On Friday afternoon, I prepared for our weekend trip by making pot roast and brownies for mom (who stayed in our place to watch Indy), cleaning up a bit, and packing.
My little helper came along with me on a trip to the wine store to pick up a bottle of champagne for Saturday night. As you can see, our town’s wine store really knows their audience (that’s the play area where kids can bang around while the parents shop).
And then, around noon, we were off to Warwick, N.Y.
Kendrick dressed up for the occasion. (Those are a pair of Candie’s glasses that I technically suppose are mine, being…Candie’s, but that I think look way better on him. As you can see, Zoolander agrees.)
First stop, because I was starving: Trattoria Viviano, just at the far end of Main Street. (Oh my god, that bolognese.)
Next, we headed over to Yesterday’s for a beer (if you get a chance to go, check out the amazing antique dartboards, stamped-tin ceiling, and Shepherd’s Pie).
And thought about Spring clothing. And then thought better of it, and left the store purchase-free.
For dinner, we went to one of the coolest restaurants I’ve ever been to: the Iron Forge Inn. It’s a spectacularly preserved 1760s farmhouse that’s all history and landmark and etc etc…so it goes without saying that the place is adorable and cozy, but what’s really outstanding is the food.
The upstairs restaurant is fairly upscale, but if you head down a rickety set of stairs into the cozy, cheerful Tap Room (pictured above), you’ll find a fireplace that was part of the farmhouse’s original cooking kitchen, wonderful and sweet servers (the chef’s family runs the restaurant), and some crazy-good pub food.
We went for chicken wings, deviled eggs, and bacon-goat cheese dip, and loved every second of it.
After a night spent like this (with a little Coming To America thrown in, because when Coming To America is on TV my rule is that you watch it), we ate breakfast with the owners of the Warwickshire B&B, stopped into town for more pasta (I know; it was really that good), and headed home to see how our best friend was doing.
Quite well, thanks. Maybe a little tired. (It appears that Nana tuckered him out.)
