Leaving the Big Apple

Mother’s Day, May 14 We enjoyed Mother’s Day brunch with Lorraine, Michael and Colleen at a neat and festive restaurant on the Jersey City riverfront named Battello.  This venue was described as “an industrial-chic eatery,” plus it was very large and LOUD … so loud we had to relocate our table because the music was irritating mom; however, we all had a great time.  Shortly after leaving the restaurant and arriving back at our marina we encountered a microburst and got drenched less than 100’ away from our boat.  After about 10 minutes of torrential rain and wind shears, and fortunately no damage to any of the marina vessels, we were treated to a rainbow over Manhattan (you may want to click or enlarge the image to see the rainbow, or any of the photos).

 May 17:  Off to a late departure of 24 hours -- Miss Clio had a medical issue and needed a visit with a Jersey City veterinarian – but we are underway.  We need to make up for the lost day, a planned anchorage near the Tappan Zee Bridge and be on time for a reservation at the CIA.  So, our day will be a 75 mile run up the Hudson River to Hyde Park Marina in Poughkeepsie NY, with a pit stop for fuel in Stoney Point NY.

Tappan Zee Bridge, new and old ...

A few miles south of Stoney Point found an interesting photo-op, the Sing Sing Correctional Facility.  This maximum security prison opened in October 1828 on 130-acres of an abandoned mining site, which offered abundant world-class marble and along with convict labor, made building the prison easy and cheap.  Convicts received a Bible, walked only in lockstep, and saw no visitors.  Rations included two eggs per year and nearly no fresh produce.  Prisoners worked 10-hour shifts isolated in the local quarries, mining marble that would be used to build City Hall in Albany and Grace Church in New York City.  Bank robber Willie Sutton and Soviet spies Julius and Ethel Rosenberg spent time within these marble walls. Today, Sing Sing holds 1,605 inmates and has 819 employees.

 

West Point Military Academy. West Point's role in our nation's history dates back to the Revolutionary War.  General George Washington who transferred his headquarters to West Point in 1779 recognized the strategic importance of the fortress standing on the commanding plateau above the Hudson River. While the British burned New York’s capital at the time, Kingston, to the ground, Fortress West Point was never captured and is the oldest continuously occupied military post in America.

Desiring to eliminate America's wartime reliance on foreign engineers and artillerists, several soldiers and legislators, including Washington, Knox, Hamilton and John Adams urged the creation of an institution devoted to the arts and sciences of warfare.  Hence began West Point’s role as a military academy.