This Working Mom Has 5 Great Ideas for Family-Friendly Day Trips
Veronica McIlraith is a wills & estate lawyer in South Salem and loves to travel. Here are her top must-visit family-friendly spots that are just an hour (or less!) away.
This post is part of our “Ask An Expert” series, which features locals with a niche expertise. What’s your niche expertise? Email me at kaylakaplowitz@substack.com with your idea!
NOTE: I don’t accept any advertising, which makes The Plan entirely reader-supported. A $5/m membership to The Plan gets unlocks the paywall to every Ask an Expert post and gives you access to The Plan calendar.
The moment you meet Veronica McIlraith, you feel like you’ve known her forever. She’s warm, witty, genuinely friendly, and gets a kick out of connecting neighbors with shared interests (or geography). Just last month at a holiday party, she introduced me to my lovely next-door neighbor I’ve been meaning to connect with for, like, 6 years now. (I know.)
“Hey, you guys are neighbors,” she told us. “You should know each other already.”
She’s a natural networker, but not the gross kind who’s scanning the room to find someone better to talk to. When she’s with you, she’s with you. I always tell her she’s the unofficial town mayor.
She’s also the kind of person who, on the way home from any trip, is already researching and booking the next one for her family. She says she’s “no travel expert,” but according to me, this is literally the definition of one.
For this week’s post, I asked her to rattle off some family-friendly day trips that’ll make you feel like you’ve really gotten away. Here they are, in no particular order.
Tarrytown, NY
Take in a show at Tarrytown Music Hall (13 Main Street) »
She’s already got a trip planned in March to catch a matinee of A Year With Frog and Toad with her family. If you’ve never seen a show here, go. It’s one of the oldest surviving theaters in Westchester County, and the moment you step through the doors you feel like you’ve stepped into the Gilded Age. “I used to live just 10 minutes away from Tarrytown but haven’t been in ages, so I’m really looking forward to going back,” McIlraith told me.
Grab some Greek at Leftiris Gyro (1 North Broadway) »
You can’t miss the famous bright blue awning of this beloved Greek restaurant at the top of Main Street, serving everything from homemade spanakopita to galaktoboureko. “Try the traditional lamb-beef gyro and the horiatiki salad,” says McIlraith. “It’s the best!”
Wander around Lyndhurst Mansion* (635 South Broadway) »
If the weather's nice, McIlraith said they’ll typically head to Lyndhurst after lunch. This Tarrytown landmark overlooks the Hudson River, has rolling lawns and picturesque gardens, and is, according to many experts, “one of the finest examples of Gothic Revival architecture in the U.S.” Talk about Gilded Age.
* Lyndhurst will be closed to the public until April 5, 2025. Mark it in your calendar to make a plan to return when they reopen!
Take a stroll along the RiverWalk »
The RiverWalk, which can be accessed pretty much anywhere in Tarrytown if you head towards the Hudson River, is ideal for a waterfront stroll and people-watching. McIlraith says the Scenic Hudson RiverWalk Park is a great starting point. “You can see the NYC skyline and the flowers are so gorgeous there in the spring.”
Litchfield County, CT
Start with a hike in Kent Falls State Park (462 Kent Cornwall Rd, Kent) »
“I absolutely love Litchfield County. The waterfall hike and Bulls Bridge in Kent are always favorites,” says McIlraith. I agree. The hike to the top is mostly on stone steps which can get slippery—so if you’ve got littles, just be prepared. $15/car for out-of-state cars, free for CT residents.
(Below the paywall, paid supporters can find Veronica’s full list of local day-trip recommendations. If you want to try out a Premium subscription for $5/mo—which gives you access to The Plan calendar and supports my work as a curator—click here to unlock a 14-day trial. You can try it and then cancel anytime if it's not for you.)