Ruins of house overlooking Long Island Sound at Rye Marshlands

This is all that remains of a house that once stood here many decades ago, in Rye, New York. You can see the Long Island Sound in the background. Even less is known of this place than the ruins of the Parson’s Mansion up the road. There are no ghosts around to tell its story, at least I’ve never met any at this preserve.

These ruins are located in the Marshlands Conservancy in Rye. It’s a not a large nature preserve like the Rockefeller Preserve, but it is a great place to go bird-watching, or joggling, except in the more swampy areas. In the summer the mosquitoes may overwhelm you.

If you very lucky, you may spot a whale by the shore. You will almost certainly see deer if you spend more than a few minutes in this small island of wilderness. Unfortunately, lots of deer means lots of deer ticks that spread Lyme Disease, so take precautions so you don’t get bitten. The area around the heavily forested preserve has a lot of stately mansions, some of which are architectural marvels. The feel of the area is a little reminiscent of Newport, Rhode Island, but the mansions aren’t as grand or historic, and the area isn’t nearly as touristy. It is mostly locals who go hiking in this nature spot. New England is a stone’s throw away, just a few miles north, so this area has a “New England” kind of feel to it.

The sea breeze during the warmer months is simply delicious. They sometimes have guided tours, and it is only 26 miles(41.8 km) north from the big city.

Fantastic time joggling along Croton Trail and Lyndhurst

I had a great time joggling along the Croton Aqueduct trail to Lyndhurst. It was perfect joggling weather. This trail follows the path of a now defunct aqueduct that once provided water to New York City. It zigzags through much of western Westchester county, through several historic villages. Some stretches of it are densely wooded, and many houses along the trail are quite grand and architecturally significant. In some spots, you can get spectacular views of the Hudson. It is often crowded with lots of runners, cyclists, walkers and bird-watchers in calm weather. You may encounter deer along some parts of the trail.

Luckily, hurricane Sandy didn’t destroy a lot trees along the trail. The trail mostly runs on top of the old aqueduct, and so you can almost never see it. You can even go under the aqueduct it in a few places, but be careful.

It’s large alright, but it’s not Downtown Abbey(Highclere Castle)

It runs through Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow, villages made famous by Washington Irving’s novels(it also runs through Dobbs Ferry, Hastings-On-Hudson and Yonkers). The Lyndhurst castle is the most important historical mansion along the trail.