May 30, 2017 Croton-On-Hudson, NY to Kingston, NY to Waterford, NY

It's been a day since Sue and Phil left, and it has rained pretty much nonstop.  I guess it was the payment for having great weather for their visit.  Our trip up the Hudson River to Kingston was beautiful.  We arrived late afternoon to a calm docking and then hosted Sue's family for dock tails.  We then all went to dinner at the marina's outside restaurant. 

Phil and Sue from the bow as we head up the Hudson to Kingston.

Hudson River - Bannerman Castle on Pollepel Island.  The island was used as a munitions storage facility in the early 1900s.

Kingston, NY - Dinner at the marina.  Brother and sister, Kurt and Sue (standing) with their spouses, Suzanne and Phil (sitting).

Kingston, NY - Group picture time.  Suzanne was unfortunate enough to be in front of Sue and got the traditional bunny ears fingers from her sister-in-law.  :)

The next day we headed out to explore and started with the Walkway over the Hudson.  It is an old railroad bridge that was converted into a pedestrian walkway.  It's 212 feet above the river.  The views up and down the Hudson river were stunning.  We walked from bank to bank, found a great little bistro called Nic-L-Inn for lunch then walked back.  My gimpy knee held up great.

Poughkeepsie, NY - Walkway over the Hudson.  Me and Sue. 

Walkway over the Hudson - Stunning views of the Hudson 212 feet above the river.

Walkway over the Hudson - Original railroad infrastructure from the east bank.

Our next stop was Woodstock, NY.  Famous for the 1969 Woodstock Music Festival that was actually held in Bethel, NY about 50 miles from Woodstock the town, as no appropriate venue could be found in the town.  Very artsy and many of the shops were truly a throw back to the 60s.

Woodstock, NY - Markers with a distinct philosophy.  A gentlemen did stop me after I took the pic and told me his thoughts, 'a local market started with a bank loan that produced made in America products by employees who made a life for their families and paid taxes.'

Agree.

Sunday we continued our journey up the Hudson.  In Troy we went through our first lock before the turning off to the Erie Canal.  All hands were on deck as we entered the Troy Federal lock.  It was opened in 1916 and we lifted 14 feet.  Sue and Phil had never locked through before so a great experience for them.

Phil manned the stern.

I manned the pipe and line to keep us steady.

Sue manned the bow with her usual humor.

The captain and his loyal first mate, manned the boat and kept us all in line. 

Once we made it through the lock we made a turn into the Erie Canal.

After we docked up at the entrance to the Lock 2 which is in Waterford, NY, we explored the lock itself.  It will be a 33.6 foot lift when we lock through next week.

Waterford, NY - Lock 2 on the Erie Canal

Sue being Sue.  Quite a jump if she did.  :)

Roofus joined us in the tour.

Independence docked up in Waterford, NY

Post Scripts from Roofus

I found a new buddy, Mr. Phil.  He petted and scratched me to my heart content and was warm.  I really enjoyed this part of the trip.  Ms. Sue was sweet to me too.  I hated to see them go home.

May Whatever, 2017

Ahoy!  This is Sweet Sue posting to the blog.  Phil and I are here for a long weekend, and having such a great time!!!  We had some travel issues, but arrived Thursday evening.  Friday was a fantastic trip up the Hudson River to Kingston, where we've stayed for 2 nights.  I am in heaven, since I have been visiting the Catskill Region my entire life, and love coming up here.  We all walked the Mid-Hudson bridge, had lunch in Poughkeepsie, and back across the bridge before visiting Woodstock and my favorite Crafts store. 
We also had two good visits with my brother Kurt, sister-in-law Sue, and my niece and her husband - Liz and Drew.  We went to their house for dinner last night.  Five dogs were in attendance, as Liz and Drew travel with their three, joining Kurt and Sue's 2.   We spared Roofus and left her home on the boat.
As I write, Ken is powering up for our trip up-river to Albany.  We spend the night, and go back home tomorrow.
What a wonderful time we are having.  Ken and Linda have been so generous.  Am truly lucky to have such good friends and family. 
We are now in Albany, and waiting for our cab to the airport.  What a great time we had!  The ride to Albany was fantastic, and the locks are amazing to see.  Now its time to return to my regular life.  Thank you Linda and Ken for a wonderful time!

p.s. And Roofus too. . . . . .

