nyc, day 1, oct 3rd

i had first read about harvest fest somewhere (probably martha) approx 4 yrs ago and then decided that if i'm ever in nyc at the time of the fest i will attend, this year it worked. our initial plan had been to take metro north's hudson line to tarrytown and a cab from there on to stone barns. luckily, i had asked my frieds A & F to join us, they accepted and were kind enough to come and pick us up from our hotel and drive us to pocantico hills where stone barns is situated







pulled pork sandwich on yesterday's entry came from one like this. the hog takes 5 hrs on the pit to get done







i guess the carving guy got thirsty...no wonder, the beer was excellent and made from stone barns's hops







some of the crowd. weather was cloudy and sticky at times, until 2 pm when it started raining








this was growing in the vegetable patch. i'm sorry, but it's common name is hairy balls, think what you like... the latin name is fancier gomphocarpus physocarpus







astrograss from brooklyn provided music







breads from balthazar bakery







produce stand







gourds







wool from local sheep, natural colors, don't you love the shades?







after we had tasted all that was offered, and drank some beer, it was time to take off. we had planned to stop at tarrytown and walk around in the (small) town center and maybe visit some of the stores, but it started raining. first just a regular rain, but after a while it pouring down with it (actually, i have only once seen rain fall that plenty, it was 1989 in michigan when marie and her parents were taking me to detroit airport, but that is another story).

it was decided that F would drive around and show us fancy houses on north coast of long island. there were plenty of gorgeous, and huge, houses, this one was my favourite. it was all of 100 meters from the shore of long island sound







we stopped at sands point. originally this was built as a stable... you should see the main house, correct, castle







eventually it started getting dark and we got hungry, again. F took us to mombar for egyptian food. i had been there before, so i knew it was good. as a rule i took pics of all the food we ate, but i don't like using the flash, especially in restaurants. that is why you only get a pic of our appetizer: baba ganoush, hummus, another chickpea paste with apple slices (F, feel free to correct if i got it wrong...) we all ate different dishes, all very delicious. this restaurant was on my list to visit anyway, so it was nice that F & A took us there







after a long day we even got chauffeured back to the hotel. thank you again, what a great day!







right now it's getting way too late, or early, for me to be up... i did sleep 14 hrs last night so maybe that's why i'm not tired yet