Where to Go, What to Know

Writer Annie Groer went to Hudson, N.Y., to hunt for antiques. Here's her reporter's notebook.

TRAVEL TIME

8 hours by bus and train

COST

$108.70 (not including lodging)

GETTING THERE

I took a DC2NY bus ($28 from Dupont Circle) that stops a block from Manhattan's Penn Station, where I jumped onto Amtrak ($26.35 for a two-hour, oft-delayed scenic riverside ride; total travel time, eight daylight hours for $54.35 one way); Amtrak's cheapest Washington-Hudson run (change trains in Manhattan) is $73 one way and takes just over six hours, departing at 7:30 p.m., arriving 1:42 a.m. Southwest Airlines has 70-minute flights from BWI to Albany starting at $59 each way; add car rental and a 35-mile drive.

STAYING THERE

I chose the Union Street Guest House (349 Union St., 518-828-0958 or 888-477-7906, http://www.unionstreetguesthouse.com), a converted Greek Revival home a block off Warren Street. Mismatched furniture made it feel like Granny's house. No room phones, no breakfast but free WiFi ($150 a night, two-night weekend minimum in high season). I should have stayed at the restored Inn at Hudson (317 Allen St. 518-822-9322, http://www.theinnathudson.com), a 1906 Dutch Jacobean mansion (first night $200-$225, $100-$125 thereafter). The Inn at Ca'Mea (12 City Hall Pl., 518-822-0005) has four modern (and largely tchotchke-free) guest rooms in an 1800s Federal house that sits behind the patio of its namesake eatery ($100-$150 per double; two-night weekend minimum May-October; no breakfast; inn patrons save 20 percent on Ca'Mea Ristorante meals).

EATING THERE

Swoon Kitchenbar (340 Warren St., 518-822-8938), its front door obscured by a lush garden, is a foodie favorite. Dinner for two with wine can easily top $125. Ca'Mea Ristorante (333 Warren St., 518-822-0005) offers Northern Italian fare. Watch the staff in action around the corner on Third Street, where the kitchen door is often left open (there's a screen). Get a touch of France at Le Gamin (609 Warren St., 518-828-2885), specializing in crepes, wraps and salads. Between courses, shop for home goods (Le Gamin cafe au lait bowls, $40 a pair).

WHAT TO DO

Shop, of course, but be warned: Many Hudson merchants are closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays and shut their doors at 5 p.m. on other days. The town has so many architectural styles that I carried with me a free, self-guided walking tour brochure from Historic Hudson (611 Warren St., 518-828-1785, http://www.historichudson.org). Don't miss the Olana State Historic Site (5720 Route 9G, Hudson, 518-828-0135; http://www.olana.org). Here it's clear what inspired famed Hudson River School landscape painter Frederic Church. This Persian-style hilltop mansion he created from the 1870s until 1891 is over the top ($9 for a guided tour).

INFORMATION

The Columbia County Tourism Department (401 State St., third floor, Hudson; 800-724-1846 or 518-828-3375, http://www.columbiacountyny.org) has lots of brochures about Hudson and other communities. Ditto for the Hudson Antique Dealers Association (522 Warren St., 518-822-6522, http://www.hudsonantiques.net); among helpful aids for getting your treasures home safe: a list of five delivery and hauling firms and the UPS store.

-- A.G.