My college roomie and I were looking for a place to meet up for a overnight trip that was halfway between Maryland and Massachusetts. We did some research and I ended up reading a blog about a girls weekend in Beacon, NYC. It looked interesting and met the criteria of halfway distance between us two, and shops and restaurants to keep us occupied.
Beacon, NY is part of the Hudson River Valley and many city dwellers come here for a day trip and some even own second homes in the area. It took about 3 hours for me to get to Beacon from Massachusetts via Route 84 which was a pretty easy drive with minimal traffic. It took my friend about 4 hours from Baltimore, MD. Since we were only staying for a night we were looking for a hotel on the cheaper side and stayed at the Comfort Inn and Suites in Fishkill, NY. The hotel was conveniently located right off the highway and was less than 5 minutes to Main Street in Fishkill, and less than 10 minutes to downtown Beacon.
Since I am 6 months pregnant one of my favorite things to do is EAT! We started with lunch at Max’s on Main in Beacon. The food was good and it was a pub type atmosphere. We had Nachos for an appetizer, I had chicken fingers and fries and Chris had a Cobb salad. We then decided to walk around and explore Main street in Beacon. The street is very long and full of bars, shops and restaurants. One of the first places we checked out was a candy store of course, The Alps Sweet Shop. Here we stocked up on Easter candy, chocolate covered gummi bears(my fav) and sea salt caramels. A couple of other shops worth mentioning were Hudson Beach Glass where they make everything from the glass they find in the Hudson, you can even blow your own ornaments here. Beacon Bath and Bubble that sells yummy smelling bath soaps, salts and lotions and also has old fashioned soda’s so you can make your own ice cream float. Beacon Pantry has different types of cheese and charcuterie that you can get sliced fresh. Beacon Natural Market has a Whole Foods type of feel with organic food, supplements and makeup. There are plenty more shops to see on Main Street I am just highlighting a few.
Now back to food! We did a lot of walking and once we got back to the hotel to decompress we decided to go somewhere close by for dinner. We decided on The Dutchess Biercafe in Fishkill which is a Belgian inspired restaurant, with indoor and outdoor seating(did I mention it was 70 degrees that day). We started with pretzel sticks with bier cheese sauce, yummy! Chris had a burger and I had a fried chicken sandwich and the shoe string fries were amazing. I am not a seafood person but I would have to say almost everyone else there was ordering the mussels. The next morning we decided to check out I-84 diner which was right next to our hotel. Food was good, typical diner fare and reasonably priced. If I didn’t have a 3 hour drive ahead of me I totally would have got a piece of cheesecake to go. Last but not least we needed to go back to Beacon to get donuts from Glazed over Donuts. The donuts are made fresh and you pick your glaze, topping and drizzle. The donuts lasted less than a few hours once I brought them home, they were amazing.
All in all we had a great mini trip to Beacon, NY. I have really only ever visited New York City so it was nice to have more of a small town feel without the hustle and bustle of the city. There are plenty of bars, restaurants and shops to keep you busy and the town of Fishkill also has it’s own Main Street with restaurants and bars as well. I would definitely recommend it as a destination for a weekend trip and it is family and pet friendly.
TravelbyBreanne 