Joke Of The Day

Someone asked me what people in Ulster County do for fun on a Saturday night.

I said, "Argue passionately about which farm stand has the best apples, then drive 45 minutes to get to it and find out it closed at noon."

Storm King Art Center offers far more than sculpture — it's a full outdoor experience designed for all kinds of visitors. Set across varied terrain of meadows, hills, and wooded paths, the New York destination features a free wheelchair-accessible tram, complimentary manual wheelchairs, and courtesy carts to help guests explore the grounds.

Bike rentals, an outdoor café serving grab-and-go fare, and a well-stocked museum store round out the visit. A free digital guide on the Bloomberg Connects app provides audio commentary, accessible routes, and activities for families — making it easy to plan ahead before you arrive.

Joke Of The Day

Someone asked me what people in Ulster County do for fun on a Friday night.

Apparently they argue for two hours about whether Kingston is "up the river" or "down the river" from Poughkeepsie, then drive forty-five minutes to a farm stand that's already closed.

Interesting Facts

Ulster County, New York holds some genuinely unexpected distinctions that most New Yorkers have never heard of.

• America's oldest continuously operated ferry: The Millington-Eddyville area aside, the Rhinebeck-Kingston Ferry crossing near Ulster County's shores is often cited as one of the oldest ferry routes in the United States, with records of watercraft crossing the Hudson there dating to the 17th century.
  
  
• A county older than the United States: Ulster County was established in 1683 by the colonial legislature of New York, making it one of the original twelve counties created that year — nearly a century before American independence was declared.
  
  
• The Catskills gave English a word: Washington Irving set his Rip Van Winkle story in the Ulster County Catskills, and the tale so embedded itself in American culture that "Rip Van Winkle" became a widely used idiom for someone who sleeps through enormous change.
  
  
• Former cement capital: In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Ulster County produced a substantial portion of the natural cement used in American construction, including components of the base of the Statue of Liberty, thanks to massive deposits of cement rock along the Hudson.
  
  
• A poet's unlikely home: Woodstock in Ulster County famously hosted a thriving early-20th-century artists colony before it became rock-and-roll famous — and the actual 1969 Woodstock Festival took place in Bethel, Sullivan County, not in Woodstock itself.

Woodstock School of Art has unveiled an expansive lineup of classes and workshops running from August through December 2026, offering something for artists at every level.

Offerings span an impressive range of media, including oil painting, watercolor, lithography, encaustic, silkscreen, sculpture, collage, and plein air — with both in-person studio sessions and online live courses available.

Instructors include a roster of accomplished artists covering topics from chiaroscuro technique and abstract composition to wood carving, stone carving, and figurative clay sculpture.

Whether you're a beginner or seasoned practitioner, the school's fall and winter schedule presents a rich opportunity to deepen your craft or explore a new medium entirely.