The RAND summer party took place at the beautiful and historic Tarrytown House Estate and Conference Center.
Two weekends ago RAND coworkers, family, and friends got together for our annual summer outing, and the setting this year was both stunning and stately. Only 25 miles from Midtown Manhattan but far removed from the hurried pace of the city, the festivities took place at the beautiful Tarrytown House Estate and Conference Center, which overlooks the Tappan Zee widening of the Hudson River and offers a great vista of the Palisades Mountains. The 26-acre estate and its landmark hotel were built in the mid-19th century and were often used as a gala venue by the area’s elite. While we don’t claim our RAND clan is elite nor our gathering a gala, RAND did continue its tradition of throwing fantastic and fun parties.
The merriments featured a sumptuous lobster bake complemented with assorted seafood, prime rib, grilled chicken, side dishes, and desserts galore. Thankfully the brutal heat wave earlier in the month had subsided, which allowed us to take full advantage of the estate’s many sports and leisure offerings, including tennis, basketball, volleyball, touch football, badminton, bocce ball, and swimming in indoor and outdoor pools, not to mention sand arts and crafts for the kids. Of course, the day also featured plenty of sprawling out on the lush grass under a tree, catching up with each other over drinks and treats on the patio, and ambling about the beautifully landscaped grounds.
Happy as a clam(bake): RAND employees, families, and friends share good times over seafood and barbeque.
The festivities extended to dinner, drinks, and parlor games in the tavern for those who stayed overnight in the estate’s hotel. The next morning after a lovely breakfast, a group toured nearby Lyndhurst, a Gothic Revival mansion and a National Trust Historic Site. The brilliant designed residence and its collection of decorative arts did not fail to impress our architecturally attuned group.
RAND’s first overnight company outing hit all the right notes to make it a summer party to remember. We’re already wondering how we’re going to top it next year!
