5 Places You Can Go To Escape The City This Fall

By Jonas Barnes

Fall in NYC means flash flood warnings, overflowing subways and the smell of trash being thick with moisture in the air. It also means pumpkin everything and cool festivals throughout the city all the time. There is definitely some awesome shit to go along with the nastiness.

In fact, if you’re going to stay in the city, there’s plenty of places to go that will show you a whole other side of New York City such as: Inwood Park and any of the various botanical gardens throughout the city. But today, I want to focus on those of us that get the itch to leave. There are plenty of places that you can go using public transit that will make you forget that you’re in New York.

Here are 5 places you can go to escape the city this fall.

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1: Providence, Rhode Island

I’m including this one for a couple reasons, but I’ll get to all of them. The first reason is very specific to me because I love the horror genre. In Providence, you can take an H.P. Lovecraft Tour where you tour the city sites that framed his life & works. For any fan, this is a must. But maybe you’re not into all that dark shit, right? Luckily, Providence is like all the good parts of Brooklyn smashed into a condensed town full of charm, personality and cheap shit. The dive bars are cheap as all hell, the food is awesome and affordable plus you can explore the towns historical sites very easily. The place is tiny but full of all sorts of history.

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2: Tarrytown/Sleepy Hollow

Speaking of darkness and beauty, let’s talk about Sleepy Hollow. The town is drenched in folklore that you’ve probably heard of once or twice and even had a Johnny Depp film made about the legend of “The Headless Horseman” of Sleepy Hollow. Rest assured that you won’t be chased around by a sword wielding, horse riding headless dude while visiting. You will, however, see castles. Real castles that you would think you’d have to travel to Europe to see and even one that has been converted into a bad ass hotel called “Castle Hotel & Spa”.

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3: Poughkeepsie/Kingston/Saugerties

Since we’re on the Metro North already, let’s stop off in this trio of cool places. Poughkeepsie is the “biggest” of the cities on this list here in the sense of population. It’s the most modern for sure. It won’t feel too far away from NYC yet it’ll give you enough respite from the concrete jungle. Kingston is just a short jaunt up that feels completely different from Poughkeepsie, though. It’s old as hell, rustic, historic and feels like you’ve transported into a period film set. Rightfully so, as it’s a popular filming destination for Hollywood. And then just a little farther, you get the awesome little village of Saugerties.  It has the Woodstock Museum, shit loads of parks, hiking, history out the ass and animal sanctuaries.

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4: Atlantic City, NJ

Okay, this one is a bit of a stretch if only for the fact that it’s a tiny ass big city. I’ll say this, though: Atlantic City is a den of sinful fun that you should go to at least once if you live in NYC. Take the train or bus, grab some cash, leave your moral compass at home and go indulge. It’s not what it used to be but it’s still a fun time. Go to the beaches, the boardwalk, the casinos and check out some of the old mob hangouts because they’re there if you snoop around.

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5: Amtrak

But wait, Amtrak is just a train, right? Yes it is. But it’s actually a not-shitty train in the Northeast. So here is what you do: You set aside a day and you jump on an Amtrak that takes you through the Hudson Valley. Why? Because it’s goddamn beautiful and it makes you forget that you live in a city where a homeless guy could jack off in your general direction at any time. You get to see all that the northern NY landscape has to offer along with mapping out future trips. It’s a breathtaking journey that I could not recommend enough.

There is so much more than just the 5 things that I’ve listed, but it’s a start for you city folks that are getting claustrophobic and need a respite from the daily grind of this hellacious beauty we call home.