Hudson River - Sept 2008
Leaving the Erie Canal at Waterford, we turned south down the Hudson river. One of the prettiest sights along the way is the city of Albany and the State University New York administration building that towers over the riverfront.
Passing by the city of Kingston a bit farther south, we saw the Patrol Torpedo (PT) boat 728 out for an afternoon tour. This boat was built in Annapolis, Maryland in 1945, and is one of the last PT boats from World War II still floating today. PT boats were 80-foot long and very fast, built to outrun pretty much anything on the water. They were wooden crafts designed to carry enough firepower to sink a battleship. They were not, however, built to last - so it is quite something to see one out and running around doing tours today.
Another major landmark along the Hudson River is the giant concrete plant and docking station along the way. You can see the plant in the background where they manufacture the powdered concrete. It is transported up to the six large holding stacks by the riverfront from which it is transferred into barges using the loading nozzles shown in the close-up picture to the right.
The front of this ship we saw along the way looks like it has a bit of an angry face on her!
We stopped off in Hyde Park again to visit with our friends Roger and Sally. It's a short walk from the marina up to the Vanderbilt mansion, so we figured we'd head over one day and take a look. Nice little place along the waterfront. The picture on the left is actually the back of the mansion - that faces the water. The picture to the right is of the front of the mansion. Unfortunately, they would not allow any photography of the inside. It is, as you can imagine, very beautifully furnished - and well worth a look if you ever find yourself in the area.
There were lots of paths on the grounds that let through wooded areas, including this one shown below.
Farther down the Hudson, two more landmarks - West Point Military Academy and the old Erie Lackawanna train terminus.
New York City, with the most famous landmark of them all. I never tire of seeing this beautiful lady whenever we pass through this part of the world.
We made our annual stop off while in New York to see the Wall Street Bull and touch his testicles for financial good luck for the coming year - as is the tradition. Unfortunately it looks like it didn't really work this year - as well all know with the collapse of the markets over the last several weeks.
Updated November 19, 2008