Croton on the Hudson Half Moon Bay June 29 - July 6, 2016
Everyone got up early since the mechanic was returning early to find the loose ground wire causing the high squeal…As soon as we are fixed, we will take off with Lone Star to progress to Half Moon Bay. It’s a work in progress…It’s Pam’s Birthday today, so we will have to celebrate when we get to Half Moon Bay!!! Mom has a car booked for a week, a CIA tour and The CIA American Bounty Restaurant booked for Mike’s birthday tomorrow…We will celebrate big for both Pam & Mike’s birthday then!!! Whoppee!!! As always, I’m hoping for some leftovers!!!
It was decided that the water flow sensor could be mailed to us at Half Moon Bay and Emad, our Egyptian/American mechanic showed dad how to install the new one while he had the oil filters out to replace & was changing the oil.
So, we took off on another glorious morning for our trip up the Hudson out of NYC. We had a bit of breakfast & lunch along the way…So many lovely sites as we came north, mostly on the starboard side of Moondance. When we got here and tied up, mom and dad decided to stay aboard and eat leftovers while Pam and Hershel went to Justin Thyme for her birthday dinner…
As it turned out, we had an docktails behind Lone Star with Kevin & Steve & Laura & Artie…Once again, listening to everyone’s various stories was highly enlightening!!! Ended the evening with drinks on the flybridge with Pam & Hersh…Lovely!
Dad’s birthday dawned hot and beautiful! They had a fantastic breakfast at Anton’s after picking up their upgraded rental car, a new minivan. WOW! They left me to sleep and headed to West Point and Culinary Institute for their 4 PM Tour.
West Point Visitor’s Center was a bit of a mess, they informed me, since they are building a new one, but their tour was quite impressive! Definitely a Millionaire's views of the Hudson. Again, the history here is amazing!!!
At West Point everyone had to to learn to ride horses. Had 700 horses at one time. It’s a real army post. Since 1802, oldest active one post. The Academy started out with 10 cadets & 5 teachers. About 1,000 graduated each year. Leftover hats that are thrown in the air are souvenirs for kids attending graduation, so the new officers often leave a small toy or candy in the hat. :-) A number of chapels are on the grounds and a surprisingly large number of cadets attend services…anyone can come attend services here. They visited the1907 Protestant Chapel. Organ pipes there called “Thunder” there are a lot of them! Gorgeous! Local granite used for many of the buildings which is why they are mostly gray. 80% faculty are military.
“Trophy Point” has captured guns & the Million Dollar View! (All academies require their students to play in team sport each year.) Hudson River is the Key to Country said George Washington. During the Revolutionary Way at S curve in Hudson is where they built Ft West Point, they also built Sherborne’s Redoubt along with a very, large, long, heavy iron chain as a second line of defense.(Washington requested to have that chain built in 8 weeks.) Revolutionary War enemies never came here thanks to all his preparations!
Chain recycled into other things. Constitution Island across from here.
As we were heading back to our bus, we saw some 4 day old cadets learning to march.
From there they headed back home to let me out and feed me before going to the CIA. They made it just in time for their tour! They all came back raving about the place and the tour. It costs $40,000 to attend each year, but that covers everything…except their internships at various restaurants, cafes, bakeries and such. Some get an associate or bachelor’s degrees in Culinary Arts or Bakery with specialities like Wine. It sounds like most have no problems finding jobs, but unless they get scholarships or their folks pay part, they are very much in debt…UGH! The students were extremely diverse which was good to see! M & D and P & H were starving by the end of the tour. Dad decided to cancel the later reservations, so we could eat in the Tavern Restaurant & get home before dark. (They brought back NO Leftovers!) They said their cheese burgers & garlic fries were truly the best ever…even the buns were made on site! All the food is prepared, presented and served by students. Even the desserts were incredible!!! They took photos!
They returned exhausted and full! Dad loved his new diver’s watch from mom and his new lightweight waterproof jacket from Katie & Mike!
Leaving NYC
Watching Captain Mike and our views
So many incredibly beautiful and interesting sites...these are just a few
By the Intrepid and other Exhibits here
Loved the architecture of this city!!!
One of the older tour/ferry boats
Loved the small lighthouse under this gorgeous bridge!
The front Culinary Institute of America's NY entrance fountain and Hudson River View
Mike pondering life and his dinner to come
Hudson Sturgeon sculpture outside main hall created of all utensils
My ganache dessert with beer ice cream
This wonderful assemblage that was saved from the trash and hung in the new building
Mike's lemon tart dessert with merigue
Our waiter Bobby, one of the students
The Hallway outside the American Bounty Restaurant and Tavern
West Point's Protestant Chapel
Trophy Point
The Million Dollar View from Sherbourne's Redoubt
Looking over to Constitution Island on the right
The Revolutionary War Chain that survives
Four Day Old Cadets Learning to Drill
The Library on the left and some of the other academic buildings
Academic buildings and barracks
Another view from Trophy Point of the Hudson River
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