2010 Garden Party

Dear Friends, Come celebrate the beauty of the highlands in western Kent. Rain or Shine!

Bring some food for the pot luck and drink for the coolers, a blanket and/or some chairs, or just wear comfortable clothes and hang out on the grass in the field. We'll have plates and forks and knives and spoons and cups so you can leave those at home.

Don't forget your sunscreen if the weather is right and the long-range forecast is calling for partly cloudy and "unseasonably cool" (so the bonfire may start a little earlier than planned).

When the sun goes down the fire-pit becomes the place for gathering and we'll be sure to have it blazing.

What you could do:

• Bring along some friends, the extended family, the neighbors, your kids, the dogs... pretty much anything and anyone that walks or rolls. 

• Bring your musical instruments, your talents and yes, even your accordions and kazoos. But be prepared to play them.
  

• If you're traveling from away or taste testing the barleycorn, bring your tent. There's plenty of room to camp.
  

• Handicap parking is available! (see the map at the bottom of this page)

Directions From Pretty Much Everywhere...

From Western Westchester:

Hop on the Taconic Parkway northbound, travel through Fahnestock State Park and get off at Route 301 for Carmel. Turn right at the end of the ramp. Follow Route 301 for about 3 miles. Route 301 will enter a wide, straight stretch with a hill on your right and lowlands on your left and then go into a wide bend towards the right. At that bend, Farmer's Mills Road cuts in on the left. Turn LEFT onto Farmer's Mills Road, then make an immediate LEFT onto Miller Hill Road at the red barn. Follow Miller Hill Road for 7/10 mile and look for the 2010GP signs.

From Eastern Westchester and Connecticut:

[Take I684 north to] I84 and follow that west towards Newburgh. After about 11 miles you'll crest the top of a hill with a stunning view of the Hudson Valley on the other side. On a clear day you can see the razor sharp ridges of the Catskill high peaks. Another few miles down the road you'll come to the Taconic Parkway - take that South towards NYC. Get off the Taconic at the first exit - Miller Hill Road. The AT crosses here so keep an eye out for hikers. At the bottom of the ramp turn left, go under the highway and continue up and over the hill. On the far side you'll come to a STOP SIGN in front of the Madden Outdoor Education Center. Keep going and watch for 2010GP signs.

You can also get off I84 at Exit 17 - Ludingtonville Road: At the end of the ramp turn LEFT onto Ludingtonville road and take that until it ends at Route 52. Turn RIGHT onto Route 52 and follow that for about a mile or so. You'll see a large greenish barn on your left and then a small strip mall. (Pecksville Plaza) Turn LEFT at the little mall onto Milltown Road (RT30). This will wind its way past Ballard Pond then at a 4 way intersection become White Pond Road. Continue forwards and pass White Pond which will be on your left, until that road ends at Farmer's Mills Road. Turn RIGHT onto Farmer's Mills and take that for about 2 miles to Miller Hill Road. (If you get to the end of Farmer's Mills Road at Route 301 you've gone a few hundred feet too far!) Turn RIGHT onto Miller Hill at the red barn and look for the 2010GP signs.

From Dutchess County:

Take the Taconic southwards to Miller Hill Road. At the bottom of the ramp turn left, go under the highway and continue up and over the hill. On the far side you'll come to a STOP SIGN in front of the Madden Outdoor Education Center. Keep going and watch for 2010GP signs.

From Southern Putnam County:

Find your way to Route 301 at the Courthouse and follow that towards Cold Spring for about 7 miles, passing the West Branch and Boyd's Reservoirs, Peekskill Hollow Road, and a cemetery. Farmer's Mills Road comes in on the RIGHT just after the cemetery. Turn RIGHT onto Farmer's Mills Road, then make an immediate LEFT onto Miller Hill Road by the red barn. Follow Miller Hill Road for 7/10 mile and look for the 2010GP signs. If you're in Mahopac, Dixon Road will get you to Route 301. Turn LEFT when you reach it.

From Western Putnam County:

Take Route 301 and then follow directions for the folks coming from western Westchester at the Taconic Parkway. From Putnam Valley, either take Peekskill Hollow Road to Route 301 or, if you're on the other side of town, Dennytown Road will take you to Route 301.

From Eastern Putnam County:

You can't get here from there... at least not easily. However, from Route 22 in Patterson... Take Route 311 and turn right onto Route 292. Follow that for about 2 or 3 miles until you can turn LEFT over the old rail road tracks just before you enter Holmes. Continue, now on County Route 30 (Holmes Road) until it ends at Route 52. Turn right onto Route 52, then immediately left onto Milltown Road (still CR30). This will wind its way past Ballard Pond then at a 4 way intersection become White Pond Road. Continue forwards and pass White Pond which will be on your left, until that road ends at Farmer's Mills Road. Turn RIGHT onto Farmer's Mills and take that for about 2 miles to Miller Hill Road. (If you get to the end of Farmer's Mills at Route 301 you've gone a few hundred feet too far!) Turn RIGHT onto Miller Hill at the red barn and look for the 2010GP signs.

Contact Information:

Where to Park:

Please carpool, drive a small car, hike or ride your bike/motorcycle.

You'll need to pull in on a rough dirt track. It's OK for small cars if you go slow and ride high. Come up the drive (black arrows on the map) and angle right into the field and pull, if you can, towards the Big White House (see the yellow areas on the map). Parking will be marked to a degree but we'll depend on your intuition and good sense to get as many cars in as possible.

For those with special needs for parking, continue on the drive until you get to the loop by my cottage at the end. There's room there for three cars.

Disclaimer:

This is an outdoor gathering and anything can happen. It is possible you will be swallowed whole by a King Cobra, bitten by a tsetse fly or attacked by a wolverine. You may fall into a chasm or be hit on the head by a falling rock. It is possible, though not entirely probable, that you will be squashed flat by a meteor or taken hostage by the Canadian national curling team.

Don't think it can't happen. It has and it will again.

You may engage in conversation with someone who upsets you. You might come into contact with someone carrying the plague or wearing too much cologne or whose choice of clothing is bothersome to your moral sense. You might roll down a hill or skateboard off a cliff. You may be vaporized by an exploding supernova, step into quicksand or meet your ex who is here with your boss placing you in a very uncomfortable position. And though he has not been invited, you might meet the reincarnated spirit of Jesse Helms.

Madona may perform. You have been warned.

Your dog may get fleas. You may get sunburned or uncover the secret documents hidden in the blue cooler leading to a terrific car chase with lots of explosions and near-misses. You may not like the food. You may not like the music. There are wild animals which may be vicious, poisonous or carriers of dread diseases. These may include poisonous snakes and insects and alien forms unknown to man. Plants can be poisonous as well.

We don't do anything to protect you from any of this, especially the fleas.

You may get lost in a fog or struck by lightning. Your car may get a flat tire, your wife may divorce you creating a public scene. You might slip and fall. You might be blinded by intense beauty. You could break a fingernail or get split ends.  People at the party including other visitors and guests, and anyone else who might sneak in, may be reckless, or otherwise dangerous.

On the other hand, it is possible and mostly probable you will have a really nice time. You have been warned.