I did a scenic drive through the Catskills. The awesome part of a scenic drive is that it is incredibly scenic. The bad part - not a lot of photos. It really was amazingly beautiful and here are some of the photos I did snap.
I stopped at the Point Lookout Inn for lunch, and had a really incredible grilled cheese sandwich, while taking in the view of 5, count 'em FIVE, states: The Hudson Valley, New York; Green Mountains, Vermont; White Mountains, New Hampshire; Berkshire Mountains, Massachusetts, The Connecticut Valley.
Toward the end of the drive guide I was headed to Prattsville, NY to see Pratt Rock and some cliff carvings. The main road was closed, so I took a detour. As I drove through a little corner of the town to get back on track I was thinking it was kind of a dumpy little town. Everything had an uncared for, dilapidated look. There were shutters, doors, and porches all skiwampus, no grass, and huge piles of trash EVERY WHERE.
As I continued through the town it got worse and worse, everything just not-quite-right, and I started to think maybe this was more than general not well kept-ness. And then, I saw this:
When I got back to the hotel I Googled Prattsville; it turned out that this tiny town had been nearly destroyed by flooding caused by Hurricane Irene. Now, down in Philly, we mostly made fun of the big to-do over Irene, but man, seeing this first hand. It made me sick. These poor people were trapped in a raging flood, with all the bridges washed out. It was definitely educational, but not a high point on which to end the day.
