June 9 More NYC then up the Hudson to Kingston,NY

June 9

After our little boating mishap on Friday we decided we needed some “away from the boat time” so decided on Saturday to take the MTA Metro North train from Poughkeepsie to NYC for the day. 

It’s about a 2 hour train ride along the eastern shores of the Hudson for almost the entire route making for a rather scenic trip.  You really need to get used to train noise along the Hudson with the MTA and Amtrak rails running passengers along the eastern shore and Conrails freight trains running regularly along the western shore.   Our train dropped us off at Grand Central Station.  While the underground platforms aren’t much the station itself is quite impressive.  

We headed to central park for a walkabout along with about a zillion New Yorkers all out enjoying a sunny and warm day.   Seems there’s always some event going on in NYC.  The annual Peurto Rican Parade was going on somewhere but not near us.  We did happen to come upon a few blocked off streets hosting some sort of Indian (from India) celebration.

A quick stop at St. Patrick’s cathedral was in order since we were passed right in front of it.  Dang that's a big church!!

 Another block down was St. Thomas Episcopal Church.  A much smaller church but the amount of architectural detailing was unbelievable.

Continuing our walk, we made it to the corner of Central Park where a huge gold leaf gilded monument of William Tecumseh Sherman.  It honors his “successful” march across the south “with the lady victory proudly showing him the way while his horse stomps on pine cones and boughs representing his destruction of the south”.  Perspective is everything and that’s definitely the northern version. 

Our walk continued across the park passing through the small zoo and under the famous clock bridge with statues of animals playing musical instruments.

 By now we had worked up an appetite so headed to Tavern on the Green for their weekend brunch menu dining alfresco on the outdoor patio.  Burger and beer for me. Eggs Benedict for Martha.  While it was pretty good, I’m fine with marking it off the bucket list.

  Heading back to the train station we walked down Broadway and  got to see where the Steven Cobert show is shot at the Ed Sullivan Theatre.   Passed a number of theatres and it looks like repeat city with plays for Beetlejuice, Pretty Woman, King Kong and several other older movies. Worked our way down to Times Square which is celebrating 10 years as a pedestrian open space.   Just another sea of humanity elbow to elbow on this day.

Chrysler  Building 

 I’m not sure where my country boy mentality comes from, but I just don’t see the attraction in big city life.  I’ve got to admit the city seemed cleaner and safer than I ever remembered it being but there’s still plenty of trash, homeless people, and crowds.   Glad to have taken in the city for another day while we’re here but I’m looking forward to exploring the smaller  historic and quaint towns along our route.  As we settled back onto the boat for the evening, we got a nice show on the Poughkeepsie Bridge as its lights were turned into a rainbow of colors in honor of  Pride month.

At sunset from our slip on the Hudson

Lit up in colors for Pride month

So with that said we headed out today from Poughkeepsie to Kingston, NY.   It was a short 15 mile cruise so after an awesome Sunday brunch buffet at Shadows Restaurant we released the lines and headed upstream once again.  We knew the current would be against us the entire trip but planned it to arrive at Kingston at 3 o’clock during slack tide.  We passed the Culinary Institute of America as well as FDR’s home and Presidential Library in Hyde Park.   Saw a few more of those turn of century industrialists “summer places”.  Even passed by a few more lighthouses. 

Esopus Mud Flats lighthouse

Rondout Creek entrance lighthouse

The timing worked out perfect for our arrival and we were able to get our docking mojo back with a seamless stern in maneuver.    Our slip is literally on a part of the old Delaware and Hudson canal on Rondout Creek.  This was a huge terminus during the early to mid 1800’s for coal being shipped from Pennsylvania.  It was barged here on smaller boats, then offloaded, sorted and and stored before being loaded on larger barges and steam ships for shipment down the Hudson.   By the late 1800’s direct shipments by railcar from the coal fields eventually put the canal out of business but Rondout Creek continued to thrive for another 100 years with a large sawmill and boat building industry during WW1 and WW2.  The following years saw it decline before finding and embracing it’s waterfront heritage. There’s now some nicely restored older building along the water ideal for restaurants and shops along with a Mariners Museum and Trolley Museum. 

Waterfront park and  buildings in Kingston at dusk

Journey for June 9