Wish You Were Here: Albany

October 3rd 2017

“The trees are about to show us how lovely it is to let dead things go.”~

It has been a little bit, but I am back with a new Wish You Were Here travel diary! With a laundry list of things going on between yoga training, work, and more, I haven’t really taken very much time to myself to explore and travel. However, last weekend, I had some time off from yoga training and fall was just beginning to peak its head out for the world to see, so off to Albany my friends and I went for a little exploring and autumn fun!

One of the major reasons for the trip was to visit my friend Tyler (pictured above) at his college. A couple years back, I made the same trip to visit him and had an amazing time and I am glad that even more friends could join this year.

Tyler lives in the U Albany area, but goes to a smaller university that neighbors it. It was like the best of both worlds with the perks of an intimate school environment mixed with the college town feel. And one thing that college towns do right is good and cheap food. For lunch we stopped at a chicken place called Chicken Joe’s while we waited for the other half of our group to get to Albany. I didn’t take a picture because the food wasn’t much in the way of presentation, but it was SO good. Their seasoned fries are amazing and the prices were the best.

After lunch, we piled back into the car to meet the other half of our group to go apple picking. If you’re wondering a cute place to go apple picking in upstate New York, Goold Orchards in Castleton is a great spot. My friends and I enjoyed it so much that we actively went out of our way to go again this year.

The big downside to apple picking is being tempted to pick 10 lbs of apples and the even bigger downside to apple picking is figuring out what to do with 10 lbs of apples. So I guess there are tons of apple pies in my future and I am not complaining about that. All and all, I really loved this opportunity to climb tall trees, eat tons of fruit, and laugh with my friends as we ran away from bees.

After we finished picking and paid up, we enjoyed some apple goodies at the little farmhouse that was next to the orchard. I split a yummy apple cider donut with my friend (that was so good that it didn’t stick around long enough for a photo) and I got some apple cider which is by far my favorite fall treat. Apple cider straight from the orchard is the most amazing thing ever.

After we left the farm, we went to the mall to kill a bit of time, then got some Ihop as a cozy and a tasty dinner treat. Then we were off for some spookier fun at Liberty Ridge Farm in Schaghticoke. The farm was really cute and they did a great job dressing it up for Halloween. I am not usually one to get scared by haunted houses, but I found it incredibly fun and entertaining anyway! Sadly, I didn’t get very many pictures, but I guess that just means that, if you ever find yourself in the area, you have to check it out for yourself!

Aside from the many haunted attractions, they had a lot of fun little activities to do. They had bonfires burning, a huge bouncing bubble, tricycle go karts, a little corn barn to play in, tug of war, a spinning set of rope swings and so much more!

Overall, the day was a huge success and I love the fact that my friends and I could explore together and enjoy some Halloween fun. I can check tons of things off of my bucket list after this trip and I can’t wait for future fall adventures to come!

Have any suggestions of where I should explore next? Let me know in the comments! And until next time, wish you were here~

Jess~