Last we left you at Highland Falls, snuggling down for the evening. Our question to Skeeter before turning in for the day was, Are there ever trains that pass by here?" He said, oh yes you'll see, they pass by and just sort of chuckled. Well, 9pm we heard the engines and then all of a sudden there were blasts and lights and whistles! They were long frequent freight trains going by very close and it felt like they were going to come through the boat and it went on all night. We couldn't believe that anyone would chose to live right beside a train line. Well, early in the morning we were happy to weigh anchor, neither one of us slept very well that night. But we both agreed the day was wonderful in West Point. The day was muggy and overcast, rain was forecast, but we still enjoyed the scenery as we cruised up the Hudson River. We were amazed by the size of West Point and got a glimpse of the fortress on Constitution Island. 
As we were cruising past the Appalachian Mountains, we came across Bannerman's Island. It was owned by a munition dealer , looked more like a historic castle. Bannerman built an arsenal warehouse on the Island only to have a lightening strike cause a fire, must have been spectacular. Bannerman's Island is now owned by the State and you can take tours.
There were many wonderful sites along the way, there is an old Jesuit seminary that is now the CIA (Culinary Institute of America). We did catch small glimpses of FDR's estate and Vanderbilt, but on the way back we will stop and take a tour. Our destination today was Rondout Creek in Kingston, NY. There are two lighthouses that we came across today. One was the Esopus Meadow Lighthouse and the Kingston Lighthouse. They were real houses where families lived and took care of the lighthouses. These houses are in pristine shape. 
We finally arrived at our dock and put the Summer Wind in her slip. Hooking her up for water was a little interesting. although the docks run along the wall with little finger piers, there is a small canal between the docks and the wall. Our water spigot was up on the wall, hmmmmmmmm. Well the Captain wasn't fazed, pulled out some line and attached it to the hose and heaved it over. Needless to say, the task was completed. That evening we walked along the docks to talk to other cruisers. We met a local couple who were eyeing a houseboat, she would love to be on the boat, he would rather have wheels. We also met a couple from Montreal, who had 2 weeks of vacation and had made the trek to Rhode Island, which they absolutely loved.
As we were cruising past the Appalachian Mountains, we came across Bannerman's Island. It was owned by a munition dealer , looked more like a historic castle. Bannerman built an arsenal warehouse on the Island only to have a lightening strike cause a fire, must have been spectacular. Bannerman's Island is now owned by the State and you can take tours.There were many wonderful sites along the way, there is an old Jesuit seminary that is now the CIA (Culinary Institute of America). We did catch small glimpses of FDR's estate and Vanderbilt, but on the way back we will stop and take a tour. Our destination today was Rondout Creek in Kingston, NY. There are two lighthouses that we came across today. One was the Esopus Meadow Lighthouse and the Kingston Lighthouse. They were real houses where families lived and took care of the lighthouses. These houses are in pristine shape. We finally arrived at our dock and put the Summer Wind in her slip. Hooking her up for water was a little interesting. although the docks run along the wall with little finger piers, there is a small canal between the docks and the wall. Our water spigot was up on the wall, hmmmmmmmm. Well the Captain wasn't fazed, pulled out some line and attached it to the hose and heaved it over. Needless to say, the task was completed. That evening we walked along the docks to talk to other cruisers. We met a local couple who were eyeing a houseboat, she would love to be on the boat, he would rather have wheels. We also met a couple from Montreal, who had 2 weeks of vacation and had made the trek to Rhode Island, which they absolutely loved.Unfortunately the town of Kingston, NY which used to be the capital of the State was very depressing. Most of the stores were closed, and there was very little to do in town except to enjoy the few restaurants that were there. They did have a museum, but we were tuckered out.
Needless to say, lights out came fast!!!
Our next stop to be cont'd...
We turned a corner and there before us was a path through the Appalachian mountains, simple beauty, 1400 ft hills on both sides of the river and no tall skyscrapers to be found. It was very easy to imagine discovering the Hudson River just like Henry found the passage.
Our stop that day was Highland Falls Marina. It was known formerly as the Westshore railway stop in Highland falls, est. in 1882. We met Skeeter the dockmaster (owner), retired vet,who had wonderful stories of the history of the area. He showed us the Patty Hearst Estate and pointed to a castle on top of the hill of the person who owned most of the land. Skeeter volunteered to drive us up the 'hill' and take us to the West Point museum. He told us about a great little restaurant for lunch and recommended taking the longer tour, it was only $2 more at West Point. So we followed his advice and booked our tour, we had a few hours to kill, so we decided to check out the West Point museum. It was a little too early for lunch. The museum was very interesting, and covered man's history of warfare from all over the world. They had weaponry displayed from historic swords and knives, to cannons, rifles, machine guns and of course the atomic bomb. There was also a section on American warfare history, from the wars with the Native Americans, the Revolutionary war, and the Mexican war.
After a wonderful lunch at the restaurant Skeeter recommended, we headed over to the West Point visitor's center for our tour. We had a very knowledgeable guide named Shanna, who told us great stories about the graduates of West Point, those that become famous and well loved such as Eisenhower, Patton and those that became infamous such as Benedict Arnold and Custer, who, by the way, is buried in the Academy cemetery. One of the interesting things we've learned from visiting 3 of the military Academies is that not only are the cadets training to be physically fit, but mentally fit and knowledgeable, after all, they could be our country's leader in the future and some have. 
