Monday, October 27, 2014

A 40 hour whirlwind to Poughkeepsie

Eerily similar to my Rehoboth adventure last December, I attended a wedding the weekend prior to Marshall. I was even traveling with some of the same cast of characters. Except this time, we were headed to Poughkeepsie instead of Miami.

The flight was at 6:45am on Friday morning so we were awake at 4am to get to the airport. Someone please note my friend Frank Tebowing in between Adam and I.
We flew into LaGuardia and managed to catch morning views of Manhattan as we cruised into Queens.
The group picked out the finest swagger wagon we could find in the parking garage (re: Dodge Caravan) and Adam slipped into his old NYC driving habits. Everyone chirped happily along during the couple of hours it took to get to Poughkeepsie. The views of fall in upstate NY did not disappointment.
We checked into our hotel, grabbed lunch, and had a little down time before getting ready. I was too inundated with coffee to nap, so I played with my hair and my forward facing camera.
At some point, we rallied back at the minivan and headed to the ceremony.

Then, it was onto the reception. We caught a few minutes of sunset overlooking the Hudson which was absolutely stunning with the fall foliage. With a bourbon-laced glass of cider to warm my hand, I was pretty much in heaven.

After the cocktail hour, we retreated indoors for dinner. Pulled pork and chicken, mashed sweet potatoes, collard greens, macaroni and cheese, and cornbread. It was insanely good.
Conversation flowed and everyone was having a great time mingling.
The dancing intensified throughout the night and the bride and groom were clearly having the time of their lives out on the dance floor. I may or may not have found additional uses for the guest book decorations.
Having been up since 4am + a long day of traveling + a long evening of dancing + a long evening of bourbon ciders=sleepy Carissa. I hit the pillow hard.

Unfortunately, I slept terribly and kept waking up not knowing what time it was because the alarm clock was on Adam's side of the bed. I tossed and turned and fought with myself about getting up to run.

Ugggggggggghhhh. So much bourbon and so much dancing in heels.

When I finally convinced myself to just go and do 3 miles, I got all my gear on and stood in the alcove next to the door for a minute. Finding satellites. Deciding if I needed gloves or a jacket. Deciding if it was too late to go back inside.

Instead, I walked out into the brisk morning and took off. I had looked up possible route ideas the week prior and while I was sad I wasn't going to be able to get out to the rail-trail, I knew the residential area would be pretty picturesque.

I wanted to minimize my turns since A) my brain was feeling fuzzy and B) I didn't bring my phone. When I got about a mile in, I decided to make a left off Sharon and took a mental note. Eventually, I turned left on Ferris and then started to figure out when I was going to turn around.

3 miles was growing to 4 miles and then I was just past where I'd be for 6 miles when I decided to turn around a finish the last few near the hotel.

Even though it was painful to get going, it was of course, worth every minute. Leaves blanketed the lawns and pumpkins adorned each doorstep. Old Victorian homes provided beautiful backdrops for wonderfully spooky Halloween displays. Thanks Poughkeepsie for a great run!


After I got back, the gang loaded up the van and we made a quick jaunt to Sleepy Hollow. The cemetery where Washington Irving is buried was hosting a fall festival and we lucked out on a beautiful day to wander around.

After dinner at a diner, it was time to take a few final pictures and head back to NYC to fly home.
Then, 40 hours after we'd left, Adam and I pulled up to our house.

 



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