Review of Metro North One Day Get-Away Summer Trips

I decided to I'd try something new this summer of 2008 and I would go on some of the Metro North one day get away trips. Since I don't drive this is the perfect way for me to get away from my home in New York City and try some new adventures upstate.

The one day package includes the round trip rail ticket and a reduced price to wherever you are going and a shuttle bus to the location if it is needed. I would usually recommend a visit to the Metro North website to check for information about the various one day get-away packages but the website is too cumbersome to find the information you need easily. Just go and pick up some Metro North get-away guide books at the station master's office at Grand Central Station to see which trip is to your liking.

My first trip, I took this summer, was called Berries and Cream. This trip involved getting the 8:50 am train from Grand Central Station and then proceeding to Beacon, New York where a shuttle bus and a Duchess County Tour guide waited for us downstairs.

If you love looking at water and boats up close then a ride on the Hudson line is a treat for you. Sometimes the train track is so close to the water that you feel you can just touch the water.

The bus we took was small but it was air conditioned. First, the guide handed us a silver bag with some area information. Her two sons were also passengers who came along for the ride who argued who got to take more pictures at the three farms we visited.

Before we went to our first farm, the group visited the small farmers market right near the Beacon station.(only opened on Sundays)The group had time some to take some pictures of the numerous sailboats in the Hudson river and taste some locale produce. We had a break of an hour before we got to first farm. A lot of the town of Beacon is not open at 11 am but this walk still gave me a sense of the flavor of the town. The Tourism office has tried to get some restaurants and area shops to open earlier though. I got to see the glass blowing shop and visit the tourism shop due to the tourism office push in getting them to open earlier. You can walk to half the town during this first break but it is big town and the restaurants and other shops are further down. You think the restaurants stop when you see the rail road tracks but Beacon has more galleries and restaurants further along Main Street. There is a $1.00 trolley that can take you to the end of the town and then back to the train station at the end of the day if you don't want to walk both ways. I recommend just getting a quick bite at the tea shop or the area sandwich shop and then afterward eating something since Metro North lets you come back anytime you want. You can take your food on the bus and then eat at one of the farms. The Fishkill farms offered great seating options with a view. If you choose to take the farm package then you can't really see the galleries since on Sunday the stores close early. There is another option, if you travel on your own, then on the second Saturday of every month all year long, you can see more galleries and since the galleries a stay open later that Saturday.

We visited three farms. The Shenandoah Dairy Farm was interesting. The farmer is 76 years old and the farm has been in his family for many generations. He showed his cows, his milking equipment and told how he only gets a $1.47 a gallon for milk that he milked fresh everyday. He joked about the flies and the smell of the manure. He also has lots of corn he grows which he stores in these huge towers. Before we finished, the tour we got to sample some fresh milk of either chocolate or vanilla. I wish he would have offered to sell some quarts of to buy.

Next, we went to Fishkill farms where we got to pick some blueberries. I found the blueberries tasted tart but I still found it interesting to see where they are grown and how they look on the vine. This is a nice activity for the kids to do. Plus, this makes us appreciate how hard it is to find that one big plump berry when it so hot and humid out. This farm also sells homemade ice cream and pies and offers some other produce for sell. If you don't want to pick out your own berries for two dollars a pound then they offer freshly picked blueberries for a dollar extra. It was nice to sit in the back of the farm stand shop and look at all the orchards that would be blooming on their many acres of land.

The last stop of this city girl's farm tour was a farm called Seton. I felt this farm was small but offered more varieties of produce and fruit to pick. There offered the options of blueberries, strawberries or peas to pick from. This farmer says this farm has a great variety of activities during the fall. They make craved pumpkins and have a huge corn maze that the kid can run in.

I liked all the farms but I liked the talk I heard from the dairy farmer the best. The dairy farm was a little stinky from all the manure from the cows though. It would be interesting to go on the organic farm tour, later in the summer, and compare what the two farmers say.

If farming is not your thing the town of Beacon offers many festivals and other options for you to go to with your family. You can see the crazy hat parade, a Latin American festival, go to their harvest festival, their strawberry festival, their hot air balloon festival or you can visit the Dia museum and then pack a lunch to eat at the nearby park next to the train station. If you can visit during the week you can see the museum on a Thursday (the museum is closed on Tuesday and Wednesday) and then on any Wednesday or Thursday evening in July and August you can go on a short ferry ride to the town of Hamburg and hear some outdoor Jazz music at 6:30 p.m.

I say if you never been out on a farm or been outside the city on a Metro North trip then take a chance. This city girl did and had her farm adventure on three farms in upstate and so can you have one with your family.