worn throughout: jacket, uchawi. top, topshop. skirt, bcbg. sunglasses, dior. boots, italian pair of riding boots that I’ve had for maybe 10 yrs.
There is nothing like a crisp New England fall day. I went to Amherst college in Massachusetts; Amherst was that quintessentially New England town beautiful old buildings, a Main street, and the seasons! It was in the Pioneer Valley and each year of fall foliage was more beautiful than the last. Different shades of golden browns and reds mixing with the greens and my favorite, the deep hot pinks! I’m a city girl and I love the outdoors, and think it’s quite important to get out of the city once in a while — or as frequently as you can. Fall weekends go so quickly and activities like pumpkin picking and apple picking are a must every season. So when the team at Circle Line Cruises offered me a day cruise up to Bear Mountain, I jumped at the opportunity. Shooting it for my blog was a whole different story: would I don the popular athleisure trend like the pieces I’ve been eying from brands like Outdoor Voices or mix it up and be that Carrie goes up to Aiden’s cabin and freaks out a la SATC. As this was an Oktoberfest booze cruise, I realized I probably wouldn’t be hiking all that much so I went with the later. My only stipulation to that: no heels!
Every Saturday and Sunday from the September 26th – November 1st, Circle Line cruises runs a full day Oktoberfest cruise from 8.30am – 5.30pm. You pick up the boat at their pier on 42nd and 12th in Manhattan. As you’re taking a beautiful cruise up the Hudson river you can enjoy German beer and traditional German Oktoberfest food such as soft pretzels, potatoes and bratwurst. For $35, guests can purchase a souvenir 20 oz. beer mug on board in which they can fill up for free throughout the entire duration of the cruise. Once at Bear Mountain, you’ll have leisure time from 11:30am – 3:00pm and can hike, bike, visit the zoo, enjoy brunch at Bear Mountain Inn, view the foliage, boat on the lake and more. There is also a bike rental package available, in which guests can rent bikes for an additional $20 per person to take with them on the boat to ride once at Bear Mountain. We took some photos, got lost and got a delicious ice cream.
Prices are $65 for adults, $40 for children and $58 for seniors (food and beverage excluded). It’s like cruising a riverboat up the Mississippi, but not as chic (I think I’m thinking the 1800s though). And there seemed to be tons of dates — hey, points for creativity. I actually have had a date hiking up at Bear Mountain and it was a pretty great way to spend a day getting to know someone, especially if you’re doing a challenging trail.
Book your tickets here!
PHOTOS OF ME BY GABRIELLE SWAN