FALSE START BUT HAPPY ENDING 8.25.2017

We left HOP-O-NOSE early in the AM so that we could ride the current all the way to Kingston. Unfortunately, when we were leaving the creek I noticed that our wind instrument was not working. So, back we went to HON to find the guys to pull Bob back up the mast to check things out. Unfortunately, the yard guys were in Troy for the day so there was no one to help us. Rather than wait, we decided to go on to Kingston and thought that Hugh could pull Bob up the mast if it was necessary. A few minutes in to our second try at leaving, the wind instrument started working – what a relief. Probably spider webs.

We arrived in Kingston after the current had started to change direction and we definitely felt the difference in riding the current vs. going against it. We were lucky that it wasn’t strong at that point and didn’t have to fight it for too long. We docked in Kingston right behind an all wood boat called the Woody Guthrie. The boat had been owned by Pete Seeger and was now owned by a not for profit group that works to promote the Hudson River through education, advocacy and sailing. The boat had been out of the water for 4 years and had spent 2 years in Kingston being refurbished. What a beauty – sorry I didn’t get a picture. See their website (Sloop Woodie Guthrie).

Kingston hosts a maritime museum and trolley car museum. Continuing our habit of going to see museums that are closed – the trolley museum was closed, but we did go through the maritime museum and enjoyed it. Right next door was a school for building and refurbishing wood boats which we also were able to walk through. We took a tour of the town that included an old synagogue that had been converted into a restaurant and was now an apartment. The tablets of the Ten Commandments are still visible on the building, even though the stained glass was removed and installed at the temple’s newer facility. The town had some cute stores that we walked through – and then it was back to the boat for dinner and a movie.

This morning we left at 8:30 for Poughkeepsie. Poughkeepsie is home of the Franklin Delano Roosevelt estate, library and museum.

Roosevelt home at the estate.

FDR burial site

Sculpture with pieces of the Berlin Wall. Around the bottom are the four freedoms. Churchill and FDR busts are also here.

Me and Frank outside the Library. Oh yes - Eleanor is here too.

A quote I like from inside the museum.

We toured the estate, which at one time covered 1500 acres. The house still has most of the 1945 furniture. The museum was a real gem. It told the history of FDR’s political career. I hadn’t remembered all the changes that he was responsible for: revamping the banking system after the crash, repealing prohibition (thank you), establishing social security as well as the New Deal work programs. Yes he should have done more during WWII to save the Jews of Europe. One of the sculptures in the gardens of the estate was made of pieces from the Berlin wall – very interesting. The artist was Winston Churchill’s granddaughter. Also interesting to hear more about Eleanor (first name was Anna) Roosevelt, who was a real power house.

After the museum, which we really didn’t have enough time to see, we went on a tour of the Culinary Institute of America. This is a very exclusive school for bakers and chefs and has about 4000 students on multiple campuses. The Poughkeepsie campus is on the site of a former Jesuit Monastery. We had dinner at The Tavern at the school and then returned to the boat.

Crossing sign at the CIA.

Front of CIA building - Karen and Hugh

View from CIA looking at the Hudson.

Keith is the Dock Master at Shadows Marina where we are staying tonight. He is a real character. He knows his stuff and single handedly turned Hugh’s 41 foot boat 180 degrees inside the basin taking advantage of the 1 knot current – just holding two dock lines. He has a very heavy southern accent, having been raised in Florida. The reviews of Shadows Marina all gave him rave reviews – and we certainly agree – a very colorful personality.