Hunter Mountain International Celtic Festival

We went to the International Celtic Festival at Hunter Mountain yesterday. It was a good day and reminded my very much of the Oktoberfest at Hunter Mountain. They had kind of the same setup and the skyride was open, so we could ride up the mountain.

We took Rt.28 into the Catskill Park into Phoenicia. Then, we took Rt.214 to Rt.23a and made a left into Hunter.

It was pretty cool. We got to see the new building they made a few years ago. That’s where we paid our $12 admission fee (each) and the $8 skyride fee (each). Right after we got in, we grabbed two Guinness. That beer isn’t too fancy, since we drink it all the time, but it was the darkest one they had. Then, we (or I) ate my traditional funnel cake and Laura had her traditional Sauerkraut. The Sauerkraut was really good.

There was a long list of entertainment at the festival. Here it is –

– Black 47
– Eileen Ivers and Immigrant Soul
– Glengarry Bhoys
– Andy Cooney
– The Barley Boys
– Liz McNicholl
– Seamus Kennedy
– Schenectady Pipe Band
– Donny Golden Irish Dancers
– Broesler Irish Dancers
– Ceili Country
– Tim Quinn
– MC – Frankie Curran

After we ate, we went up the skyride. This is the real reason I went there. For the Oktoberfest, I went for the beer, for this one, I went for the skyride.

If you go to Hunter, you gotta go up the mountian. Believe it or not, the guys were still there carving the Rip Van Winkle thingy in the rock. I was wondering why it was taking so long, but I just learned on the web page that they only carve on festival days. This is so the public can see the progress. It’s pretty cool.

At the top of the mountain, Laura and I found the absolute best place to hang out and chill. There were a few benches in a partially shady section of grass. It was very relaxing…so relaxing that I spread myself out on the ground. Those pictures are a little weird, but I did take one of the grass while I was down there.

The weather was good yesterday. It was actually kind of chilly on the way down the mountain. The wind was going up the mountain, so it was a bit breezy, but that didn’t inhibit the view at all.

When we got to the bottom, we stood and watched the Irish pole toss, or whatever it was called. It is a good time to see people try to throw different sized wooden posts. Some make it, some don’t. After we watched for a while, we decided to leave.

On the way home, we always pass this little area near a lake. It is part of the Devil’s Tombstone Public Campground. If you decide to stop there to look at the lake, be careful. The guy is poking around to ticket whoever doesn’t pay. I almost got one, but I smiled my way out of it.

Here are some nice pictures for you…