To celebrate Lyle's birthday, I invited our friends Rebecca and Chris to come with us and check out the fabled Dia:Beacon. A converted Nabisco box-printing factory, the space opened in 2003 and houses the Dia Art Foundation's collection from the 1960s and 70s. Dia was one of the first institutions to make the conversion of industrial space into gallery space fashionable and Lyle and I have been talking about visiting for years. With the weather slated to be a perfect 75 degrees, I couldn't think of a better way to say "Happy Birthday!"
Rebecca and Chris brought their one-year-old son, Avery, who thoroughly enjoyed Richard Serra's monumental steel sculptures, Torqued Ellipses, and the outdoor gardens. Newly mobile, he loved walking around the immense space Dia:Beacon has to offer. Who knows? Maybe this first gallery visit will be the precipice for an artist in the making.
An afternoon of art was followed by an adventure on Main Street. Unfortunately, many of Beacon's adorable shops closed at 6pm and we missed out on Dream in Plastic, Get Frosted Cupcakery and Alps Sweet Shop. Lucky for us though, Denning's Point Distillery was conducting tours and tastings until 8pm. This two-week-old distillery is producing vodka and rye from scratch.
The tasting was enjoyable and educational. Who knew that there were so many criteria to categorize a whiskey a bourbon? We got in on the ground level, purchasing a bottle of vodka that literally notes its standing as part of batch #1.
We ended the evening at Tito Santana, a taqueria with killer catfish tacos and Single Cut on draft.
The day didn't include a walkabout of for-sale homes, but peering off Main Street you can see many moderate sized homes huddled around this main drag. Highly affordable, there's been a recent population influx to Beacon. A diverse community off the Metro North Line, many-a-hipster has relocated up the Hudson to take part in the entrepreneurial community. Homes generally range from $150,000 - $275,000.
I thought Lyle and I would be just as smitten with Beacon as we were with its neighbor, Cold Spring. But as cute as Beacon was, Cold Spring offered more of the historic charm we can't help but love. Perhaps we'll keep Beacon on the 'just visiting' list.
