​Country Music: A Film by Ken Burns was a phenomenal trip through American pop culture. It explores country music from in nascent roots around the front porches and "hillbilly hollars" of the deep South to an explosion into the mainstream radio culture coast to coast. This film hits all American Dream the sweet spots: music, underdogs, and fame. Yet doesn't ignore the uglier underbelly of sexism, racism, or classism.

We watched the whole 8 part mini-series. I thought for sure I'd only want to watch up to Patsy Cline, Johnny Cash and Loretta Lynn. I'm not one for modern country music but Ken Burn's masterful story telling held me captive straight up to George Strait, Randy  Travis and the Judd's. 

As a treat for our guests because we know you love music as much as we do, Martin's compiled a playlist on Spotify inspired by the documentary. It has so many good songs, you're not going to be able to stop listening either. My personal favorite is the title track of our playlist, The Long Black Veil by Lefty Frizzel. You can learn more about Lefty, he makes his appearance in Episode 4: I Can't Stop Lovin' You (1953-1963). 

Did you know that all our units have internet based streaming RokuTV? With this amenity is as easy as signing into your home PBS account on the screen of our TVs. By following a few simple steps, you'll be watching the Country Music mini-series in no time. PBS Passport is required to view this program until February 28, 2020. Check room availability

The Tennessean newspaper has done us the favor of compiling the soundtrack to Country Music on PBS.  They've even gone so far as to break out each track by episode. You can find that here

If you're interested in catching some live country music, theres several events happening in Woodstock or within easy driving distance.. Why not make a trip of it. Here's a short list of upcoming events in the next little while to get you started:

FREE Bluegrass Express Oct 20 at Hurds Farm
Blues & Roots Jam Oct 20 at colony Woodstock
All Star Flat Pickin Guitar Oct 26 at Ashokan Center
Trigger Hippy Nov 2 at Levon Helms Barn
Mickey Leigh's Mutated Music Nov 8 at Colony Woodstock
Joan Shelley Nov 16 at Colony Woodstock
Yonder Mountain String Band Nov 17 at Levon Helms Barn
​Lula Wiles Nov 20 at Colony Woodstock
Puss N' Boots Nov 22 at Levon Helms Barn
The Dustbowl Revival Nov 24 at Colony Woodstock

​I’d be more likely to call these trails a nice flat walk in the woods. Clearly if you clicked this post you’re my kind of hiker. Um, walker? Uh….stroller??? 

Whatever your title, you want to come to the mountains, you want to see nature, you want to say you went on a hike but you don’t actually want to buy gear and break a sweat. Me, personally, I like to hike on concrete, past shop windows, stopping to hydrate on cocktails in a bug free zone. But I live here in Woodstock and am surrounded by the beauty of the Catskills every day.

So I’ve compiled a list of 6 sweet walking trails in and around Woodstock for you. With love, from one non-hiker to another…. read on….

Starting with the closest out of town walk and definitely the most artsy, Opus 40 Sculpture Park is an easy 15-minute drive from Woodstock. This site boasts a 6-½ acre bluestone sculpture built over a 37 year period by one man, Harvey Fite. There’s plenty of parking, shade and grassy fields, port-a-pots, a museum and the stunning sculpture. 

Another great walk with historic interest is the Ashokan Reservoir Promenade. This will take about 18 minutes to drive to from Woodstock. Once you’ve crossed the Reservoir Bridge, turn left and then left again onto 28A east. After one mile look for a “public parking” on left. Park and pick up the trail that takes you across the Beaverkill Dike. Enjoy stunning views of the Catskill Peaks reflected in the smooth waters.

For a well-rounded day in nature, you can drive the 13 minutes out to Kenneth Wilson State Park. Here you will find an easy nature hike trail by the day area (next to a wooden “Beaver Pond” sign). Make sure you’ve located the right path as this state park does offer over 35 miles of hiking trails. In addition to walking in the woods, day visitors can enjoy canoe rentals, soccer fields, horseshoe throwing, picnic tables and more. Dog friendly! No swimming. 

Cooper Lake is just an 8-minute drive from the Village Green. It’s the least ”hikey” hike. The lake sits just to the south of Rt. 212 between Shady and Lake Hill areas of the town of Woodstock. There are no true nature paths through the woods surrounding most of the lake, as it is the main reservoir for the nearby city of Kingston. You can park your car on the south side and walk on the back roads around about half of the lake. It’s a nice walk, flat with great views. When you’re done you can venture a bit further west and grab coffee from The Pines or brunch from Phoenicia Diner.

I’m adding this one in even though its not super close to Woodstock. However for its stunning views of the Hudson River, cool landscaping and wonderful raw branch "cathedral",  I truly love it. Its not that far out of town.  Poet’s Walk is about a 25-minute drive from Woodstock, across the Rhinecliff Bridge to the other side of the Hudson River. It’s a gorgeous bit of land, once owned by the Astor and Delano family’s who commissioned a landscape artist to plan the property. Poets Walk offers two miles of trails through woods and meadows with rustic cedar pavilions, footbridges, and benches. There is a long rolling hill you need to walk up in order to get the stunning vista of the Hudson River but it’s totally worth it and not hard at all. 

Hi all! We are Erin and Martin the hosts of Art Annex. We live here in Woodstock at the gates of the Catskill Mountains. It's pretty freakin' gorgeous. 

We settled here back in 2013. Somewhat immediately we realized that with our plans for raising our children on the property, we weren't really interested in sharing the place with permanent tenants like we had dealt with in Brooklyn. 

There was this great carriage house set right across our driveway. It had two small apartments with storage space in between them. First things first, we set to turning the storage spaces into art studios for Erin's work, one for illustration and printing and one for textile and fashion design. 

The apartments? We figured we would have space to host family and friends. MAYBE???? Maybe we could rent them on a short term basis? At the time all the Short Term Rental hosting sites were HUNDREDS of dollars to even get listed. We gave Craigslist a go but..... yeah. Creepy, right?

Then we discovered this gig-economy upstart called Airbnb. It was free to list your place and it had a really cool vibe compared to the giants in the space. We gave it a shot and the rest is history. It changed the trajectory of our lives. You can check out our offerings on Airbnb here

So in between the opening of our two spots here at Art Annex and the present day, we also were inspired to open a boutique hotel, The White Dove Rockotel. During those years we got to know this town really well, worked with local business owners, saw a ton of music, created events. We sold the hotel recently but we miss letting people know about all the great things Woodstock has to offer. 

We decided to continue offering up a blog and event page to promote all the amazing things about this town. Hope to see you here!

Erin & Martin