The Troy Waterfront Farmers’ Market offers year-round access to the freshest (and sometimes most eclectic) produce around. Even if you aren’t cooking, it’s a real delight to check out the range of items available, from freshly baked bread to locally made soap, lobster quiche and artisan cheese… and, of course, plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables. The market is as much an event as it‘s a venue, with street performers, music and other entertainment to charm and delight you while you shop. Meet a mushroom farmer, taste the Buddha Pesto, treat your children to chocolate from Sweet Sue’s and enjoy people-watching. The market goes indoors in the winter but loses none of its charm when it does.
The Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, interestingly, is not on the old site of a bank. The bank was built in 1870 to include the music hall as a thank you to loyal patrons. Today the hall is leased from the bank and provides a plethora of concerts and events with nearly 200 performances every year. The organ may be the Hall’s centerpiece: the largest nineteenth-century concert organ in original condition in the nation. It’s a brilliant example of a “golden age” in American organ building and the sound it produces is magnificent. There is a free “Music at Noon” concert on the second Tuesday of each month and the Hall frequently hosts the Albany Symphony Orchestra. Come and enjoy music in a venue that is said to have some of the best acoustics in the world.
Great food, great scenery and something a little different is on offer from Captain JP Cruises, which will take you on a three-hour tour up the Hudson River. There are three completely enclosed decks, and the boats are equipped with central air conditioning and heat, along with full-service bars and a dance floor on each deck. Specialized tours include the Wednesday Luncheon cruise, the Comic/Dinner Dance cruise, the Saturday Narrated Buffet Lock cruise and the Sunday Buffet Brunch cruise. The food is consistently excellent, and the views are amazing. The Rensselaer County Historical Society’s motto is “bringing the region’s past to life, recognizing every face and every story,” and that is precisely what it does, with its collections of photographs and stories that make the past come alive. The Society includes a museum and the Hart-Cluett House, and presents a historic walking tour as well, and all three offer time well spent. The Hart-Cluett House is one of the best intact examples of the late Federal period in America: it has many stylistic details associated with New York City homes of the same period, many of which have been destroyed. It even shows technical wizardry with advanced heating and plumbing—not at all usual for the period.
If your youngest kids weren’t able to spend a Morning at the Museum, then bring them to the Children’s Museum of Science and Technology, geared toward kindergarten-age tots (though with some exhibits for everyone). The live-animal displays are always popular while the hands-on science experiments are clear and fun. This is a small museum that will not exhaust younger children the way that other big-city museums do, and there are kid-friendly events that include “Science Story Time,” science camps and “Toddler Explore and More.” It’s an unusual and excellent opportunity to start science education early.
There is an exhibit, a workshop, a performance and a class for everybody at the Arts Center of the Capital Region, a visitor-friendly community arts center. Kids and teens have special exhibits and courses, and there are opportunities to try writing, culinary arts, crafts, digital arts, studio work and performing arts. Stop by when you are in the area and see what there might be there for you!
The tri-city region of New York offers a great deal to see and do, so make your reservations now at one of the Latham, New York hotels listed above to embark on a vacation that will take you on the water, through a farm, around artists and onward to the exploration of science, providing delightful and meaningful activities for your whole family.