Delhi Diner

I love this little hole in the wall place in Delhi. The food is always good and its quite and unassuming. Great for breakfast and lunch. Especially love the grilled cheese on peasant bread special on Fridays and a side of fries. Yum.

Delaware County Fair Walton NY

I love county and state fairs. It is so Americana - I love it. When I lived in North Carolina I lived near the Dixie Classic Fairgrounds. Pure Americana - rides and food and local farmers and organizations all celebrating our town, county, and state. I couldn't wait to indulge in the worst possible food for my body but so delicious. I would go on rides that would make me puke my guts out and it was all so fun. Tim and I have never been to the Delaware County Fair in Walton so we decided to go. So much fun, a day indulging in local farmers showing farm animals and all sorts of junk food and local retailers showing their wares. I love vintage trackers and 4H and FFA and all of those things that I grew up with in Texas. We had a blast and it was a gorgeous day and I had to take a huge nap when I got home cause I had too much fun.

Bovina River Walk

I grew up in San Antonio,Texas known as the River City with it's famous River Walk. Imagine the smirk on my face when I heard that Bovina announced that it was going to install it's new bridges to create it's own River Walk and call itself the River City. I chuckled but am looking forward to seeing what they do with the Creamery Field and the walk along side the creek there. Here are some of the pics of the new bridge they installed.

Bovina Bicentennial

Unfortunately because of Covid, Bovina had to postpone it's Bicentennial celebration for a couple years. Finally, the party got to happen! Lovely day and lovely parade. So much fun and so many nice things happening for the party and for the town in general. We love it here and Happy Bicentennial Bovina!

OQUAGA STATE PARK

After spending so much time last summer outfitting our old pick up truck for camping excursions, we didn't quite have the camping summer I was looking forward to this summer. It was so wet and rainy all summer. We managed a day trip to the park and were going to go swimming but it was just too chilly and windy out. We brought a picnic lunch and some camp chairs out to the beach tables and sat and read and had lunch and did some people watching. It was warmish when we got there but over a few hours got a little chilly. We packed everything up and headed back home. Maybe next summer won't be so wet.

TITOS PINE HILL NY

There are very few local take out places around here that we would venture to. A couple pizza places within a 30 mile radius and a burger place nearby but the chinese take out up here is just awful. Growing up in Texas, I miss tex-mex food from San Antonio something fierce. There are tex mex restaurants on every corner there. However, they are few and far between up here. We feel fortunate that we have a really good place to get decent/delicious TexMex locally despite a bit of a drive and that is Titos in Pine Hill, NY. We usually treat ourselves on a Sunday and hope for a sunny day cause it's a nice drive. Great food! Great service too! We hope they make it and stay. The nachos are incredible, the margheritas yummy, and an array of taco options that are great. Perfect on a Sunday afternoon and some Netflix streaming - it's almost as good as San Antonio.

OQUAGA CREEK STATE PARK

We took a quick drive last Saturday up to Oquaga Creek State Park.  Covid summer is starting to wear on me and we need a little excursion. The park is about an hour and a half away from us which isn't too far. Convenient enough for a quick trip and it has camp sights, a man made lake for kayaking and swimming and a man made beach. The place was packed when we went .  Great place to go for a week and get away from all things this summer. 

 

Bovina Review

Doug Kerr/Flickr

Great Review on Oyster.com of Bovina. We made the top of the list.

https://www.oyster.com/articles/60579-best-small-towns-in-new-york/

New York is mostly famous for the Big Apple and the Hamptons, but there’s so much more to the Empire State. Many Americans -- and even New Yorkers themselves -- could hardly fill in a map of the state outside these two areas. The New York City-ers' assumption that upstate New York is an indiscernible green blur past Westchester and Rockland County is, quite frankly, incorrect. There are plenty of cultural enclaves, culinary hot spots, and stunning landscapes to be found both north of the city and out on Long Island (outside of the Hamptons). Whether you live in New York City and are looking to flee urban life or you're an out-of-stater seeking a charming retreat, these 12 small towns in New York offer a multitude of experiences for any style of traveler. 

1. Bovina, Delaware County

The smallest town on this list in terms of population (just over 630 people), Bovina is a great city escape. Weekend visitors can sample the farm life with a visit to Green Shepherd’s grass-fed sheep farm (call in advance) and Bovina Valley Farm’s farm store. The latter sells artisanal cheese, meat, and moonshine maple syrup in nearby Delhi. Bovina’s only eatery, Brushland Eating House, serves up comfort food crafted with local ingredients in a welcoming atmosphere. Brushland effectively captures the simplicity and community feel of a historic eating house. Additionally, it offers spacious accommodations on site, which makes it a great hub for easy exploration into the heart of the Catskills.

