We named our team The Turkeys. This proved prescient. Despite much heckling on our part, Karen’s dispatch of a glass of wine to the floor, and much more laughter than justified by our performance, we squeaked out a place somewhat above last. But, as the saying goes, much fun was had all around.

Trivia Night at The Spotty Dog - Enid doing the work while we goofed.

adjective

• of undisputed origin; genuine : the letter is now accepted as an authentic document | authentic 14th-century furniture.
• made or done in the traditional or original way, or in a way that faithfully resembles an original : the restaurant serves authentic Italian meals | every detail of the movie was totally authentic.
• based on facts; accurate or reliable : an authentic depiction of the situation.
• (in existentialist philosophy) relating to or denoting an emotionally appropriate, significant, purposive, and responsible mode of human life ((definition adapted from Dictionary Version 2.1.1 Apple, Inc.)

In part because of the vigorous discussion in the various “Signage” postings in the Hudson Business Coalition discussion group and other discussions I have had recently about Hudson, I have come to think that a major feature of Hudson is authenticity. Hudson demonstrates authenticity in all four senses described in the definition above. People who own businesses here, whether in antiques, art, music, and many more, do so from some central personal passion. Visitors experience this directly. Visitors must digest the experience and make it their own. And, many times businesses receive direct feedback about their passions from visitors and not in frequently new perspectives and information about their passions.

Just pay a visit to some of our B&Bs to see authenticity in action. For example, compare The Inn at Hudson and The Country Squire Bed & Breakfast. Just a hundred yards apart, but completely different experiences, each personal and real.

This is no Disneyfied, corporate version of  life, no predigested, cleaned up tourist consumable. A visit to an art gallery here is a visit to the owner’s interests in art. The same goes for the antiques. The burgeoning music scene is filled with lots of local music. The streetscape is authentic, even the maligned Columbia-State St. streetscape. The diversity of the population is authentic and, for a town of seven thousand, quite amazing.

I hope that Hudson continues to develop, in its chaotic unplanned way, with an eye on authenticity. A strong commitment to preserving the streetscape is one obvious strategy. How to encourage and maintain authenticity in other dimensions is not so clear.

A deeper problem is the moment when we reach the tipping point and developers decide that Hudson is hot. As Jane Jacobs wrote about in The Death and Life of Great American Cities (1961) success in the real estate world leads to the death of the social world. It is one of the seemingly inevitable consequences of private property rights that the “highest and best use” (for private property owners) always wins out over any social values.

During my thirty five plus years living in Cambridge MA I watched the death of Harvard Square and its conversion into a social wasteland dominated by large institutional and corporate interests. Everything funky, fun, disruptive. original, everything that made Harvard Sq. a destination for locals and youth, were driven out by large buildings filled with a parade of corporate logos and institutional uses. The only authentic use remaining in Harvard Sq. is the gathering of teenagers, all from the suburbs, around the entrance to the T.  In contrast, Central Sq. in Cambridge might be a good case study of a neighborhood that has largely escaped this fate, though its is just a long half mile from Harvard Sq. It has somehow remained quite indigestible.

So, before what turned out to be a less than completely satisfying trip to the movies to see the new George Clooney vehicle, The American, we stopped at American Glory. Even at 5:30 the ground floor was a bit too noisy with piped in music. We trotted upstairs and found ourselves in a spacious room with a high tin ceiling and booths and banquette seating. It was much quieter. The service was good and the food serviceable to quite good for slightly up scale bar cuisine. Karen had a bowl of chili and some crab stuffed deviled eggs. Keeping in mind that we have a rather forgiving sense of food values, we rate American Glory as a keeper for future visits.

We were a sponsor of this event through the gallery. And so we had our Hudson Pride flag out along with our usual BeLo3rd Open flag.

Karen was not available to take pictures and make movies, so you have to settle for my photographic efforts.

The parade was notable for its many groups of people with simple banners, paucity of floats, and almost complete avoidance of the usual herds of fire trucks and rescue vehicles. I admit to only being surprised at the large contingent from the Capital Area Pride Bowlers.

I particularly liked the crowd that gathered at the end of Warren and up onto Promenade Hill. Right size space and right size crowd. Still in Hudson instead of visually cut off down in Henry Hudson Park.

You should visit the website for the event, HudsonPride.com, and note the endless list of sponsors.

Leaving all of this web daring do aside, the restaurant remains a welcome addition to Hudson. It brings more life to the street. Soon, I will go for a meal. Swoon, next door continues to live up to its status as a legend. I hope that American Glory BBQ will turn out to be a legend too.

I am glad to see the first pedestrian right of way sign that I have ever seen here. These had become a common sight in Cambridge over the last decade and drivers for the most part had become accustomed to the indignity of having to stop.

Hudson, with its usually sparse traffic, offers plenty of opportunities for both pedestrians and cars to pretty much use the streets as they see fit. In fact, though I would never do this in NYC or less so in Boston, here I regularly cross the street in mid block with just a casual glance to the left for an oncoming car then, as I approach the mid point of the street, a right glance for cars coming from the opposite direction. But, now in the 300 block of Warren I will have to be back to minding my pedestrian manners.

As I was admiring the crosswalk I realized that neither side of the walk had ramps for handicapped access. Then, thinking about the sidewalks in Hudson in general, I realized that ramps at intersections and crosswalks are not to be found. How could it be that decades after legislation demanded access for handicapped people elsewhere, Hudson has not found opportunities to put them in just as part of normal maintenance?

Lets hope that American Glory BBQ turns out to be even half as “legendary” as its neighbor. That will be a great addition to the eating and drinking in Hudson.

Rip Van Winkle Bridge and fog in front of Catskill Mountains

Up Warren St. - 7PM 041710