Catskills

For my 30th birthday this fall, my wife took me to the West Branch Resort in Hancock, New York.  Despite being under 2 hours from the city, the Catskills based lodge on the West Branch of the Delaware River and has some of the best trout fishing found in the nation.  All of the monster brown trout are native, there's no stocking of any fish on the river, and many 30+ inchers are caught annually.

While I didn't land any that large, the below photo was one of several 20+ inch browns hooked over the course of my two days floating the West Branch.

Not much better than dropping the drift boat off at the front door of your cabin and walking right into the kitchen to crack a beer only seconds later.  A quick drive down Rt. 17 to Bluestone Grill in "downtown" Hancock provides arguably one of the best burgers I've ever had served with a side of handcrafted, cheese filled tater tots.  Year 31 is going to have a tough time following that one up.