I love the spring.  I love the warm lingering days, the light green buds that sprout from every tree; the lush green spring grass; tulips and daffodils, hyacinths, and the fresh scent in the air.  Most of all, I love the pink trees – Magnolias, cherry blossoms, Pink Dogwood, Lilacs, Wysteria – they are all so magnificent.  When one blossom finishes, the next round of pink emerges! 

This week, I am enjoying a leisurely spring week at home with no alarm clocks to wake me, no long commutes, incessant cell phone ringing or other work-related stresses.  I have just sat back and relaxed.

Yesterday, my cousin Michele came by and we ran some family errands in Goshen.  We tried to have lunch in a restaurant that a friend recommended to us named Catherine’s, but they were closed.  Instead, we went for an afternoon drive through the country.

Do you ever have the urge to drive down a road just to see where it goes?  Well, I had never been to Pine Island.  I’ve seen signs for it for years, but never actually went there.  Pine Island New York is an agricultural Mecca within Orange County.   It is home to our famed Black Dirt, which is some of the richest soil in the world (ideal for onions).  So Michele and I turned away from Goshen and headed down Pulasky Highway into the town of Pine Island. 

We felt like we stepped back in time.  There were lush rolling hills, and large plots of farmland with ink-black soil speckled with workers planting this years crops.  We drove and drove all the way through to Warwick, where we tried to stop in my favorite French bakery (Jean Claude) to pick up a few things.  To our dismay, Jean Claude and his wife were on vacation.  I even called the Iron Forge Inn, an excellent eatery located in Bellvale, NY to find that they do not serve lunch in the middle of the week.

So we parked in the center of Warwick and decided to try a local restaurant that I have never eaten in before, Ten Railroad Avenue.  I read many of the quite positive reviews and I always meant to try it.  Now I had a chance.  For years, many of the really wonderful, high quality restaurants in the Hudson Valley were located on the other side of the river in Westchester, Putnam and Dutchess counties or higher up in the Catskill region (New Paltz, Woodstock, Kingston, etc).  However, with the drastic increase in population within Rockland and Orange these past 5-10 years; more and more great restaurants have begun to pop up. 

Michele and I sat down at one of the outdoor tables and began with a glass of iced tea.  We watched the skater kids and talked until our appetizer arrived.

The coconut shrimp and cold sesame noodles were delicious; each offered a pleasant balance of sweet and savory.  If I were to nit pick a bit, I would confess that the shrimp were slightly overcooked, but not enough to detract from the flavors of the dish.

For our lunch/dinner, Michele ordered the lobster ravioli (which she thoroughly enjoyed) and I had the sandwich special,  a chicken cutlet sandwich with melted mozzarella, roasted peppers and pesto on an Italian bread. 
It took me a long time to eat that sandwich, more than an hour, but neither one of us minded.  We just enjoyed the warmth of spring.  We were grateful to be outdoors.

After lunch, we walked through town, gazing at the stream that cuts through the back of Main Street, browsing in the local stores, the Victorian Lace shop, the Chocolate Shop, the Antique store, etc. 

We then stopped for ice cream at the Pioneer Restaurant and found out that their chef used to be the chef at the old Warwick Inn (a family favorite that went out of business).  When I got home, I took a nap.  All in all, we had a lovely Spring day!