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.
