#carrotbarn

7/8/23

When you see a neon paper advertisement at your local ice cream store, you heed it's wisdom. This particular paper had been telling me for years to make my way to the Landis Arboretum and I finally listened, dragging Reagan with me.

First and foremost, and what we came to the arboretum for, was a visit to the barn book sale. This was the only thing we truly planned for today, leading us to some serious swag (art-magazine for me and the golden retriever bible for R). Funny enough, we found out that an arboretum has much more to offer than old dusty ass books stuffed in a barn. With our tour merch in hand, we decided to walk the venue heading from the upstate NY version of Stonehenge to the main meeting house with its unmatched views of the countryside. After a brief encounter with a very good boy and its struggling owner, our day at the arboretum was done (too hot to hike), however we weren't ready to go home.

What's there to do in Schoharie county? I'm genuinely asking b/c that was the dilemma we were faced with. After a 15 second ride through the downtown of Esperance, I saw we were in striking distance of a covered bridge (epic JF reference) so I figured that would be cool to visit. What I didn't know was the covered bridge was one of the focal points of the Lily Park and home to the July 8th LILY FESTIVAL. Unbeknownst to us, we had stumbled upon one of Schoharie's finest summer events, drawing in what seemed to be the entirety of the county. After, frolicking through the flowers and countless vendors, we found ourselves hungry for more of the culture. Luckily for us we had passed both a vegetable and fruit themed store on the way to the bridge.

Only by sheer distance to the park did we go to the carrot barn first - sadly not as many carrots as expected. What it did have was a multitude of carrot and carrot related products and merch as well as the makings of your typical farmer's market. I indulged in two carrot cookies and a carrot muffin, but again, no signs of any major carrot infrastructure. As our consolation prize, and for lunch, we made way to the Apple Barrel Cafe and Store. My minor hyper-fixation of carrots had pivoted to apples and to our luck, the menu was fruitful with apple themed dishes.

***Returning to finish this 8/20***

After ransacking the barn, we decided to get a feel for the country living that is Schoharie county. This included the local baseball field in lily park with one of the best outfield views I've seen, a drive through of Schoharie City's downtown (foreshadowing) a brief stop in Middleburgh (where I hope to return one day to see the Blenheim bridge), and then an impromptu visit to upstate NY's dullest college town, Cobleskill (Sorry not sorry).

Following an uneventful tour of the tiny-banner, beige buildings, campus conveniently located 3 minutes from a farmer's tool shopping center, we decided to head home with one final stop on our list, ICE CREAM! Seen on our way down, we decided to revisit the dairy carnival. (passed it on our way down) Do you want generic ice cream and generic fried goods, at a generic atmosphere all with a drive thru? well you're in luck my friend, I know exactly where to go. But honestly, this place seemed pulled straight out of Grand Theft Auto with it's lack of anything unique or distinctive. I highly recommend everyone goes for the soul churning experience w/ bonus points for actually going through the drive-thru. We capped this expereince off with a lil film/photo sess and then made our way back to mi casa.

Following "downstate trips" include potential visits to Hudson, NY and the Long-Pond Studios.