Up the River

We left the marina in New York harbor early the morning of the 5th and began our trip up the Hudson River...as the New York Skyline faded behind us we cruised under the George Washington bridge remembering how just a couple of years ago we drove over it and said, "In just a couple of years we'll be cruising under this bridge up the Hudson." Just past the bridge we began to experience the river's magic...the cliffs, known as The Palisades rise up 300 to 500 feet...The Hudson River is actually a fjord created by glaciers, it is deep and dramatic...it has been, at times, described as one of the most beautiful rivers in the world and we were about to understand why.

Past Yonkers, past Dobbs Ferry, past Piermont Pier where over 1 million soldiers were shipped to the Normandy invasion in WWII; past familiar names from my childhood when we drove up to Westchester County and Ulster County to visit family...past Sleepy Hollow and past West Point (where my Dad and I once visited together)...past the ruins of a scottish castle on Pollepol Island...in water deeper than Ithaka has ever had under her hull-170' at one point...past the Appalacian Trail which crosses the river at Bear Mountain bridge...past Sing Sing (which Chip thinks is where the term, "being sent up the river" must have come from)...past Haverstraw Bay and its frolicking sailboats, past FDR's home in Hyde Park...through the Adirondack mountains, past swans swimming in coves...We landed in Kingston on July 6th about halfway to Troy where our journey will turn west as we enter the Erie canal...It is no wonder why the Hudson River artists were so inspired by the natural scenery of this river...The towns which once prospered as shipping and manufacturing centers are now going through a rebirth as urbanites make their way with their antique shops and gourmet restaurants to Kingston and Hudson and Catskill...Did you ever wonder why so many towns in this area end in "kill"? The Dutch discovered and settled much of this area and kill means creek or small river in Dutch.

Anyway, we are now happy to be discovering the Hudson River Valley ourselves!