Tarrytown, A Quick Escape

I am completely enamored with train travel, which is odd because I have spent far too many hours idling on the tracks between Ann Arbor and Chicago. Still, I find it romantic and enchanting. It’s been on my bucket list for many years to show up at a train station with no destination in mind, buying the next ticket out of town.

So that’s what I did, one sunny warm fall Thursday.

I walked into Grand Central Terminal, my favorite building in New York, buoyed by the excitement of a day out of the city. I wasn’t going far – I only had the day – but it was still an adventure. To me, Yonkers is “upstate.” Low tech (no DSLR!), low research, the kind of solo exploration of earlier years, even if I was only going less than 30 miles away.

A train for Tarrytown was leaving in four minutes, so I quickly bought my ticket from the ticket window (much quicker than waiting for the machines!) and slipped through the terminal masses to get to my track.

One of the reasons that I love train travel is that it’s immersive and invisible. As you sail out of the city, three stories in the air, you get a unique view, hovering over intersections, looking down cross streets at the bridges, and then, rather suddenly, you swap office buildings for the Hudson cliffs.

Tarrytown is what would happen if you yanked the stores out of Chelsea Market and spread them out in an adorable small-town downtown. It’s a perfect city escape to remind yourself there are trees and cars who let pedestrians go first. Sometimes in New York I forget about the change of the seasons because I don’t see trees for days on end. Getting out of the city felt like bursting into fall.

I let myself wandering, taking a ridiculous number of tree pictures. It took me a bit to find the downtown area (I eventually caved to my cell phone GPS – it was up the hill I had been avoiding). I wandered in and out of shops. I sampled the richest licorice candies I’ve ever tasted at international food emporium and café Mint Premium Foods. I relaxed with a smooth cappuccino at small batch roaster Coffee Labs, hypnotized by the spinning coffee roaster in the corner. I took an afternoon pit stop at Main Street Sweets, an ice cream shop with a “lab” in their basement and a strong cult following of families sitting outside. I picked up a bottle of Hudson Valley wine, a Brotherhood Winery Pinot Noir.

Tarrytown is the perfect mini-day trip from New York City. It’s the kind of place you can decide to go to last minute or after a lazy morning. When you don’t feel like being elbow-deep in the Brooklyn brunch crowd or you want to take a riverside stroll and see trees instead of skyscrapers, head to Tarrytown. Grab lunch at one of the hip restaurants (Taco Project, you’re on my list), get some coffee and wander down to the river, then head back to Main Street Sweets for a scoop of homemade ice cream before you head back to the city. If you’re looking for a longer trip, head to one of the historic houses in the area (the Kykuit Rockefeller Estate and Philipsburg Manor are within walking distance of the train) or plan your trip around Halloween – legendary Sleepy Hollow is Tarrytown’s cozy neighbor.

For me, the best part of Tarrytown was the escape, the thrill of showing up at Grand Central with no plan, the spontaneous sojourn out of New York. Sure, it wasn’t a foreign country, but it wasn’t Central Park either. Wandering around Tarrytown reminded me of traveling in my early 20s, when I did little research and walked a lot. And it reminded me of the importance of clearing your head. I love New York City, but once in a while, everyone needs a break. Sometimes all it takes is getting to that train station and checking the departure board.

Where do you go when you need an escape from your city?

Tarrytown is on the Hudson Metro-North line. Trains leave several times each hour and it takes 40-50 minutes to get there from Grand Central Terminal. At the time of this posting, round trip tickets cost between $19.50-$26.00 depending on peak/off-peak schedules. I suggest sitting on the left side heading up to Tarrytown to get the best views of the Hudson River.

Find out more information at Metro-North’s website.