SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 19TH

After many days at Croton on Hudson we traveled further up the Hudson. I had no idea what a beautiful, scenic area this is.

It was fairly early in the day so this tug and barge was the first traffic we met.

Up ahead in this photo is West Point Academy. This spot was an important fortified area during the Revolutionary War and you can see why. It was narrow and easy to defend. British ships sailing up this way would have trouble tacking back and forth. To make it more difficult, the Continental Army strung a 150-ton chain across the river at this point. Making it impassible for sailing ships.

Since the Hudson River gets narrow and snakes back and forth just below West Point George Washington considered this area of the river to be one of the most strategic positions in America. He had plans designed to fortify the area. Benedict Arnold got a hold of the plans and was bribed to turn them over to the British. A regular in the Continental Army captured the British spy that Arnold gave the plans to, so the British were out of luck. As was Arnold!

The Academy was eventually built to train and educate military leaders for our own country. Their motto is “Duty, Honor, Country. “

This island is locally known as Bannerman’s Castle. Bannerman was born in Scotland and emigrated here with his family in the mid 1800’s. They started a business buying and selling surplus military equipment. Including guns and ammo. He built a castle on this island to have safe storage for surplus munitions cartridges. Not safe enough though. In 1920 two tons of shells and powder exploded. Destroying much of the complex.

We stopped at the Riverfront Marina in Newburgh, New York. Nice little spot, except for the wakes. Like most areas, Sunday is a crazy day on the water. In fact we normally try not to travel on the weekends because of it. Today though it was a sea going vessel that caused the problem. He was going too fast and the wake he left hit the marina like a tidal wave! Lucky for us we were tied up such that we were bow into the wake. Many boats got hit broad side. You see something like that coming and all you can do is hang on. One guy walking down the dock said he saw our props out of the water! It’s a miracle none of the smaller boats here didn’t get washed up on to the dock.

We walked up to Washington’s Headquarters. It’s a home that was owned by a family who moved out during the Revolutionary War and let George, Martha and about 22 of his military staff live for a year and a half. Washington had a perfect view of the Hudson and it’s strategic location.

We took a tour and the guide said the house is such that George and Martha would recognize all of it if they were here today. A diary written by one the people who lived in the house with the Washingtons was extremely useful in preserving the place.

They did not allow pictures to be taken inside. Sorry, because it was fascinating. That rule brought to you by the same guys who brought us 9/11. It was only Ross, Foote and myself on the tour so she really allowed us to look around. There was supposedly a lock of Washington’s hair on display somewhere. It was actually the reason we went to the place. We all were so engrossed in the tour it wasn’t until we returned to the boat that we realized we never saw it!

One of the rooms on the tour was used as Washington’s office. It was in that very room at that very desk that he designed the purple Military Merit badge which later because the Purple Heart. He wanted something to honor privates and non-commissioned officers.

As we left the headquarters we noticed a bar just across the street and could see a TV on inside. Perfect! We couldn’t pick up a single football game on the boat TV so thought we’d stop in and watch. As soon as we got inside we knew we were on the wrong side of the street. Our color was not welcome there. Okay, we can live without football for one day.

Grilled steaks on the boat and had a wonderful dinner sitting out back.