Hudson River Cruise - Concluded

Wednesday, October 15th, Milton to NYC - The last day of the cruise, arrival in NYC with a swing past the Statue of Liberty.  The weather was clear, warm and windy.

We left the mooring in Milton just at sunrise (with bright red clouds) and traveled all the way down to NYC, passing by West Point, Alpine, the Lyndhurst Estate, under the George Washington Bridge, to the Statue of Liberty, and ended with a return upriver to Pier 81 at the west end of West 41st Street.

The Library and Classroom buildings of West Point from the river.

Ditto, one of the largest stone buildings in the US (?) -- it might be the Engineering Building.  The Chapel is the tower poking up behind.

Ditto

One of the many memorial statues, visible from the river.

The mooring at Alpine, NJ where we were supposed to dock on Monday but couldn't due to high winds and water.  The ship in this photo is another American Cruise Line sister ship (same size and design).

An early view of NYC underneath the George Washington Bridge.  The bridge has two decks and its appears that big trucks use the upper deck, autos the lower deck.

West Midtown.

A triangle building, which is condos.

Midtown again, the building with what looks like a staircase around it provides natural areas for bees, an apiary.

The aircraft carrier Intrepid, now a tourist attraction and museum.  Note the WWII airplanes on the right.

The Vessel, a circular walkway which was one the first "buildings" in this area for viewing the Hudson River, which was later dwarfed by the many taller building surrounding it.  According to our historian, it was an effective place for jumpers and has since been closed to solo visitors.

The Empire State Building.

The Island, a "park" built on tulip-like structures.

Again, the Empire State Building with the Chrysler Building behind and to the right.  Note, the Chrysler Building is only a few feet lower in height than the Empire State Building, but further away which shortens its appearance.

Lady Liberty.

Ditto.

Catherine and Betsy with the Statue behind.  Our ship had a flag waving ceremony which was videoed for some sort of promotion by the company in preparation for the 2026 celebrations.

Selfie of all three of us.

Water's Soul, a statue by Jaume Plensa, on the New Jersey shoreline.  The artist is hoping to "convey a collective hope for humanity's future."  The piece represents "Plensa's ongoing engagement and interest in waterfront spaces as proxies for humankind."  It is the neighborhood's first public art installation by an international artist.  

We docked in NYC at Pier 81 at about 2:30.  The ship hosted a few excursions, but we opted for a walk to Times Square -- way too many people and crazy bike riders and traffic.  Catherine made it a few blocks before retreating to the ship and spending a quiet time on the top deck reading and watching the NJ ferries come and go frequently.  Betsy and I walked on, visiting the NYC Public Library and briefly toured their "Treasures" collection.  Among other treasures, Christopher Robin's  original stuffed animals are on display - Winnie-the-Pooh, Eeyore, Kanga, and Baby Roo - all slightly tattered and well-loved.  The collection also includes an original Gutenberg Bible, plus portfolios from James Audubon and M. Sybilla Merion, demonstrating their amazing ability to observe and reproduce flora and fauna.

This book is contains Bible texts (probably Old Testament) printed in Latin, Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic on the same page.  It's an intriguing example of cultural cross-over.

A "First Folio" of Shakespeare's works - an amazing, historical volume.

We ended walking 3.9 miles, getting about 2/3 of the way across Manhattan.  We returned to the ship by walking west on 37th Street, which passed through the Garment District.  There were lots of 'trimmings' shops selling beads, trims, sequins, etc. and shops specializing in extravagant full length gowns.

We enjoyed our last cocktail hour and dinner (surf and turf) before packing and getting ready to disembark.  We were instructed to put our luggage outside before retiring and to vacate our stateroom by 7:30 am the next morning, (which we did).  We said goodbye to Catherine, who was transferred to Penn Station for her train ride back to Boston.  We order a car by Lyft to take across the city to the Beekman Tower, at the east end of 49th Street.

The Beekman Tower is an art-deco building a few blocks north of the UN Building.

We have checked in and are starting our 6 days/nights in NYC.