Distance from Huckberry, NYC: 65 miles
Beacon, New York is confusingly named. You’d expect a lighthouse but it’s on the shore of the Hudson, not the Atlantic, and its namesake beacon is fires set by troops on the Fishkill Mountains summit during the Revolutionary War alerting their comrades to the arrival of the British. Quaint colonial history, check.After you take MetroNorth (or motorbike, up to you really) up to Beacon you have a choose-your-own-adventure sort of situation between which famously charred peak you’d like to hike: Breakneck Ridge or Mt. Beacon, all the way to the fire tower. After all that hiking, a recovery beer is in order and fortunately, Hudson Valley Brewery is right in town in one of the many cool, old industrial brick buildings and has quite the selection of sour beers. Trust us that you’ll also want to stop at Glazed Over and get some doughnuts because sour beer and doughnuts are the incredible pairing you didn’t know you needed in your life.
From there you’ve got kayaking on the river from Long Dock (watch for the eagles there), shopping on Main Street (for some good-old Upstate antiquing), glassblowing classes at Hudson Valley Glass, a ferry that conveniently lets you off at Liberty Street Bistro (which is one of those impossibly perfect James Beard-pedigreed restaurants you always hope you’ll wander into in the small-town wilds), and late-night drinks at a dive called Dogwood.
If it all sounds like too much to do in a day that’s because it is, so pack a duffel bag.
