Usually I'm not at a loss for words but my trip to my old stomping grounds last weekend was pretty unremarkable. Since moving to Saratoga County I really haven't felt the need to drive south when the Adirondacks are in my backyard. It took me as long to get to the Catskills as it does to get to say the Loj Parking lot in the Daks. About 1.5 hours.
I really wasn't pumped about heading south to hike, the conditions were unwinterlike in the north and they certainly wouldn't be better.
I was in the Catskills to eat dinner with Christian and Jess who were skiing at Windham.
The weather called for sunny skies and warmer temps but on the drive down the only sun I saw was a God beam shooting through a gaping blue hole in the clouds. Wow!! I was pretty excited if the rest of the day was going to look like that.
No such luck and the day only got more dreary.
After a day of rain and sleet my hike up to Acra Point, Burnt Knob, and Windham High Peak was pretty much over ice, and ice fallen from the trees to create a ball bearing affect on the trail.
Views were nonexistent. As you can see from the photo below, the mountain tops were in fog or low cloud cover. This was as good as it got, and by the time I got to Windham, in the back left hand corner it was completely fogged in.
Food, however, was plentiful. After my hike I stopped off at the Gulf Station on Route 23 where, believe it or not, you can get fresh filled canolis and old world style cheese cake. Truly the very best Italian deserts imaginable. I grew up in NY, spent many days in Little Italy stuffing my face full of pastries after Chinese lunches, and I can say the stuff at the "gas station" is by far the best pastry I've had. Made with real goats milk and not overly sweetened like the American pallet is used to.
Continuing down 23 to meet up with Christian and Jess at Mexican Radio across the Hudson River in the town of Hudson, I couldn't resist, and just had to have a fresh filled, crispy canoli. Yummy!!
Mexican Radio in Hudson is one of those NYC transplants. Apparently the people who own it decided the liked the Taconic's and Berkshires, and Hudson Valley and opened a second restaurant in Hudson.
Problem is, the food is good, but my guess is the menus are the same price in NYC and Hudson. So $17 fish taco's (an all time favorite of mine) are a bit overpriced. $5 drafts seem a bit high too, but again, they had a nice selection of local beers including Wolavers organic oatmeal stout and Chatham IPA.
My fish tacos were OK. Too much breading, I hate to say it but other than La Fondita on Long Island in the Hampton's, the Cheese Cake Factory has perhaps the best fish tacos for about the same price.
Mexican Radio wasn't without merit though, the flan was amazing. They say it's the countries best flan, and I'm a flan fan, so I'd agree, this was perhaps the best flan I'd ever had.
So my verdict on Mexican Radio: If $17+ entres that would typically cost $12-14 don't bother you, go for a bite, and enjoy the dessert!!
technorati tags:Catskills, Windham, Burnt Knob, Acra Point, New York
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