If the rumor is even remotely true that the Northeast is in for another whopper of a winter, I am feeling the pressure to get out and about while the going is good and the roads are clear.
Last year it felt like we were living in ice caves for a while there. This time around – who knows?
I’m taking early weather predictions on the dire side as an excuse to load up my calendar with day trips now. Nancy the Explorer, open to going all points two hours north, south and west from her New Jersey home (east would basically put me in the Atlantic Ocean). Seeking foliage, art, markets, and whatever else beckons.
Yeeha.
I thrive in “deadline” situations. Having been a daily reporter for a newspaper for 15 years, I think that rhythm has always suited me. I do my best work under pressure. Now I’m hopping to it, wondering how far into the calendar I can go before Mother Nature brings a nasty bite. End of November? Early December?
Now when I see friends post a day adventure on social media, I stop and consider it. Do I want to stroll a pumpkin patch? Or find an apple orchard and indulge in some serious apple pie? Maybe take in some college football? Or simply drive anywhere that has a lolling pace and see where it takes me?
This is when a nice pub with a fireplace works its magic. Sweater weather. Maybe a scarf. A park. On most days al fresco is still a possibility, even if it’s just for a cup of coffee and a nosh. The sunny side of the street is preferable to the shady side now.
One of the highlights of last fall was driving to Frenchtown, N.J., and browsing the Two Buttons store owned by author Elizabeth Gilbert and her husband. It was a quaint kind of day with a friend, complete with lunch on the porch of an inn. The drive was relaxing and so pretty.
I’ve also had a blast visiting a holistic fair for a good cause with my sister and some friends each fall. So offbeat and energizing. We browse tables selling crystals and stones, have a tarot reading by a phenomenal medium, and discuss it all over lunch afterward.
And in the complete opposite spiritual direction on another day, what a great outing it was to gaze at the art in the Cloisters in New York with a friend. It’s such a sacred place and has hidden corners of beauty around every bend. It’s so leafy there it was hard to believe we were near the very urban Bronx, but we opted to head over to Arthur Avenue, the old Italian section, after the museum and consume plates of steamy, perfectly prepared pasta.
Possibilities abound. It’s exhilarating.
If we don’t get the big chill that’s being predicted, well that’s fine, too. I’ll have my winter getaways list made just in case.
Hot chocolate – check. Fireplace – check.
Sign me up.
By: Nancy Colasurdo
