirs from their gift shop including apple cider donuts, apple chips, apple crisp mix and apple jam. All apple everything. Matter of fact, after I finish my basket of apples and the apple crisp I made yesterday, I’m good on apples for a while lol.

Till next time!