The Catskills

 

We’ve spent the week at Gilbert Lake State Park in the foothills of the Catskills Mountains. The Catskills were valued, in the late 1800’s, for their lakes and rivers and are known as the birthplace of American fly fishing. In the 50’s, the area became a place where families, from NYC, vacationed to avoid the summer heat. That era has been depicted in movies like Dirty Dancing and television shows like The Marvelous Mrs Maisel. In the late 60’s, thousands of young people, from all over the country, discovered the Catskills when the Woodstock Music Festival took place near here, on a farm, in Bethel, NY. We haven’t had the best weather for our stay but that hasn’t detracted from the beauty of this place. 

We’ve made some new friends on our visit; Wendy, Charles and their dog Gus who goes  along with Wendy on her daily 20 mile road rides. We also took advantage of one of our rainiest days and traveled to neighboring Cooperstown to visit the Baseball Hall of Fame.