May 25, 2017 Croton-On-Hudson, NY

We have been here a week.  In that time we have done everything from catching up on chores to making like tourists.   We're at Half Moon Bay in the village of Croton-On-Hudson, NY.  Our first full day we walked into town to check everything out.  Though we found most of what we were looking for, there was no PetSmart and the grocery store was not really within walking distance.  So we rented a car for the weekend.  First time we drove in the four wheeled variety of transportation since we left home.  Was a bit strange but quickly remembered the freedom and convenience it brought.  We headed out Saturday to the next town north, Lake Mohegan, to visit PetSmart.  Roofus got a new ID tag, her nails trimmed and a puppy carrier.  The puppy carrier was a hit with Roofus, she snuggled in and was happy to be carried everywhere.  Between her age and an injury to her left rear leg, she is about as mobile as I am with my bad knee.  After dropping her off for a nap, we went to Justin Thyme Café for lunch, which was fabulous, then the highlight of my day, got my hair done!  No more grey, YOOHOO!  Our last stop of the day was grocery shopping. 

With chores over we decided to head to Hyde Park the next day and visit Vanderbilt Mansion and FDR Home and Presidential Museum.  Vanderbilt is undergoing extensive repairs but was still impressive.  FDR's Presidential Museum was chocked full of information and extremely interesting.  I was really impressed with his car that had been refitted with all hand controls, including the ability to shift gears, so he could drive himself.  I didn't realize he was 39 years old when he got polio. 

Hyde Park, NY - Vanderbilt Mansion under repair.  Will be reopened this fall.

Hyde Park, NY - FDR Presidential Museum - Me with my good buddies, Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt.

FDR's Family home "Springwood" -  Dumbwaiter FDR converted to hand pulled elevator after he got polio.  He never had it electrified as he wanted to keep his upper body strength and manually pulled himself between floors.

Graves of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt

Monday arrived and we had to return the car, so we were back to foot transportation.  We spent the day piddling and resting my knee, in preparation for heading to The Cloisters Museum in Bronx, NYC.  Tuesday dawn clear and cool, and found us on the metro train into the city.  We got more than we bargained for as the train we were on was an express to Grand Central Station, only about 150 blocks south of where we needed to be.  45 minutes and many subway stops later we arrived at The Cloisters.  This is a museum of medieval architecture, sculpture and decorative arts, including the actual reading room in a 9th century monastery in the French Pyrenees which was dismantled and put back together.  Impressive!!  The stained glass windows were my favorite.  The colors are so vibrate.  There were 3 cloisters (enclose gardens) reconstructed and full of beautiful plants and flowers of the period.  It was amazing seeing tapestries over 800 years old and still have such brilliant colors as when first completed.  Though Ken did not share my enthusiasm, he was a good sport and hung with me till I was ready to go.  The trip back to Croton-On-Hudson was very uneventful.  Amazing how that works when you pay attention to what train you are actually getting on.  :)

The Cloisters, Bronx, NYC - "Reading Room" from 9th century monastery.  This is a room where all the monks would meet daily to discuss business and news.

Archway from monastery in France.

Fuentiduena Chapel from Spain with me in the middle.

Cuxa Cloister from the Benedictine monastery of Saint-Michel-de-Cuxa in northeast French Pyrenees.

12th century stained glass - Angel

Trie Cloister - It's hard to see but the fountain has streams of water just below to top piece and there are 2 birds to the left drinking water.  Too cool.

Tuesday we rested and enjoyed another beautiful sunset.  We spent Wednesday, cleaning the boat inside and outside in preparation for Sue and Phil, who are arriving Thursday.  We will be together for the Memorial Day weekend and plan to cruise the Hudson up to Waterford, NY by Sunday.  More to come......

Half Moon Bay, NY at sunset.

PS from Roofus

Well, my humans finally figured out I am an old, tired puppy.  I got me a cozy bed with handles and now I don't have to walk if I don't want to, well except to do my business.  What a life!!  YOOHOO!!  Now I have to work on getting treats whenever I want one......

May 18, 2017 - Atlantic City, NJ to Staten Island, NY to Groton-On-Hudson, NY

It's been a week since our last post and lots to share.  We got into Atlantic City, NJ before the nor'easter.  Wind blew up Friday and rain started Saturday.  We just hunkered down and waited for it to blow itself out.  Found we had a new leak up in the pilot house, oh the joy of owning a boat.  Ken's maintenance list just got a little longer.  It was incredible being on the boat during the storm and being able to watch the impact of the high winds on the boats around us.  White caps in the marina was weird to say the least and our lines got such a workout that when we went to leave it took Ken several minutes to loosen them.  Sunday dawn clear and calm for Mother's Day.  Ron and Ken took Marji and I to a Mother's Day buffet in the Golden Nugget.  It was awesome. I had an omelet with smoked salmon, scallions and Boursin cheese to start and moved on to roast beef, several different salads and sides then finishing with cookies, cake and pastries.  And chased it all down with mimosas.  Needless to say we were all stuffed.  Ken and I literally did not eat another thing for rest of the day.  Monday dawned with sunny skies and warmer temps but the winds were up again so I did laundry.  It was great having 2 washers and 2 dryers.  Got everything done in record time!

