On Saturday, Maranda and I explored parts of lower Westchester County! I tend to overlook this part of New York because I’m either doing stuff close to home or taking the train directly into Manhattan. But while making plans for the weekend, I really wanted to go to an all-you-can-eat sushi place and the closest place that has it on a Saturday is in Eastchester. Once I knew we were going to be down there for the afternoon, I planned another outing in nearby Valhalla.
Maranda came to my house and then I drove us down to Eastchester. Our destination was a surprise for Maranda so she kept making random guesses but once she saw the sign that said “Sushi Castle”, she knew exactly where we were going. We arrived shortly after they opened and the restaurant filled up quickly. Maranda and I ordered a mix of rolls, sushi, and sashimi. Everything was delicious and we even ordered a second round! There were three foreign men at the table next to us and they ordered a HUGE plate of just sushi and sashimi – it was a beautiful sight. We realized we had missed an opportunity. I definitely want to go back and will NOT be wasting any room in my stomach on rolls. Also – we added up the price of what we actually ordered vs. the all-you-can-eat price and we definitely got our money’s worth!
After we rolled our stuffed selves out of the restaurant, we went to Kensico Dam Plaza in Valhalla. I had been once before for a photoshoot and had always wanted to go back. Walking around after our large meal felt GREAT and we even worked up an appetite to visit the ice cream man! We climbed this huge flight of stairs to get to the top of the damn. It’s a little crazy to see water right below you on one said and then this huge drop into the park on the other side. This made us decide that dams are really cool and we want to plan more hikes to visit dams before Maranda leaves. (Do you know how hard it was for me to keep typing dam instead of damn this whole paragraph??)
So okay, definitely want to go back to those two places. Other places that are close by that I’d like to get to:
- Rye Playland (an amusement park)
- White Plains (lots of bars and restaurants!)
- Parks near the Tappan Zee Bridge (since I didn’t get to go watch the bridge get blown up in person…they moved the date from a Saturday to a Tuesday at the last minute)
- Croton Gorge Park (there’s a dam!)
The best part – lower Westchester County is only about an hour from home AND we had a car with us so we were able to get back later in the afternoon and do things locally! I guess I’ll have to stop forgetting that area of New York exists…
Until our next adventure!
The Harkin Chronicles 