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.