Captain Ron, had projected that our target date to complete the ocean run would be Tuesday and he nailed it.  So Meander and Independence left at 6:00am.  The waters were great, a few bumps along the way but we made it to Sandy Hook, NJ for refueling with all my nerves intact.  :)  We took off for Staten Island, NY where we planned to use a mooring ball over night.  Got there late around 6:00pm and there was no one to hail to tell us where to moor up.  Sooooo, we attempted to moor up at a random ball only to find that we were dragging the ball and that we did it wrong. Got the boat dirty in the process too.  Ooops!  Meander moored with no problem but we needed to move.  Found another one and did it correctly this time but decided it would most likely drag too.  We end up docking up at Great Kills Yacht Club.  And guess what, there was another gold looper in the slip next to us.  GKYC is John's home marina and he helped us dock up.  He and his wife, April, and their 3 children completed the loop last year.  Such a nice guy and so very helpful.  He was there to meet another great loop couple who were also docking over night, Elizabeth and Jim.  It was a mini rendezvous.  Great day!

Staten Island, NY - Meander and Independence stern to stern

Ron and Marji Cyr, our Gold Looper buddies we met in Cape May, NJ.  Love them!!

Wednesday, the 17th we parted ways with Ron and Marji.  They were heading to their home in Shelter Island, NY which is in Long Island and we were heading into NYC and up the Hudson River.  We had become close over the last week and it was like saying good bye to family.  We did promise to meet up with them later in the year, at their winter home in Punta Gorda, FL.  We pulled out about 9:00am for the trip into NYC.  It was just amazing!!!  Seeing the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and the Manhattan city skyline from our boat in the middle of the harbor was just too cool.  We were definitely one of the smallest boats on the water and even though a busy harbor, we really had a smooth passage. 

We took our time so we could absorb it all.  Got into the Hudson River early afternoon and passed under the Tappan Zee Bridge about 2:30.  It is still under construction.  This area has been under construction forever.  I remember when we took Stephanie to WPI, MA in her freshman year and there was construction even then.  The never ending project.  We pulled into Half Moon Bay Marina later in the afternoon.  We are going to be here a week then Sue and Phil will be joining us for a cruise up the Hudson River to Albany, NY.  Can't wait.  In the meantime we need to find a vet, a hair dresser, a grocery store, a laundry and do some cleaning inside and outside on the boat.  It will be nice to be in one place for a while, at our choose and not the weather's.  Yeah!  Also, planning a trip into NYC some time during the week.

NYC, NY at the Verrazano Narrows Bridge with Manhattan in the background. It connects Staten Island and Brooklyn.

NYC, NY - Miss Liberty.  Love this girl!  And actually she is in NJ.

Ellis Island.  I had forgotten how beautiful the architecture is.

Groton-On-Hudson, NY - Our home for the next week.  See Independence at end of the T dock.

PS from Roofus

No rough waters so I am not unhappy but have to say my humans really made a mess the day they tried to tie the boat to a tiny little floating ball (See my latest pic to left).  Glad I didn't have to clean this up.  also, I don't understand what all the fuss was about yesterday but my humans were really excited to see all these buildings.  They are tall and shiny and in some cases had a pointy top but where's the grass  Good grief, I just don't understand them
                                                  sometimes.

May 11, 2017 Knapps Narrows, MD to Delaware City, DE to Cape May, NJ to Atlantic City, NJ

Well the weather final cleared and after 6 days at Knapps Narrows on Tilghman Island, MD we made our escape back into the Chesapeake Bay.  Lovely place and great people but time to move on.

Knapps Narrows, MD - high waters and winds.  Independence last boat on pier.

Knapps Narrows, MD - Draw bridge next to marina.  Water level so high can't see channel call numbers, the blue and white sign should be showing 13 and 16.

Farwell to Knapps Narrows at the crack of dawn on the 8th.

