A Picnic With A View

This past Saturday, my girlfriends and I took the train upstate to visit Storm King Art Center. (Yes, I consider everything north of NYC to be upstate.) We threw a picnic there for my friend Ansley’s birthday, and it couldn’t have been a more picturesque setting. Storm King is an outdoor sculpture park with over 100 sculptures by acclaimed artists like Andy Goldsworthy, Richard Serra, Alexander Calder, Mark di Suvero, Roy Lichtenstein, Sol Lewitt, the list goes on...

We brought blankets and spread out on the grass with views of impressive sculptures against a backdrop of the Catskill Mountains. My friends are pretty savvy in the kitchen, so we feasted on a delicious spread of turkey, brie, and fig jam sandwiches, guacamole, mango salsa, steamed pork buns, artichoke pasta salad, chocolate chip banana bread, and cherry almond hand pies.

Hand pies are my new favorite thing. In case you don’t know, get familiar. Hand pies are portable mini pies shaped like an empanada meant to be eaten with your hands. My friend Deb can do no wrong in the kitchen, and she’s so modest about it too. Every time she bakes something, she issues a disclaimer that she “didn’t sample it yet” or “it’s a new recipe”, so she’s not sure if it will be good. At this point, we all roll our eyes, because we know if Deb made it, it’s going to be amazing. And of course, her hand pies were as delicious as they were adorable.

Paul and I actually visited Storm King five years ago when we did a weekend upstate for our one year anniversary of dating. I take him to a lot of art-related places when we travel, but Storm King was a particularly fun trip. It’s one of those places that everyone can appreciate. You don’t have to be an art buff to enjoy a day outdoors in a gorgeous landscape scattered with works of art.

Me & Paul (with dreads!) on our 2008 trip to Storm King