Jack Tar Adventures

Fri May 29: Croton-on-Hudson NY to Poughkeepsie NY (Shadows Marina)

The weather was glorious this morning, and the Hudson River was smooth for our whole journey. There are many interesting landmarks along this neck of the river. Almost immediately after leaving Croton, we came upon Bear Mountain Bridge next to Anthony’s Nose Mountain. The water depth went quickly from 35 to 70 to 130 to 200 feet.

Bear Mountain Bridge with Anthony’s Nose Mountain on the right. Poor Anthony.

Ever since we left NY Harbor, we have been watching the commuter trains zipping up and down the east shoreline and the cargo trains lumbering on the west side. The cargo trains each have about 150 cars, seemingly endless, and we see at least a half dozen each day. It reminds me that, despite all the truck traffic we see on the highways, most cargo is moved by train in this country.

Cargo train near Bear Mountain Bridge

We saw the officer’s housing at West Point perched on the cliff, and then the rest of the school quickly came into view.

Peter says he can just see the Wicked Witch of the West’s monkeys flying in and out of the windows. I didn’t see any monkeys, but I did see several parachutists landing at the school. I was only quick enough to catch one of them in a pic.

Across from West Point is Constitution Island. This is where the Great Chain was stretched across the Hudson. The chain prevented British naval vessels from navigating the Hudson River freely and stopped them from taking control of the Hudson Valley. The chain weighed a massive 35 tons and stretched over 1,650 yards.

Soon after West Point, we could see Bannerman Castle tucked into the hill on Pollepel Island. It was built in the early 1900’s by a Scottish immigrant named Francis Bannerman VI. He designed it as a Scottish-style military arsenal to house his massive surplus business, but it was abandoned after a munitions explosion in 1920. Now it’s a preserved historic site.

We rounded a sharp turn in the river and then had a good view of the towns of Beacon and Newburgh on either side of the bridge. Beacon is the town Ian just moved back from.

When we arrived in Poughkeepsie, the dockmaster, Keith, tied us up tight with plenty of extra fenders in anticipation of the strong winds expected tomorrow. He’s got a pretty quirky personality, but he was very kind, and he and another slipholder took good care of us.

It had been four days since we had set foot on land, so it was nice to spoil ourselves at the Culinary Institute of America with a beautiful dinner. The CIA students train under chefs at the school and then practice their skills on customers at their three restaurants: American Bounty, The Bocuse Restaurant, and Ristorante Caterina de’Medici. We were lucky to get reservations at American Bounty on a Friday night, so we snatched them up. We enjoyed every bite, including my red velvet cake pops designed to look like a beet garden!