By Joanna Goddard
New York is an awesome place to live, but sometimes you want to escape the crowds. Luckily, there are five amazing destinations less than 2 1/2 hours from the city, so you can treat yourself to a weekend getaway…
1. Fire Island (Long Island).
The magical thing about Fire Island is that no cars are allowed, so you walk or bike everywhere, and the whole place feels like summer camp. We stayed with friends last summer in the teeny town of Fair Harbor, which looks like a postcard with its red firehouse, pizza parlor, grocery store, beach and playground. You rent houses–most come with outdoor showers!–and spend the days relaxing at the beaches and having lobster rolls for lunch. Don’t worry about having to schlep your stuff to the beach: Everyone, even burly men, pulls Radio Flyer red wagons filled with groceries, beach chairs and kids. Another charming bonus? To hop between the towns, you take a water taxi. Just call the phone number, and the boat comes racing to the dock to scoop you up. What a timeless, wonderful place.
(How to get there: Take a one-hour train ride from Penn Station to Bay Shore, then take theferry to Fire Island.)
2. Saugerties (Hudson Valley).
The Hudson Valley is peppered with quaint small towns, such as Rhinebeck, Woodstock and Hudson, but my favorite is the little town of Saugerties. You can rent one of the lovely homes in town (on homeaway.com or airbnb.com–check out this place), or reserve one of the two rooms in the Saugerties Lighthouse. I also LOVE the Villa at Saugerties, which is currently closed, but hopefully will re-open again soon. You can go antiquing, pick your own fruits and vegetables, go sailing, walk out to the Saugerties lighthouse (it’s beautiful, and you can sit on the deck and dip your feet in the water), go hiking, tour estates and mansions, and watch an airplane show and fly in an open-cockpit bi-plane in nearby Rhinebeck (we did this for Alex’s birthday once! It was awesome!). For dinner, try the seasonal food at Miss Lucy’s Kitchen in Saugerties (they also have two rooms for rent upstairs).
(How to get there: Rent a car and drive 2.5 hours to Saugerties. You’ll want a car for exploring.)
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