During our accidental extended stay in upstate New York, we ran into quite a few characters. At least our delay wasn’t dull!
(The ~foot of snow, snowbanks and relentless snowflakes are missing from this pic)
Photo credit: Glenn Wells, http://www.roadsidefans.com/hudsonvalley.html
First, there were the folks at the diner. The Martindale Chief Diner is a classic roadside diner. It’s one that I’ve driven by many times, but only stopped at once before. This is mostly because on our trips north from NYC to Williamstown on the Taconic, the diner appears in your rearview after you’ve driven past the exit. It also is one exit away from the exit for Williamstown, and that point you’re so tantalizingly close (aka 45 minutes; it’s all relative) to your final destination that it seems silly to stop there instead of, say, pulling up to Thai Garden on Spring Street and having that deliciously familiar, familiarly delicious pad thai. Which is what Joe and I do, 99% of the time.
Wait, where were we? Oh, diner! Yes, the Martindale Chief Diner is a good one. Complete with a friendly local waitress topping up your coffee, a gruff but ultimately helpful proprietor (he busted out his tractor to plow the lot; the 10” of snow that had accumulated in 2 hours rendered our car completely useless, despite the flat ground), local octagenarians who pull up in their big old boat-cars and dispense their opinions and observations freely (“Just what I needed to see in a snowstorm, sailors!” for example), and us random stranded visitors. We didn’t have any food while we were there, but we heard it was good. Apparently the fried cheesecake is to die for (literally, dare I say?) - it sure disappeared quickly when someone ordered it.
Navy Guys
There were two navy guys in their pea coats having a smoke outside when we pulled up to the diner. I didn’t notice the shiny patent leather shoes in my hurry to get out of the snow, but when they came in and took off their coats, we saw the dress whites. There were three of them, perched at the counter the whole time we were there. Very friendly, very sociable. They were, after all, recruiters for the navy. They were also stuck hoping to wait out the storm, having driven down from the Albany area. One guy spent a good hour or so reacquainting himself with the joys of coloring with a coloring book and some crayons they had at the diner. One guy lent us their cell phone, since he was able to get a tiny bit of cell reception. The other guy was moving to Florida next month, which I bet he’s relishing right about now. These were also the guys who pulled up in their white minivan to rescue us when we got stuck a few hours later.
(Again, much snow missing in this pic, taken from their website www.wunderbarandbistro.com/
Austrian Guy
We walked a few blocks from our hotel to find a place to get some food that rather miserable evening. An establishment called “Wunder Bar,” (haha, get it? Wunderbar is German for wonderful) was still open and the menu had some good comfort food items on it (including Wiener Schnitzel!), so we wandered in. Turns out the owner, Imre, is an Austrian man, who emigrated to the US in the 1960s. He grew up in the district next to where I grew up in Vienna. We had fun chatting with him, and his friend…
German Guy
Karl showed up when we were having dinner and hung out at the bar chatting with the owner and the waitress. A rather portly fellow with a loud, friendly disposition.. both Karl and Imre were OUTRAGED when we explained how we had ended up stuck in their neck of the woods. Seeming to have adopted both this country and its famous litigiousness, there was much exclaiming of how we should sue Hertz. I love the accents, but it’s been forever tainted by the legacy of California’s current governor, particularly when tough talk is occurring: “I vood sue dem!”
Karl had arrived in Hudson after driving for many, many hours, bringing up a truckload of peanuts from the South. He then distributes these peanuts to bars and restaurants in upstate New York. He also owns a German foods import business, and a German butcher shop. The Alpine Meat and Sausage House, as well as Karl’s Butcher Shop, BBQ & Grill. Karl promised he’d help me source Kinderüberraschungseir Adventkalendars for me this November (my sisters will be very lucky and very happy - they were big fans of this the last time I hand-delivered some from Austria). He also is vying to cater part of our wedding weekend. An entire roast pig, anyone? I know there are many in our party who would be quite happy about this. Joe and I told Karl we’d go and find him up in Schoharie NY and check out the goods. Yum!
Both guys felt quite bad for us, after hearing the sob story of the day. Imre offered to drive us to Albany the next day since he was headed up there anyway. Karl ran out to his truck and returned with two packs of German salami - if we got stuck again, at least we wouldn’t starve to death!
