Peace, Love, German Gasthausen, And All That Hippie Catskill Junk

I took my new motorcycle on its inaugural ride up to the Catskills for an overnighter this week. I'd never realized how close the Catskills are to the Poconos, and when I was looking over a map to try and figure out what would make a good ride, I noticed that you can pretty much take route 209 straight up to Woodstock! So that's what I did. Very nice ride. In Woodstock, which is not where the titular festival was held as it turns out, (That would be in Bethel, NY) I found the Yellow Submarine:

Some hippie had turned an old church into an Art Studio dedicated to Love art. All hearts and bright colors and whatnot. Folk art. Damn dirty hippies.

The Catskills are really pretty, but it's a pain in the butt to stop the bike, get off, and dig out my camera every time I want to take a picture, so I tended not to. Besides, pictures of hills and nature and what all are usually not nearly as interesting in photo form as they are when you're there looking at it, so really you're grateful that I'm sparing you, I know. But here's one of my motorcycle in front of an interesting tree stump.


There is a town named Tannersville in the north of the Catskills State Park area, and I found a Swiss chalet there to spend the night in! It's run by an old German dude named Robert who was a ski / snowboard instructor for the US Olympic team. His nickname is the Red Baron, and he wears one of those pointy WWI era German helmets to the races. Anyway, I think he only called it a Swiss Chalet due to marketing reasons; it felt much more German than Swiss. He was also the cook there, which you have to appreciate. He made some awesome German food, Schnitzel with apples and brandy, and he served Dinkel Acker! One of my favorite German dark beers. The hotel was otherwise empty, it being the off season in the Catskills, and the room I stayed in reminded me in many ways of some of the German guest houses I've stayed in... Big blocky wooden furniture, hard beds and clean sheets, an old poster ad from the 70s for Interlaken on the wall; even the smell of the soap and the shower heads reminded me of Germany! It felt like home.


Next morning I took a longer route back by driving North a bit more and hooking on to route 10, which was really beautiful, until it took me to route 97 south, which is apparently a famous biker road in the area as it follows the Delaware river all the way down to Port Jervis, the last town in NY before crossing over the river into PA. Very pretty.

Have I said yet that I love my new toy? Whee! But it's all rainy out today, so it does have it's limitations. Guess I'll clean the house and go to the gym. Sigh.

Comments

[Sissy]

The best thing about popping in at MO's is the road trip I take every time I'm here.

You rock!

[messiestobjects]

Aw, thanks! Actually, sometimes I feel a bit one-note. Blah blah blah my trip here, blah blah blah my trip there. Picture. Blah blah blah it was fun/pretty/interesting blah blah blah.

Then it's time for a post about God or something. Blah blah. It's good to know I'm not completely talking only to myself! Thanks Sissy!

[Tim]

Looks like a cool trip. Nice bike, too. Any trips to Sturgis in the future?

[Larry Non Sequitur]

Giants hurl cranapples!

[messiestobjects]

Hey Tim! Where's Sturgis?

Hey, there's a cyclops! But wait, he's got two eyes. Must be a Bicyclops.

[Miss Luongo]

Sturgis, SD hosts one of the two big, famous, long-running bike rallies in the US. The other is Daytona's Bike Week. You'd love it. It's a sea of sweaty, loud, swollen Americans surging about in the summer heat drinking, smoking, and revving their engines. Heaven!

[messiestobjects]

Hmmm... if they had a big bike rally in Martha's Vineyard, I'd be more likely to go. Or Vermont. Or um... Munich. But I couldn't ride my bike over there, I guess.

[Pops Racer]

"Or um... Munich. But I couldn't ride my bike over there, I guess."

You could if you bought our newest interpositive transponder - you can drive up mountains, kid! And use Button E for those long jumps over water.

Support family-owned racing!

[messiestobjects]

It took me a while to get that reference, and when I finally figured it out, I was surprised that you thought I would get it. It looks like it'll be the dumbest movie ever.

Now, if you'd told me to strap on a red and gold exoskeleton and fly on over for Munich biker fest, I'd have been %90 on board. Right up until the stupid battle with the evil exoskeleton.

[Nimmer]

Come to the North Carolina mountains. They are bigger and prettier.

And you can stay for free.

http://www.wncvacationrentals.com/sunsetridge/

[messiestobjects]

I almost thought you were spam.

[Das Blaue Nickel]

What's 'spam' in German?

[messiestobjects]

Das Spam.