The Erie Canal

     We departed from our comfy dock on the Hudson in New Baltimore and headed toward the Erie Canal, a few miles up the river from Albany.  Here's a couple of shots of what we were leaving:

 We are the boat closest to the shore on the left.

 Modest, but fun, amenities.

      Passing through Albany, a pretty city from the water.

     When we turned from the Hudson River onto the Erie Canal, we were immediately looking at the first of some 45 locks we were to go through over the next couple of days.

   Here we are entering the first lock on the Erie Canal.  That is our flag (on the front of our boat) moving up behind the boats already in the lock.  The water leaking through the lock door at the other end was a little intimidating, but we learned to get used to it, as most of them are that way (and some worse than others, which you will see later on).

     And the rest of the journey was more of the same--lots of locks, and a few other sights. Here's a photo tour of our journey on the Erie Canal:

 Many of the locks were beside dams, as this one is (lock on the left).

 These are bridge ruins from the first generation on the canal.  Is there anyone out there old enough to remember Tennessee Ernie Ford singing, "I had a mule, her name was Sal...15 miles on the Erie Canal"?  I found myself singing that constantly as we traveled this route.

Here we are waiting to enter a lock, with Art holding on so we don't drift away.  Every lock has an area where you can tie up while waiting for the lock to open (or just tie up and take a hike, eat lunch, whatever).

Periodically along the canal, we would come across a flood gate.

Lock 17--Are we there yet?

Just a friendly reminder of where we are and what's next.

Talk about feeling like you're in a hole!  This was one of the higher locks (around 60 ft) on this part of the waterway and my comfort level was being challenged, especially knowing there was nothing but water behind those gates!

Here's Art in the same lock hanging on to the rope to keep us from banging into another boat.

And here is another one of those leaky locks that gives old people ulcers (and Art and I fit in that category!)

     Finally, this is the place where we leave the Erie Canal and turn onto the Oswego Canal, which will take us to Lake Ontario.  As you can see, they are not too choosey about where they put their signs, or who makes them for that matter. The Oswego Canal was just like the Erie (locks and all), so I will pick up the story when we get to Lake Ontario.

Hudson Valley Homes of the Rich and Famous

     Extending 150 miles from New York City, the Hudson Valley is an area where Manhattan's wealthiest citizens built summer retreats for their families.  Many of the old mansions have been restored and are open for tours.  We decided to visit the Vanderbilt estate and the Roosevelt family home.
 

 A view of the Vanderbilt estate from the water.

And from the land.

     No photography was allowed in the mansion, but suffice it to say that the entire place was a shrine to all the bad taste money could buy.  Everything was very ornate, gilded and just plain expensive ugly (with an Italian influence).  These next two photos, taken from the internet, show it all:

     Our next stop was the Roosevelt family home and it was the complete opposite of the Vanderbilt's.  It was equally grand, but furnished very tastefully.

The Roosevelt family home.

     Again, photos were not allowed inside, so these are also taken from the internet:

Upstairs bedroom.

The parlor, which looks a bit cluttered, but was quite nice.

     Both Franklin and Eleanor are buried in the Rose Garden here on the property:

You can see the outline of their two graves with the headstone behind.  The flag sits on FDR's grave.

The Roosevelt Rose Garden really was impressive.

     Eleanor Roosevelt had her own home on the estate. It was built after she and some friends had to return to New York after the estate was closed up for the winter.  Franklin had suggested she build a cottage so that she and her friends could visit year round.  Her home is called Val-Kill and is also open for tours, but we ran out of time before we could get there--next visit.

     We had a fun day touring these homes, although the weather was rainy and overcast all day.  We returned to the boat thinking the decor in our little boat was definitely preferable to anything we had seen in these two homes!
     One last note, on our way to and from West Point and these homes, we passed through Catskill, NY which is the gateway to the recreational areas of the Catskill Mountains.  We found wonderful restaurants along Main Street (must be those CIA chefs again), but also enjoyed the painted cats they had lining the streets.  I've seen lots of cow statues, some moose and a few other animals, but this is the first time I ever saw cats.  Check it out:

    When we were done playing tourists, we parked the boat in New Baltimore, NY and I went to Tucson while Art went  to Iowa.  While we were gone, we had the boat pulled out of the water so the bottom could get a new coat of paint, and we also had it waxed.  Here's our poor baby sitting up on dry land:

       Now it is time to get back on the water and continue our journey, and that is exactly what we did.

