Day 17 - 19, Jun 20th - 22nd, New York - Troy

It's 155 miles up the Hudson River from New York City to Troy, NY, and the beginning of the Erie Canal. After cruising about 45 minutes north, you leave the City in the distance and another world opens up. The Hudson River is beautiful. The Palisades area has high cliffs and hills on either side of the River. This part of the area reminded us of TN with the plants and trees growing right out of the rock. We saw some commercial traffic, some steel mills that were in decline and others closed, a nuclear plant and some gorgeous estates on the Upper Hudson.

We were amazed at the number of trains in this area. The photo is at Highland Falls, NY, just below West Point. This marina where we stayed overnight was the site of an old train station. We spent an uncomfortable night between trains running every 15-20 minutes (for real! 24/7) and the tugs and barges running the river all night and causing huge wakes, bouncing us around broadside.

The West Point Museum can be seen at the top of the photo. Touring West Point was a highlight in the area. I had toured the Naval Academy at Annapolis last summer and thoroughly enjoyed that. The grounds of West Point are lovely, although the campus isn't as large or as grand as the Naval Academy. The buildings are all built out of the local limestone and frankly, the campus looks a bit prison-like. They surely have an awesome view of the Hudson River.

We saw several lighthouses on the river. I've gotten quite a collection of photos of lighthouses along the way. Though none of them are manned any longer, they certainly still provide an important role in navigation on the water.

We arrived in Kingston, NY, under threat of a storm, which arrived shortly after we did. We met several other Looper boats in the marina. Two of them we would be travelling with later - both from FL. We managed to see the museum on life on the Hudson River in the early days before the weather hit.

When we arrived in Troy the following day, it marked the end of the Hudson River. The next day was Saturday and we attended the local Farmers Market nearby - a neat experience. There were wonderful fresh fruits and vegetables, honey, maple syrup and candies, crafts, local wine, cheese products and fresh flowers.