NOT BIGFOOT. WORSE. A local's dispatch from the strangest corner of Dutchess County I've lived in this valley long enough to know a few things for certain: the leaves turn in mid-October, the Thruway will always be under construction, and somewhere between the Taconics and the Catskills, there is always — always — a Bigfoot story developing. This week's installment comes out of Pine Plains, and I'll be honest with you: I expected the usual blurry-shape-in-the-woods routine. W

The first thing you notice is the sound. Hundreds of tattoo machines buzzing at once, a metallic swarm of electricity and intention. It’s not noise exactly, it’s rhythm. Walk through the doors of the International Hudson Valley Tattoo Convention and you step into a world where art doesn’t hang on walls, it lives under skin. Artists hunched over collectors, stencil paper taped to tables, flash sheets covering every square inch of booth walls.

When the crisp edge of September starts flirting with the golden warmth of late summer, there’s only one place you should be: swirling a glass of something spectacular at the Sip, Savor, Repeat: Why the Hudson Valley Wine & Food Festival Is the Ultimate September Indulgence!

Hey New York, stop what you’re doing right now and grab your calendar—because the Artrider Rhinebeck Crafts Festival is storming back into town on May 31 and June 1, and it’s your ticket to a weekend of jaw-dropping creativity, mouthwatering eats, and Hudson Valley swagger