Once back in the bay we headed to Delaware City, DE.  It was a long run up the northern bay and through the C&D Canal but worth it to get back to about where we thought we would be.  Weather was clear and though a bit breezy, no one got thrown around and Roofus kept her breakfast.  All and all not a bad trip.  We met up with Foster and Susan, gold loopers, for docktails and dinner.  Lovely couple and they did not mind our thousand and one questions about their experiences.  Did learn that we have to try Butter Tarts in Canada, specifically in Campbell Ford on the Trent-Severn.  Can't really explain what a butter tart is but sounds decadent and definitely not calorie free.  :)

The next day dawned clear and calm with spring temperatures.  It turned out to be our best day on the water yet.  We headed south into the Delaware Bay with our goal of docking at Cape May, NJ.  The water was like glass.  It has given me hope that not all days underway will be bumpy.  We encountered several pods of dolphins the closer we got to Cape May.  I didn't get any pictures as they we much quicker than I was with the camera.  Maybe next time.  We slipped in at Uscth's Marina where we docked between two gold loopers!  One couple from Canada and the other on their way home to New York.  We had dinner with our New York gold loopers, Marji and Ron, at the Lobster House.  The seafood was awesome as was the company. 

Salem nuclear power plan on the Delaware Bay in NJ.  Notice the calm, calm water.

Skip John Shoal lighthouse, NJ built in 1877 was auctioned to the public back in 2012.  How cool would it be to live here?!

Heading to Cape May.  The water is like glass.  Can hardly tell the bay from the sky.  This is where we saw the dolphins.

Cape May ferry.  Have been on it so was kinda weird to be on the water with it.  We definitely gave it a wide berth.

For a second evening we had the advantage of hearing Ron and Marji's experiences and a chance to ask lots of questions.  One great piece of advice we got was about navigating the Atlantic Ocean, which I frankly was not looking forward to.  In addition to the ocean run fears, there is bad weather headed this way.  We weren't sure what our goal should be for the next couple of days but had agreed on trying to get to Staten Island, NY by Friday and wait out the weather there.  After Ken talked to Ron, we realized that was WAY too aggressive.  So we headed for Atlantic City, NJ.  The ride was a bit bumpy, but still not as bad as the run to Knapps Narrows (our gold standard for crappy so far, or should I say, the black standard).  Since this was a short run, 43 miles, we docked a little after 11:00am.  We will be here till the weather clears out which at this point may not be until next Tuesday.  The marina is next to the Golden Nugget Casino so there may have to be a little bit of slot machine fun in my future.  Oh, Ron and Marji are docked right behind us so looking forward to docktails too.  :)

PS from Roofus.

Ok, I don't need rescued at the moment but 3 different dockings in 3 days is a bit much.  I want to go back to Knapps Narrows, at least I got used to the same patch of green grass for almost a week.  This having a new spot to explore each day is for the birds or squirrels, as they were fearless in Delaware City, and almost as big as me.  But Linda has promised me that we will be staying put for a few days, so no complaints.  Besides, I got a doggie bag the last 2 days and both had seafood.  I like it when they eat out!

May 7, 2017 Knapps Narrows, MD

Today is day 5 of our visit to Tilghman, MD.  The weather has been less than cooperative, to say the least.  We have had some rain but for the most part it has been sunny though a bit cool.  It is the wind that has kept us in this sleepy fishing village.  And it appears that tomorrow will be no better though Tuesday is shaping up to a much calmer day.  We have used that time to rearrange everything, take inventories and chill.  On the chill part, I am totally adopting this and though not napping as much as Roofus, I am working on it.  Ken on the other hand has a way to go.  Maintenance, meeting other captains, constantly assessing the weather and making contingence plans keeps him occupied. 

We have accomplished one thing though, I can now post pics.  Those who know me, realize this is a big accomplishment.  My motto has always been about technology, 'I don't care how it works, as long as it is there and ready to go.'  So YOOHOO to me!

Family waving goodbye as we leave day 1

Tangier Island - Me and Milton Parks.  He's a local legend and gave us a tour of the island within an hour of docking.  What a sweetheart.

Tangier Island - Crabbers getting their share of the daily clam bait for their crab traps.

Tangier Island sunset from Parks Marina

Mr. Parks favorite street sign.  He gets a laugh every time he sees it since there are mainly golf carts on the island.

PS from Roofus

I for one love Tilghman Island.  Five days of bliss....no engines roaring, no crashing of various items around the cabin, no WAVE action and I haven't gotten seasick once since we have been here.  And needless to say, I have been sleeping a lot to get my nerves to calm down.  As far as I am concerned, we can just stay here though I expect I won't be that lucky as long as my crazy humans are in charge.  Time to take a nap.  Roofus