West Point

     Once again, the walls of West Point from the water:

     The day we chose to visit West Point was one of the few when every single cadet was allowed to go home--and so our visit there was definitely missing something.  In addition, West Point also has an active duty Army Post on the grounds, so security here was much tighter than anything we encountered at Annapolis.  You can only enter the property on a scheduled tour bus and you have to remain with the tour the entire visit.   We were only allowed off the bus twice: once at the chapel and once by the dormitory so I don't have a lot to share, but I will start with the chapel:

The chapel is built of native granite and was dedicated in 1910.

The chapel is lined with American fags from various periods in history as well as US Army Regimental flags.

The main sanctuary stained glass window is inscribed with the motto of the academy, "Duty, Honor, Country."  These side windows were donated over time by various classes.

The Cadet Chapel organ, begun in 1911 and enlarged by subsequent gifts, is now the largest church organ in the world. (With 23,236 pipes, there were organ pipes in very nook and cranny in the church).

This is the cadet dormitory, with the chapel in the background, and the parade grounds in front. 

I am standing in front of the Battle Monument erected to honor the men of the American Army who died in battle, specifically the regular Army casualties of the North during the Civil War.  It stands opposite the dormitory facing the Hudson River.

Trophy Point Amphitheater overlooking the Hudson.  Band concerts as well as other events are held here.

A place for the cadets to find some peace.

The view back towards West Point heading north on the highway.

     Next, we're off to see some of the mansions along the river (but we never got near the place where Chelsea Clinton got married).

The Hudson River Valley

     Our trip up the Hudson was truly spectacular.  Not only was the scenery beautiful, but there were other interesting things along the way.  It's much better to show photos of the scenery than to try to describe what we saw, so here goes:

 Pretty impressive, huh?  Those are the Catskill Mountains in the background.

Granite formations along the shore.

One of the few commercial vessels we saw along the Hudson.

This is where the Hudson narrows right before West Point.  During the Revolutionary War, the British sailed up the Hudson to attack the American settlements along the river.  To defend themselves, the patriots strung a huge chain across the river right here, stopping the British advance.  

And here she is, the United States Military Academy at West Point, as seen from the water.  We took a tour, which I will write about in my next post.

And while we may be at war, the cadets still have other priorities!  On the other side of this sports auditorium roof, it says, "Beat Navy."

     A little further along the river, we came across the remains of this structure, which is called Bannerman Castle:

     Frank Bannerman was a Scottish munitions dealer who built this replica of a Scottish castle (complete with moat) to store the huge supply of armaments he acquired through military auctions.  It is the only structure on the island ((Pollepel) and it was also used as a summer retreat.  It burned (and exploded) in the 1960's and is currently owned by a Trust attempting to restore it.  You cannot visit the castle or the island--but then it is said that the place is filled with snakes and poison ivy, so who wants to go anyway?

As we traveled up the Hudson, we only stopped over night once, in Kingston, NY.  It is a nice small town where they have been restoring the waterfront and now there are quite a few nice restaurants and a boat museum.  A big plus for this area of New York is that the Culinary Institute of America is located just across the Hudson and many of the chefs who graduate choose to stay in this area--and that means lots of good food available in just about any restaurant.  I don't think we had a bad meal the whole time we traveled here.  Here are some highlights of our stop in Kingston:

 This is the Kingston waterfront where we docked (our boat is in front of the one pictured).

And on the other side of the boat, we always had a flock of Canada geese to keep us company.

And just across from our boat was this rather original camp site, although we never saw anyone there.

A block from the water was this beautiful old church tower with a ship instead of a cross on top.

We thought this sign was just stating the obvious, then it occurred to us that there was probably a whole lot of snow in the winter and they wouldn't be able to find the hydrant.

     After this stop in Kingston, we cruised into New Baltimore, NY (just south of Albany) and did some touring from there--the subject of my next post.

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.

Still Alive and the Boat Still Floats

     It has been over a month and 1,150 miles since we left NYC--I definitely deserve an "F" for keeping the blog up to date.  You all have have Robin Evans to thank for getting me off my duff to at least let you know what is going on.  Art and I have left the boat and are heading to Iowa for Art's family reunion.  Both of us will then fly to California--Art for work and a short visit with Yael, and I am off to see the kids.  And it is my sincere intention to get the blog up to date (yeah, yeah you say) while we are off the water.  I may skim over a few stops, but I definitely will get it done!  Stay tuned...