We stopped at the Plattekill Travel Plaza on I 87 on our way to the Adirondaks, which is a sentence…read morethat sounds more romantic than it has any right to be. A travel plaza is a place where human beings briefly admit they have bodies. We eat and drink as quickly as we possibly can, we wash our hands, and then we climb back into our machines and hurtle north or south with emptier bladders and greater optimism.
The good news is that after its recent renovation, the Plattekill Travel Plaza looks exactly like every other rest stop along the Thruway. This is not an insult. Sameness can be a comfort. You walk in and your brain says, I know how this works. There will be light, food, and a restroom that I do not have to search for and, more likely than not, will not frighten me.
The building is airy and generous with natural light. Due to complete glass walls on two sides, sunlight spills in as if this particular corner of the Hudson Valley has been invited inside to keep an eye on us. There is a modest parade of quick serve restaurants greatest hits. You can secure chicken at Chick-fil-A, provided you're not traveling on the Lord's day of course, bread and soup at Panera Bread, a pretzel the size of your forearm at Auntie Anne's, and caffeine at Starbucks. There is also a respectable Applegreen convenience store, open 24 hours a day, which is where we did our foraging. We emerged with snacks and drinks, the sort of provisions that make you feel prepared for a journey that will last another two hours.
The restrooms are large and generally clean. This is progress, particularly when compared to the pre-updated plaza. Not much more you could reasonably demand from a building whose chief purpose is to host people who are in a hurry.
Parking is the only real adventure. Spaces are somewhat limited, and at busy times vehicles line the access road like a small and determined migration. The snow and freezing temperatures this winter have not improved matters. Slush narrows lanes and turns simple geometry into a test of faith while snow piles reduce available spaces considerably. You may find yourself circling once or twice, contemplating the nature of patience.
On the whole, this is a solid rest area along I 87. It performs its duties without drama. Once inside, you could be almost anywhere, which may be the point. Highways are about going somewhere else. This plaza understands this. It feeds you, tidies you up, and sends you back into the wide and indifferent world with a warm coffee in your hand and crumbs on your shirt. Four stars.