Blue Bee Cafe

Blue Bee Cafe
114 Main St.
Delhi, NY 13753
(607) 764 8060

Our friend, Jerry and his dachsund, Raineer, were up for the weekend and we decided to go have lunch in Delhi.  Our friends, Stephanie and John, had remodeled their restaurant - the Blue Bee Cafe - and we had not been over there yet to enjoy it.  What a gorgeous transformation!  The old cafe and bookstore was beautiful but the new cafe which expanded the restaurant and moved the bookstore across the street to their store, Stewarts, is so pretty.  Beautiful vintage marble and subway tile kitchen area which reminds you of a french candy store - Ladoree.  The gorgeous vintage wooden booths with the lead glass details - so pretty. It's a visual feast but then there's the food - I had the curry egg salad and Tim had the meatloaf.  So delicious!  The one and a half sandwiches is a brilliant idea and the flavors are original and amazing.  Stephanie has such incredible taste and I will miss the gorgeous bookstore but love the new restaurant.  A perfect place to dine in Delhi and they have certainly transformed the Main St of the town.

Hiking on the Hudson

We have been dying to do this hike for years.  Poughkeepsie walking bridge across the Hudson River.  These smart townsfolk converted an old railroad bridge into a walking excursion and it's truly such a spectacular hike and the views are amazing.  It helps that the weather is perfect and the sky is clear and you are on an outing with some of your favorite folks - Tim's family!  We all drove up to Poughkeepsie and spent the early part of the day walking across the bridge.  It's such a nice, easy walk and the views up and down the Hudson on a sunny June day were amazing.  Such a nice thing to do - the pace is perfect and it was totally free. 15 of us hiking.  Afterwards, burgers and disco fries at Everready Diner in Hyde Park and blizzards at Dairy Queen.  A perfect summer excursion!

Bovina Farm Day

Busy weekend.  We worked all day in the basement and yard, Saturday.  Sunday, we went to services at St. James Episcopal.  It's a gorgeous church and we have always wanted to go there for services and thought this weekend might be a nice time to go.  We are shopping churches in the area to join and St. James though beautiful might be too small a congregation to get involved.  After church, we went and had breakfast at the Delhi diner, shopping at Tractor Supply and then to go see Stephanie at her store, Stewarts for some gifts.  I dropped Tim off at Bovina Farm Day so he could help some friends, I went back and cleaned house as we were having some friends over for dinner. I drove back and picked Tim up and spent the evening cooking and visiting with friends.

Robson's Christmas Trees

Robson's Christmas Trees

Sunday was a gorgeous day.  Unexpected.  We took our house guests for a brunch at Two Tarts in downtown Bovina.  While we were there, we decided it would be fun to go get Xmas trees and why not do it in Bovina? We happened to be sitting next to this very nice couple from Margaretville who had just gotten their trees from Robson's and gave us directions out to the tree farm.  We drove back to our house to pick up the truck because the BMW would have drowned in the road mud and drove out to Robson's.  What a perfect day to do this.  We walked around the farm looking for perfect specimens - we have become obsessed with Grand Fir Trees which have this beautiful yew - like leaf and are so soft and scented.  We spent an hour looking at trees and purchased trees and wreathes and drove home.  Such a nice afternoon and great tree farm.

Stewart's Department Store Re-Opening

Very nice weekend.  We had friends of ours up and with the Farm Feast over - we could just relax and enjoy our surroundings and the things we love to do most.  We started the weekend with a quick trip over to Delhi to shop for groceries, an alcohol run and give a quick tour of Delhi and stop by and see Stewart's Department  Store.  Our friend, Stephanie, bought the old department store this year that has been in business for years.  It was a hoarders nightmare when you saw the old store but with so much history and character - I could easily see why she would want to buy the store.  She has been working all summer trying to renovate and transform the store and it had opened last weekend while we were busy with the Farm Feast and didn't have a chance to see the Grand Re-Opening.  Stephanie did a beautiful job of renovating the store. It's open and bright and gorgeous and accenting all of the original architecture and store fixtures.  The first floor has apparel and gifts and the second floor will have decorative furnishings.  She is still transitioning but so happy that she has done an amazing job and such a great addition to this community.

Guernsey Nursery Schoharie

It was a rainy weekend and we had planned to go over to Schoharie to visit Guernsey's Nursery with Mel and Marni.  Marni has been bragging about this place for years and we just have never managed to get there. However, Marni had given me a gift certificate for Guernsey's for my birthday determined that a free gift would motivate me. She was right. The nursery has been in business for over 100 years and is a huge place with over 100 acres of beautiful plants.  They were almost completely wiped out last year with Hurricane Irene and the flooding.  The drive over is about an hour from Bovina.  The nursery has a tremendous selection of trees, shrubs and perennials that you don't see at any chain nursery.  We got lost in the trees and shrubs - always looking for new evergreens.  We walked away with a Fernspray Hinoki Cypress Bush which has these beautiful fern shaped leaves and a few new perennials.  We had lunch in town and then drove through another rainstorm trying to get home.  The trip was worth it - after our trip here, I don't think we can shop at any other nursery.