Camp out! Lyle and I headed into the Adirondacks this past weekend to attend the wedding of our friends, Minou and Nate, at Chestertown's Forest Lake Camp. The Brooklyn-based couple rented out the full 800 acres for the entire weekend giving us guests the opportunity to enjoy all the amenities summer camp has to offer, from paddle boats to skeet shooting, softball to tether ball, bonfires to sing-alongs.
But before we took up residence in Girls' Bunk #5, Lyle and I made a pitstop on our journey north in Cold Spring, a historic village that sits directly on the Hudson River. A stop on the Metro-North Line, theoretically we could commute into NYC from this picturesque mountain town, although door-to-door could be two hours or more.
19th-century homes sit on small, neighborly lots in what some would consider the cutest community within the state. Many of these houses are included on the National Register of Historic Places, something to consider before purchasing as the homeowner would need to navigate the rules and regulations put in place by the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) before altering the home in anyway. Although I must say, why anyone would want to drastically change something that is already so gorgeous is beyond my understanding.
Left: 18 Morris Ave., $395,000; Top Right: 26 Rock St., $349,000; Bottom Right: 207 Main St., $675,000
Outside the central village, properties are available with a bit more land. Rustic design abounds, an aesthetic Lyle and I gravitate towards.
Top Left: 341 E. Mountain Rd., $419,000; Bottom Left: 11 Old Postal Rd., $394,500; Right: 3 Downy Lane, $419,000
After swooning over charming homes and consuming a lobster roll at Hudson House, we hit the road. Although it isn't full leaf-peeping season yet, the drive towards Lake George was beautiful nonetheless. By the time we got to camp the festivities were in full swing. Dinner in the mess hall was followed by s'mores and 90s hits played on acoustic guitar by a roaring fire.
Bunks did have electricity and running water, but wow the wilderness is cold. My three blankets and two pairs of pants barely got me through.
The wedding followed the next day, but not before a softball game and skeet shooting. Lyle snagged two of his five skeet. I nabbed none (although the instructor did compliment my form and tell me I was ever so close).
Absolutely stunning, Minou and Nate exchanged their vows with the majestic Adirondack Mountains as their witness. A wedding for the books and weekend certainly worth writing about.
