My Weekend in Albany

A couple weeks ago, Sarah approached me with a proposition - I get a weekend off of working any of my jobs (including my beloved Hamilton Grange) and we could go stay with her aunt and uncle in Kinderhook, a small town near Albany. I shit you not, the way she actually convinced me to go was telling me, "we can go see Schuyler Mansion."

Stars in my eyes, I could only reply, "that's where Alexander Hamilton got married..." How I would love to see that!

We did see it.

And New York City, I love you, but sometimes you bring me down. The city can be stressful, even for someone that loves it. And let's face it, it's expensive. It'd be nice to go somewhere where we don't have to even pay for lodgings and food (I can't remember the last time I had a weekend where I spent zero dollars). It'd be nice to take a break sometimes. (Okay, okay, I'll stop with the songs.)

So we booked the vacation, and on Friday we boarded an Amtrak train to Penn Station to make our way upstate!

I cannot tell you enough how non-stressful it was. How quiet. Not only that, the room I got to stay in was adorable:

Antique wooden furniture? An old 1940s book of Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tales? A charming patchwork quilt? An affectionate cat? (His name was Shoelace.) Sign me the fuck up.

Sarah and I spent most of the weekend just relaxing at her aunt and uncle's house, watching old episodes of "Bob's Burgers" and playing Clue with her cousin and petting Shoelace a lot. Her uncle is a professional chef so we were well-fed. It was nice to do nothing for once, though on the first day I didn't really know what to make of it. I'm used to NYC being so fast paced, being so "what can I do next?!"

That being said, we did make room for a few excursions into Albany...