The Hudson River and her Lighthouses

     As we cruised out of New York, I had no idea what the scenery would be like, but I expected endless suburbs followed by the usual industrial areas and, finally, a more rural setting .  Whoa, was I wrong.  Seems like we were looking at the NY skyline one minute and wilderness the next:

This is our view from the back of the boat laving NYC.

And this is what we saw in front of us at the same point--once we passed under this bridge (the Tapan Zee Bridge), we were practically in wilderness, as you can see in this next photo:

The river widens and narrows as you go along, sometimes with granite cliffs lining the water, and other times, lush green hillsides sloping into the water.

    An interesting sight along the river for us tourists is a series of lighthouses (7 of the original 14) that are no longer in use, but have been saved by various preservation groups.  The first,  just under the George Washington Bridge as you leave NYC, is the Little Red Lighthouse, made famous by the children's book, The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge:

The Little Red Lighthouse

 

This is the Tarrytown Lighthouse, AKA the Lighthouse at Sleepy Hollow. And yes folks, that is the very same place Washington Irving wrote The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.  We didn't see any headless horsemen or covered bridges, but it was fun thinking about it as we passed through.

 This is the recently restored Esopus Lighthouse.  Like the others, it is accessible only by water and therefore was built for a family to live there.  This one has 7 rooms, with a kitchen, dining room and sitting area on the first floor and the bedrooms upstairs.  Visitors are currently not allowed in this lighthouse as it is still unstable.

This one, the Rondout Lighthouse, is still an active aide to navigation on the river, but since being automated, no one has lived there.  You can tour this one (we didn't).

This is the only lighthouse on the Hudson that functions as a bed and breakfast where you can book an overnight stay.  It has the usual kitchen, dining room, parlor and bedrooms and you can also get a great view from the lantern room as well as an outside deck. ( I just hope you don't have to use that port-a-potty you can see on the far left.)

The Hudson-Athens lighthouse has been completely restored, is open for visits (and has a museum inside) and has a working fog bell that is one of the last remaining in the US.

     And that is the end of my lighthouse report, but I still have a lot more to stay about our time on the Hudson, so stay tuned.