Visiting upstate New York was an exciting and fresh opportunity to visit a part of the U.S. that we pretty much never have set our feet before. We never thought we would have such a good time in the Capital District of New York.

The closest I’ve been to upstate New York was when I visited New York City as a 12 year old. That’s geographically close, but oh so different in terms of culture and environment. As we drove from Albany Airport to Troy and stopping at a diner on the way, it felt like a flashback in time from when I would visit family in rural America as a teenager. Since then, we’ve spent most of our time in more populated areas. It felt like a breath of fresh air….figuratively speaking.

Instead of writing a few paragraphs and then post photos, I’m just gonna be lazy and throw up some photos below and comment in the captions.

As you can see, there’s plenty of things to do in the Capital District of New York. The photos and captions above barely touch everything we did and enjoyed in the area. I can confidently say that Troy is underrated. Coming from a city, it’s amazing to see a downtown area where you can just pull up your car and park wherever needed to run your errands and do some shopping. No crowds and expensive parking. Despite beautiful architecture, the infrastructure such as roads and traffic lights do need some attention. You can tell the City doesn’t have deep pockets. However, the people of Troy and Albany and the surrounding areas are super friendly – it surely has the small town feel, despite being called a Capital District. The architecture and history of the region is highly interesting. We’ll definitely go back to visit again!