Maria and I decided to visit Robin and Emma at the Bronx Zoo Saturday, and then go off on a one night retreat, we both really needed to see something different. We chose a new place, Hudson, N.Y., we have been hearing about the rebirth of that town for years.

The zoo was tiring, but not necessarily restful.

I couldn’t get a hotel reservation anywhere in hot and trendy Hudson, a former whaling town along the Hudson River having its runaway art and building rebirth 0 gentrifying madly – so I used Airbnb for the second time.

We rented the upstairs floor of a newly restored funky little house. (Beware “service” fees at Airbnb and hotels are using to disguise the true cost of the room.) The cost of our room was quite low, the $50 service fee brought it up to hotel standards. And what is a “service” fee anyway?

The room was lovely, we were very happy there, it was clean and comfortable. I even got to lie down in a giant old tin bathtub, and the refrigerator had coffee grounds, yogurt, and granola for breakfast.

I  found Airbnb’s elaborate security precautions annoying.

People are discouraged from talking to anyone but Airbnb, it’s “dangerous” to talk to anyone else, I was told, and I couldn’t get the passcode to unlock the door from the landlord or Airbnb until a few hours before we were set to arrive. I felt like I was going to the White House.

There was a lot of ID called for, robot- calling tests and signing in with Facebook, e-mails and other passwords required. That bugged me and made me uneasy, especially going to a new place for the first time.

I don’t live the new economy, in which there is no human contact of any kind. I’m not a Luddite, I use new technology all the time. But I can see what we are going to pay for our smartphones and other conviences: meaningful human contact.

I wish the landlord and I could have talked for a minute, it wouldn’t have killed her.  I l love going to an old inn and learning about a town and it’s history.

I’m not always 0n a cellphone or Facebook range. I don’t like where it’s going we are going with the Internet economy, we are disconnected from one another as it is. And everyone is trying to push me online all the time.

Communicating with Airbnb and, indirectly with our landlord,  got grinding and annoying. But we were quite safe all weekend, and so, I imagine was the owner of the house, who we never spoke to or met.  I don’t even know if she exists. The funky little house seemed an Airbnb house to me, there was no sense that anyone actually lived in it. It was a revenue source.

This is the new world but it always seems a bit creepy to me. Hudson is, or was, just the opposite, it is or was very much a people place. In the few un-gentrified buildings on our block, people were sitting on stoops, kids were playing stickball, walking their dogs, talking to each other.  Think of it, talking to each other.

I have no doubt all of them will be gone in just a few years.

It looked like half the houses in the middle of town were for sale or being restored, the gentrification was everywhere we looked. And there are so many beautiful houses in this town, I’m eager to come back and take some photos.

I love to see an old run downtown get reborn, but I also know what it means: lots of long-time and poor residents are going to pushed out.

Still, we both fell in love with the place, it has so much character, feeling and history.   The buildings were amazing, the feel of Hudson was rich and compelling. All kinds of art, theater, exotic restaurants,  galleries opening up there. I’m anxious to explore the waterfront.

There was, of course, the inevitable New York City snottiness – the town is attracting all kinds of New Yorkers. We almost got tossed out of a high-tone tea and coffee shop for asking if they had decaf coffee. You would have thought we were asking to strip.

At this Issan Thai Star restaurant (above) on 7th street, I had the best Thai food I’ve ever had in my life.

Andy, the owner is not one of the snooty newcomers, he was the loveliest person.

I took this above photo for Andy sitting outside of the restaurant doing his paperwork at 10 p.m. My new Iphone camera has no trouble capturing the night light and blue light on the restaurant.

The town was more urban than I thought, more diverse and interesting, and with an incredibly wide and compelling mix of architecture.

I’m an architecture buff, I could walk around and look at buildings forever. I want to know more about the town’s quite rich history.

We will go back, I am eager to revisit the Thai restaurant and try some others.  And take my photos.

Hudson, until recently a grimy old sea town that the world left behind, is drawing all kinds of people from New York and elsewhere who are opening shops and restaurants art galleries and performance centers and restoring the Old Opera House and hundreds of beautiful old brick and wood-frame houses. There’s a new art center, of course, offering art shows and indy movies.

It’s a great discovery,   And it’s close just about two hours drive. We can have our getaways without flying anywhere.

It is bittersweet for us to go away. It is always a little disorienting to return. It is always a little disorienting to go. We are very attached to this place. We love seeing different things.

We have not had a real vacation in three or four years, and we need to figure out how to have one, or to get some rest right here.

Nothing is free, we are living the lives we chose and the lives we want.  I am a writer who writes, Maria is an artist who makes art. That’s the bottom line.

No one said it would be simple.