Cold Spring
Angelina's, a pizza place, stands out from the others for one reason: Location. To get there, you'll have to head down Route 9D, under Breakneck Ridge, and into Putnam County to reach the tiny village of Cold Spring, which has been undergoing its own revival. The village's tiny Main Street remains as picture-perfect as ever, thanks to its being zoned as a historic district. There will be no four-story behemoths springing up overnight on Cold Spring's Main Street, as they are in Beacon. Come hell or high water, no crimes against God or aesthetics shall be committed in the Village of Cold Spring.
But Cold Spring's Main Street has been slowly getting a little hipper over the past few years, as the dim and dusty antique stores are being replaced by appealing boutiques, wine shops, and (coming soon!) an independent bookstore. The upscale outdoor shop Old Souls and the Cold Spring General Store, both of which opened a few years ago to herald the beginning of a trendier era on Main Street, both recently expanded.
You won't find Angelina's here, however. It's just beyond the historic district, around the corner on Route 9D. While the historic district remains an accessible and appealing visit thanks to the train station in the middle of it, some of Cold Spring's most interesting attractions are off the beaten path. Head out of the village as Main Street turns into Route 301 for empanadas and churros at Juanita's Kitchen. Keep heading up 301, make a right on Route 9, and you'll soon find the Cold Spring Coffee Pantry, tucked in between the whole-animal butchery Marbled Meat Shop and Vera's Marketplace and Garden Center, the latter of which has been a local institution since 1982. The Coffee Pantry not only roasts their own beans, but also cans their own cold brew to go, along with their own turmeric elixirs for those who are still a little jittery from hitting all of Beacon's coffee shops.
Head on down the road just a bit further and you'll find the biggest addition to Putnam County's attractions in years: Magazzino, a 20,000-square-foot warehouse repurposed into an art space and library devoted to 20th-century avant-garde Italian art. Just don't call it a museum: Due to the fact that it's not a nonprofit, it couldn't be zoned as one. For now, just call it an "art warehouse," and note that while Magazzino is open to the public, you'll need to make a free reservation online before you visit.
Garrison
Head even further down the road and you'll hit the town of Garrison, which many visitors don't even realize is a "town" at all to it, as it's mostly just private, large houses enshrouded in the woods. (Like Boscobel, the 19th-century estate, now a historic site, which hosts the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival on its lawn in the summer.) There is, however, public life in Garrison. Garrison's Landing, a small plaza on the river that features the train station, has served as the town square since Hello, Dolly! was filmed here 50 years ago. It's been quiet down at the landing for the past 10 years since the beloved pub Guinan's closed, leaving the Garrison Art Center and the Philipstown Depot Theater having to do a lot of civic heavy lifting, admirably sustaining the cultural and public life for the entire community. They're finally going to get some company, as the spot where Guinan's was is about to reopen as a new pub called Dolly's, and a summer of events to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the filming of Hello, Dolly! are about to kick off, including an outdoor screening of the film and live reenactments of the some of the film's most iconic scenes. You will, at long last, be able to hang out in Garrison again.
