It was nice to have a couple weeks off during the holidays…maybe too nice because – I’m not gonna lie – getting back into work mode has been rough. Anyhow, right after spending Christmas with family and friends, we loaded the car up and headed out to Western, MA to check out MASS MoCA – see my recap here – and then continued on to Albany, NY where we explored the surrounding areas like Schenectady.
Why Albany and Schenectady? Because we’re very poor planners and had some travel points we needed to use up. Since last minute flights were out of the question, a staycation of sorts was the best option. And, guess what? We had a great time together.
We discovered…
Hotel Downstreet in North Adams, MA…
that is super close to Mass MoCA and also houses artist residence galleries and a toy gallery on the main floor, has a calm room for kiddos, offers Lactaid milk for your coffee and a lovely painting of an Asian man just hanging out in his library – we truly appreciated the representation.
The Pretty Paw Lounge cat cafe in Rotterdam, NY…
where I – as a non-cat person who lives with a cat – found a cat named Snoopy that I wanted to bring back home. Alas, our moody cat probably would not have appreciated that. Some shenanigans did ensue as you will see below.
VIA Aquarium in Schenectady, NY…
inside a mall with an arcade + bounce house located right across from it — genius marketing. There were a lot of empty storefronts at the mall but they were being offered up as event spaces for weddings and other private events.
complimentary dinners at Staybridge Suites in Albany, NY…
We happened to catch beef stroganoff night and biscuits & gravy breakfast before we had to check out in the morning and it was fantastic. Who knew hotels were offering free dinner? It might not have been Michelin star food – my friend has even told that’s not how beef stroganoff looks like – but the staff took a lot of pride in what they served and it was good. (Note: I don’t know why but I was on an oatmeal-drowned-in-brown-sugar-syrup-and-raisins kick.)
The Open Door Bookstore in Schenectady, NY…
in downtown Schenectady where I discovered a book called Pride and Prejudice in Space by Alexis Lampley. How did I not know of its existence? And then, right down the street we grabbed lunch at Herbie’s Burgers — it was SO good but do note that I have a bias for smash burgers.
Magic Wings butterfly conservatory in Deerfield, MA…
that’s open year round. The next time we return, we will all be wearing bright pink shirts because butterflies are drawn to bright colors and not enough of them landed on us. It’s a beautiful oasis from the freezing cold vortex of New England so it’s been added to our favorite places.
And in between these discoveries, we also hung out at the mall, took advantage of the hotel pool, enjoyed some solid bbq, had some just-okay bagels, visited a vegan bakery, checked out a small science museum for kids and played a bunch of arcade games and gatchas.
It was a great way to close out 2024.