A few weeks ago, on my instagram feed, I stumbled upon a post from a café in the Hudson Valley. I looked further and saw photos of books and coffee and beer — all snuggled under one roof with a very poetic name.. Rough Draft Bar & Books. This café/bar/bookstore caught my eye and tugged at my heart strings. In the comments section, I tagged my dear friend/former college roommate, Tracey, who lives in Troy, NY — and said “Hey, we should meet for coffee here soon!”.
Tracey agreed, and a couple of weeks later we did just that! She drove an hour South, and I drove two hours North — We met around noon and enjoyed great coffee, conversation and a bite to eat. Rough Draft was just as adorable as I had expected — quaint, cozy with great energy. It’s located in historic “Uptown” on John Street in Kingston, New York. Rough Draft has only been open a few months and seems to be a bustling hub for the community.
From there, we walked up John Street toward Front Street and meandered in and out of antique stores and shops of Uptown Kingston. Then we drove a few miles to “Downtown” which is near the river — and wandered in/out of more cute shops, chatting it up with their friendly owners.
What I loved about this day was seeing an old friend, face-to-face, in a new place and exploring it together as we caught up on each other’s lives. Technology introduced us a great new spot, then we followed it up with some old fashioned friend time.
Making the time to get together with friends in person is worth the effort 1000 times over. Reserving a day to break away from the usual routine is also completely refreshing. Especially in the middle of winter. MORE day trips please!
We wound down our visit at a great restaurant called Kovo and enjoyed a late lunch of chickpea fritters and Greek Caesar salads. Super yum.
I realize as I am writing this post that I should have taken notes at all the places we stopped into!! Oh well — I was caught up in the moment of the day — and wasn’t thinking about much! Which is a good thing I guess. 😉
Alas, a very thorough blogpost has already been written about Kingston! To learn more about this “city in the middle of the country”, click here. Or just get yourself over there and wander around yourself! ♥
