Ever Get a Parking Ticket in the Hudson Valley?

Where did you get one?

One of things that I never thought would happen to me living here in the Hudson Valley was getting a parking ticket. I've lived here for 25 years and I don't think I ever got a parking ticket. Anytime I park I always follow the signs and the rules.

If there are signs saying "no parking", I don't park there, if I have to pay a meter to park in a spot I always do and up until this past weekend when my no ticket streak came to screeching halt while out enjoying some food in the town of New Paltz.

After a great afternoon of apple picking in Highland we decided to head into New Paltz for some football and wings at McGillicuddys. If you've never been in New Paltz over the weekend, it's jammed with people with traffic on Rt 299 all day long.

After sitting in traffic for a bit, we went to park in the pay for parking lot behind the Starbucks on Main Street. I found a spot and walked to the pay meter near the entrance and payed for an hour. It was 2:11 p.m. when the ticket printed out, so I had until 3:11 p.m.

We ate and as we were walking back to the car I looked at my phone and it was 3:23 p.m. and I made a joke that wouldn't it stink if I got a ticket for being 12 minutes over? NOT A JOKE! I got to my car and there was an orange envelope waiting for me.

12 MINUTES OVER!!!! UGH!!! I really thought there would be like a 15 minute buffer zone or something. You know how most police won't pull you over for speeding if your going like 10 or 12 miles an hour over the speed limit. I though the same unwritten rule applied to parking.

We as you can see I was wrong so if you head to New Paltz make sure you pay close attention to the time stamp on your parking receipt so you don't end up like me...LOL!