In a humble historic building is a treasure of an exhibit with fantastic photos, music, workable…read moremodels and what fun i had with my 96 year old mom! The owner/staff were overly accommodating and we had the place to ourselves in an off day. We both highly recommend it.

A terrific historic museum in heart of High Falls- the stone building used to be the famous Depuy…read moreCanal restaurant....now it is lovingly and impeccably restored...and has terrific exhibits and art. Fun for the entire family. Watch for special theatrical onsite events. Halloween offers the Haunted Canal by a troupe of young actors...Don't miss this amazing place!

I like the QR code on the inside of the door as soon as you walk in. You don't have to wait in line…read moreto queue if you use it. The wait times are annoying later in the day but if you go first thing in the morning then you're in an out pretty quickly depending on what you're going for. The security guards are nice and so is the staff as long as you are.

The best! Wonderful programs and welcoming environment ... they will always try their best to…read morelocate new books

Beacon's public library is a great addition to the bustling downtown district! We always make a…read morepoint to visit the local library whenever we travel, and Howland is no exception to many of the wonderful libraries we've visited in the greater New York area! The library is a bit smaller than some of the others (then again, we're spoiled by the vastness of the Mahopac Public Library), but doesn't skimp on book selection and friendliness of the staff. This is also an excellent place to visit with children - their youth section is robust and it always seems like there's some fun programming for kids going on whenever we visit. The Howland Public Library is a definite asset to the Beacon community, and a must-visit to add to your list when you're in town!

I have always loved Beekman Library. Unfortunately, I have recently felt uncomfortable there…read more Whenever I walk in, the same person at the front desk is always complaining to a colleague about another colleague (this is every time I walk in) while still wearing gloves and a mask. It just isn't the most welcome place that it used to be. It's almost like your intruding on their (inappropriate) colleague conversations, instead of the warm welcome I used to get when I entered.

I was blown away by my wonderful experience at the Beekman Library. I went there to sign up for a…read morelibrary card and every staff member was so helpful and pleasant. I was welcomed to town and received a helpful Welcome Bag. I was able to quickly sign up for my card and then I was easily able to use the e-catalog (after a brief tutorial from the staff). The library is clean, well maintained and felt very "community minded". Though the range of books is small anything you are looking for can easily be requested from their library system. Coming from a very large library system where no one ever looked me in the eye much less greeted me by name - this library rocks! As a bonus, they were having a book sale in their basement and it was a great place to pick up a few books I had been looking for while supporting this great community resource. Bravo Beekman Library!

Friendly people and always helpful. They also host events fairly often, which are always wonderful.read more

My boyfriend and I are huge book nerds (he's a horror author, what do you expect?), so every road…read moretrip usually includes a visit to the local library of whatever city or town we stumble upon. I have to say that the Elting Memorial Library, New Paltz's town library, is perhaps the best library we've visited in New York to date! The building looks unassuming from the outside, with the dainty white exterior blending perfectly into the quaint downtown setting that would fit seamlessly into a set for a community theatre production of "The Music Man". But step inside, and you'll find shelves upon shelves of a vast selection of fiction and nonfiction, plus ample seating on cozy chairs and couches to curl up and read the day away! The folks that work at this library are some of the friendliest we've met in all our journeys, and be sure to snap a picture with the moose mascot before you leave! If you're anything like us and love the experience of visiting a great library, no trip to New Paltz is complete without a trip to the Elting!

A great slice of Americana in upstate NY I stumbled upon this track and museum while visiting…read moreGoshen and found it to be a fun filled stop in my afternoon. While it's an active track z there was no activity the day of my visit. I was able to explore every bit of the facility and truly feel the history of the site of America's oldest horse track! Very well maintained facility with a museum on site. The track is much larger than I thought it would be. I look forward to a future visit where I'll be able to catch a day of racing.

Absolutely Awesome Experience!!!…read more Young or old this place is simply a fun experience to enjoy if you're in the immediate area. If you're a hardcore horse racing enthusiast then no travel distance will keep you from this track, however if you're the average (or below) race track goer and you live in the immediate area you just have to stop in and enjoy one of these race events. Even if this type of thing doesn't interest you, it's actually really fun to attend/watch. It was my first experience going to a race track, never really considered it my "cup of tea" and only visited because my young daughter absolutely loves horses; even taking horse riding lessons. We ventured off to one of these local races and we both loved it. My daughter naturally loved it because of her love for horses and I absolutely enjoyed it and have no real interest in horses or racing but it was SOOO much fun to watch. Crowds go crazy as the horses round the corner toward the finish line and you can't help but get fired up by the contagious crowd cheering! Epic feeling and rush as everyone cheers as horses cross finish line. For a small entrance fee you get to enjoy the races taking any seat you'd like and pretty much all the seats are great; no bad seats (i.e. nose bleeds). Local vendors were present as well for family fun entertainment. Various vendors setup to sell or donate items. This year the local ice cream vendor, Trail Side Treats, was in attendance donating FREE ice cream to attendees which was so awesome of that local vendor to do. Food, drinks and even beer are available for sale at the concession stands. Even if you don't care for this type of event or never even thought you'd be remotely interested, I DARE you to try it because it's really cool. For the cost of entrance skip your morning Starbucks and try this place out. Fun people won't regret trying it while those lame boring folks will simply dislike it just like everything else that keeps their lives boring. Haha! I double dog dare you to visit and try it!

The EF library is nice in that they have the newest paperbacks and hardcovers available, programs…read morefor adults & teens, storytime for the kids, and tables for tutoring. However, due to all of the above, its also the loudest library i've ever been to. Trying to sit and read or study is very difficult as the patrons AND the librarians speak at normal tones, often while on the phone or cellphones. The librarians are helpful and the size of the library is cute but the set-up leaves much to be desired as its impossible to find a quiet corner. I'm giving it 3 stars because of all the activities and programs that are available which make it a great community center; otherwise I'd give it 2 stars for its loud, un-library-like atmosphere.

Rating based mostly on WiFi attributes: recently they revamped the WiFI area so there's now plenty…read moreof places to plug in your laptop. However, wireless speeds are very slow and the library is quite noisy. Better off buying a $2 cup of coffee and going to the Fishkill Starbucks. Edit: Bumped from three to four stars. WiFi speed seems to have improved somewhat (or maybe I'm more inured to the slowness), and I'm kind of used to the noise by now (plus, if BYO headphones and music are good enough for Starbucks, why not here?) [it should be noted that there are some loud day-trader-type assholes at times treating it like their own personal office] Heh, plus they have a Keurig machine where you can buy a cup of coffee/tea/cocoa, a nice touch.

A lovely community library branch with friendly librarians and crocheting/knitting club!read more