Small, Quaint Town Turned ‘Mad house’ for Chelsea Clinton’s Big Day

The Today Show outside The Beekman Arms, Thursday.

Nestled down along the Hudson River – Rhinebeck is home to a few amenities most people don’t know about… well until about a month ago when it was leaked that Chelsea Clinton would be wed on the Astor Court estate.

Take The Beekman Arms for instance – shut down this weekend for the Clinton’s stay, the oldest Inn in America is on everyone’s radar now, no longer just our claim to fame.

Hell, I used to sport the tavern’s name on my T-ball jersey.

Anybody and everybody has kept this wedding in their tweets and at the dinner table for weeks. Who’s on the guest list? What kind of dress is she wearing? Can I catch a glimpse of the wedding party getting their nails done in town? Basically – who in realm of entertainment and politics was cool enough to get an invite; like Wonka’s golden ticket.

I stopped at CVS to pick up props for a commercial shoot and had to wait for two TV crews to cross the street.

The Today Show was out in front of the Beek shooting interviews and collecting tags and b-roll for (I’m assuming) an edited package to run on tomorrow’s show.

Oh – and did I mention it’s only Thursday?

As long as I’ve called Rhinebeck my hometown, the one pet peeve of most “Rhinebeckians” are the tourists who flock to our town on the weekends. Imagine that ten-fold with a few secret service agents thrown in the mix to ruin our walks in the woods.

As I conjured up a way to get a secret service agent to take me down on camera, it hit me. All the other times I’ve steered clear of town – it was for no real reason; just some swanky city dweller with their chin up and loafers on.

But this weekend – people are putting their homes on craigslist and hightailing it out of town because America’s wedding of the century is coming for a visit.

For America – this is our Princess Diana wedding. And I guess at a time when most of the news only further propels people into depression – I’ll be “ok” with it taking over my town.

CNN, The Today Show and ET among others crowding Rhinebeck.

To those I know involved – the rehearsal dinner chefs, valets – I’m happy. They will get to be a part of something this country will talk about for a long time. You know – until Lindsay Lohan gets out of the slammer.

And as for myself – you guessed it – I’m steering clear of anything with a ‘12572’ zip code ‘til Sunday.

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