Saratoga & North Creek Railway

Today we went with Steve and Lisa Smith on the Saratoga & North Creek Railway. The day started off rainy and we were afraid that all the leaves would have already fallen off because we were headed even further North. But as you can see from the pictures, it turned out to be a beautiful day.

The funniest thing happened.  After we'd been going for about 1/2 hour on the train the conductor came by and said that because the rain had brought leaves down onto the track making it slippery they were going to have to back up and start forward again.  So they backed all the way back to the station in Saratoga.  Then they VERY SLOWLY started heading back to North Creek.  It took forever.  We left the station at 10:00am and were supposed to arrive at 12:12pm.  We didn't end up getting to North Creek until 2:00pm.  We were scheduled to have 3.5 hours in North Creek, but they told us they were going to keep to the schedule of leaving at 3:45pm giving us only 1 hour 45 minutes there.  As it turned out we didn't end up leaving until 4:30pm which got us into the station in Saratoga at 7:00pm - an hour later than scheduled.

Lisa and I.

Can you believe how beautiful it was!
And the mist from the rain just made it look even prettier.
The contrast between the cloudy sky and the vibrant colors was amazing.

Glen and Steve.

We ate at a cute little cafe - Cafe Sarah.  Glen and I had ham, brie, apple, and onion sandwiches on a baguette.  Lisa and Steve had fresh mozzarella with basil pesto and tomato paninis.  And we all got yummy cookies.  It was a great place to eat.

We were a little disappointed that we didn't have more time in North Creek.  But after eating lunch and looking the the Hudson River Trading Company store, there wasn't much else to do.  So then we didn't feel as bad that we didn't have more time.  What a fun way to spend a Fall day!

The Arkell Museum in Cahajoharie, NY

Today I went to the Arkell Museum in Canajoharie, NY. It is a museum that has an extensive collection of American paintings, primarily from 1860–1940, as well as historical exhibits about the history of the Mohawk River Valley and of the Beech-Nut babyfood company.

The Canajoharie Library was founded in 1924, and a gallery was added in 1927. The museum was originally built to house copies of European masterpieces and original 19th-century American paintings collected by Bartlett Arkell, then the town's leading industrialist.

The permanent collection includes twenty-one paintings by Winslow Homer, works by all members of The Eight, and paintings by leading American Impressionists such as Childe Hassam. George Inness and Ralph Blakelock are also well represented by several works in this impressive collection. American paintings from the 20th century include realist and regionalist works by Paul Sample, Ogden Pleissner and Thomas Hart Benton.

 I got a postcard of this Winslow Homer called The Pumpkin Patch.  It reminds me of living here in the Mohawk Valley.

This was another of my favorite Winslow Homer paintings.  It's hard to tell from the photo, the the actual painting was wonderful!

On the drive home we headed over to Palentine Bridge and saw some Amish horse and buggies.

I live in an incredibly beautiful part of upstate New York.  And it is at it's most glorious in the Fall!