Harlem Valley Rail Trail and 30th Surprise

My intention was to surprise Shaun for his 30th Birthday to a place like Aruba or something like that, but considering that wasn't going to happen, why not a trip to Captain Lawrence in Pleasantville and a stay in Amenia! There are reasons things worked out this way, surprises never go as planned and I don't own a car...

We took Metro North to Pleasantville and caught the first tour at Captain Lawrence Brewing Company for some Liquid Gold brunch. We didn't get much hiking in this year, so I plotted around getting us to and from The Harlem Valley Rail Trail which meant a stay at the Alpen Haus B&B in Amenia, NY. Rosemarie Hiltbrunner- O'Handley was a delightful woman, I couldn't resist reserving a room. Funny enough, Shaun had actually been to Amenia when he was a little kid and had memories there so in some ways this worked out well for the 30th milestone.

The Harlem Valley Rail Trail was beautiful, an easy walk with our packs. It would be excellent to do the entire trail, we covered about 9 miles. All in all, a success!