{"id":3699,"date":"2009-05-18T17:09:25","date_gmt":"2009-05-18T21:09:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/offmetro.com\/ny\/?p=3699"},"modified":"2025-08-21T09:24:55","modified_gmt":"2025-08-21T13:24:55","slug":"modern-art-meets-historic-charm-in-a-town-full-of-surprises","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/offmetro.com\/ny\/3699\/modern-art-meets-historic-charm-in-a-town-full-of-surprises\/","title":{"rendered":"Modern Art Meets Historic Charm in a Town Full of Surprises"},"content":{"rendered":"

There are few day trips that begin better than a rail ride up the Hudson Line to Beacon. Coasting away from the steel skyline and billboard-blocked horizon, the window quickly fills with greenery, rolling hills, and a river dotted with sailboats and tiny islands\u2014one in particular bears the rusted ruins of a castle. The train continues past beautiful vistas and it\u2019s difficult to pull away from the view, even as you’re close to finishing a good book.<\/p>\n

On Sunday mid-morning, after 80 minutes on Metro-North and a quick stroll up a hill, we reached our first destination at Dia: Beacon<\/a>, where the art institution\u2019s annual gala was being held. While touring the permanent exhibits, which include artwork by Richard Serra, Andy Warhol, and Robert Irwin, we stopped guests\u2014and one Merce Cunningham Company dancer\u2014to find out where best to travel by train near NYC.<\/p>\n

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Following a walk through Dia’s lush landscaped grounds\u2014where speakers emit uncanny and humorous birdlike sounds that add to the surreal tranquility of the place\u2014we had just enough time before the next train to visit the town. Main Street could not take you farther from Manhattan\u2014or the 21st Century. Channeling a 1970s vibe, it’s lined with weathered classic cars, art galleries, boutique shops, lounging dogs, delis, and everything in between. With the sun breaking through the clouds, to our delight we found a charming quiet garden at Homespun Foods that offers a locally-sourced menu and picnic goods to go.<\/p>\n

On our way back to the station, ice cream cones in hand, we caught sight of fiction writer T.C. Boyle popping in to a brick building filled with glass items hand blown on the premises. When we arrived at the tracks, white tents signaled the year-round farmer’s market, where fresh produce, eggs, and local wine are available. Indeed, surprises are around every turn in Beacon.<\/p>\n

How to get there:<\/strong> Dia:Beacon is located five minutes from the Beacon train station, which is served by Metro-North Railroad trains from Grand Central Terminal. Trains run hourly in either direction during museum operating hours. For train information, visit www.mta.info<\/a> or call 212.532.4900 or 800.METRO.INFO. To walk to Dia:Beacon from the train station, exit the rear of the platform on the river (west) side. Follow the well-marked signs to Dia:Beacon out of the train station and up the hill to the museum. For Main Street, take a 15-minute walk back north past the station, following the signs.(Dia:Beacon, Riggio Galleries, 3 Beekman Street, Beacon, NY 845.440.0100, www.diabeacon.org<\/a>)<\/em><\/p>\n

Photos by Vincent Crossley<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There are few day trips that begin better than a rail ride up the Hudson Line to Beacon. Coasting away from the steel skyline and billboard-blocked horizon, the window quickly fills with greenery, rolling hills, and a river dotted with sailboats and tiny islands\u2014one in particular bears the rusted ruins of a castle. The train […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":16353,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[315,224,328,748],"tags":[40,340,280,215,145,18],"class_list":{"0":"post-3699","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-day-trips","8":"category-arts","9":"category-hudson-valley-new-york-destination","10":"category-train-2","11":"tag-art","12":"tag-beacon","13":"tag-cultural-getaway","14":"tag-dance","15":"tag-dining","16":"tag-museum"},"acf":[],"mv":{"thumbnail_id":16353,"thumbnail_uri":"https:\/\/offmetro.com\/ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/images-3.jpg"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/offmetro.com\/ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3699","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/offmetro.com\/ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/offmetro.com\/ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/offmetro.com\/ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/offmetro.com\/ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3699"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/offmetro.com\/ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3699\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/offmetro.com\/ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16353"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/offmetro.com\/ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3699"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/offmetro.com\/ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3699"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/offmetro.com\/ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3699"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}