#keepwassaicweird

A bit off topic (not really), I wanted to highlight some of the amazing things we love about Wassaic, NY. Almost every weekend we’ve been working on the house, we’ve discovered some amazing new side of this awesome little town.*

We all loved the house as soon as Zillow sent it to me in a random email in November, 2018, but it wasn’t until we discovered The Wassaic Project that we scheduled a visit. A super cool art studio/residence/gallery/defacto-community-center, The Wassaic Project just gives off good, inclusive, vibes.

Randomly, we came to see the house on December 15, the day of the Wassaic Winter Market at The Barn.** There we met loads of people from Wassaic, Amenia, and surrounding towns (and discovered the best coffee roasters in the entire world). Several we met were originally from Brooklyn. We fell in love with the town (and the house).

Which leads me to fun things we’ve done in and around Wassaic since January.

• The Wassaic Project’s Summer Opening was a big one, complete with art, old fire engines, and a parade.

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• Another fun day included the Wassaic Iron Pits (or Charcoal Kilns… whatever the name, very cool pieces of history!). Walking distance from the house, the old iron pits (which look like stone igloos) are hidden behind a few trees, and feel a whole world (or time) away. Perfect place for a picnic, or just a cool (both meanings) place to explore.

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• One week we managed to make it up to the house on a weekday! The possibilities seemed endless, so I went first to the Amenia Historical Society and met the lovely historians, learned more details about my new (very old) house, and the hamlet of Wassaic. They even sent me some old pictures of my house and the town (I’ll post when I ask their permission!)
  They have a nice set-up in the Amenia Town Hall, and it was really interesting to learn a bit our new town.

• Speaking of Amenia town hall, I got to clear up some expired permits the previous owners left us, and check out an early-season outdoor Farmer’s Market.

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• Lastly (for this post – more for later) pretty much every visit since March*** has included a trip to The Lantern. The ~130 year old restaurant (intermittently) strikes the perfect balance between delicious food (and drinks), fun ambiance, and playground for the kids – complete with a bouncy house/slide. The employees are all amazing, the history tangible, the food locally sourced – and pretty damn good.
  • My super picky 9-year-old likes the food, our 3 year old friend keeps asking to go back, and his infant sister couldn’t get enough of the pizza.

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There’s more we’ve done, but I ran out of pictures and/or space. Some of the things that have been most meaningful to us are pretty boring to describe.**** Suffice to say, the hamlet and surrounding towns are awesome.

*Technically a hamlet.
**Eventually, this will be home to a coffee shop. That day cannot come soon enough!
***We also checked out some Dutchess County Maple Farms during the 2019 Maple Festival that same weekend; it was awesome.
****One of our neighbors brought us raspberries he picked from our house last year; one of the Wassaic Project directors, Jeff Barnett-Winsby, plowed our driveway one snowy day, just because he knew it would make our lives easier (didn’t even ask for thanks – this kindness and thoughtfulness blew us away); the ace staff of the Ace Hardware store in Kent, CT have practically become my personal shoppers; some other neighbors check in regularly online and irl (and help keep my anxiety levels manageable!); and some other neighbors – who we met at that original winter market – have shared their coffee with me, their new peeps with my boys, and their general awesomeness with us all.