Hudson River Cruise

Monday, October 13th, Near Alpine, NJ overnight, but then back to Milton, NY -- Weather was disruptive with a "nor-easter" blowing in, with flooding amounts of rain and gusty winds.  Once again, we are traveling during a period of extreme weather conditions.  But for us it was a minor inconvenience; for the crew more of an issue.  Sunday night, the ship cruised most of the way down the river from Kingston to Alpine, NJ, which is at the border of NY and NJ, in the dark.  There was nowhere safe to dock, so the ship anchored in the middle of the river, served breakfast and then returned up river, bucking the current and the wind.  We think the serving crew enjoyed the change in plans because they were taking pictures of a part of the river they never see by daylight.  Several of the days' excursions were canceled.

We were one of many, much larger, ships anchored in the river.  This is looking toward Manhattan.

This is the Mario M. Cuomo Stay Bridge, which replaced the Tappan Zee Bridge (which was beginning to fail).  According to our tour staff, most New Yorkers refer to it with its original name and will always do so (possibly a bit of a political statement).

Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant.

Some color...

The Bear Mountain Bridge, a bit north of West Point and where the Appalachian Trail crosses the Hudson River.  Interestingly, it is also the lowest point on the entire Appalachian Trail.

More color...

Ditto....

A cascade near West Point.

Panorama of West Point, during the stormy day.

Ditto, with the start of Officers Row on the left.

Because of the weather and the need to cruise back up river (which took until 12:30 pm), many of the excursions for the day were canceled or rearranged.  We were scheduled to visit the Lyndhurst Mansion, which, while it ultimately occurred, involved an hour and half bus ride to and from the mansion.  And our time in the house was compressed since we were there just before closing time.

Lyndhurst is a 14,000 square foot mansion/summer house built in the Gothic Revival style in 1838 just south of Tarrytown, NY, and owned by only 3 families - the Pauldings, the Merritts, and the Goulds.  Jay Gould (infamous robber baron) and his descendants owned the house for the most of its history and ultimately gave it to The National Trust for Historic Preservation.  Much of the original furnishings remain in the mansion.  Although elegant, the house felt friendly and human-scaled.  Over time, the owners added a conservatory with swimming pool, a pooling alley, and doll house, so it would have been a fun place to be a child.  Here are a bunch of photos:

Lyndhurst Mansion - wood framed with stone veneer.

View from the house.

One of the many linden trees that the house is named for.

A coat rack and umbrella stand, decorated for the season.

Parlor.

Hallway, faux painted walls and ceiling to look like marble.  (The guide said it cost more to have people install the fake veneers than to buy the real marble, granite, etc.  The fake effect was intended to demonstrate how rich you were.)

Dining room initially, became a library later.

A Tiffany grandfather clock

The guide in the new dining room - more faux finishes.

The art gallery, still with the original art acquired the Merrits.

Ditto.

A birdcage.

A creepy Halloween photo, which is hung somewhere in the mansion each year.

Famous people molded into the corbels -- this is Ben Franklin.

A Tiffany window.

The Gould's daughter's bedroom.

Ditto.

The main parlor or living room just off the entry hall.  We were told that the decorations for the Christmas season are similarly over-the- top.

After the hour and half ride back to the ship, we immediately went into dinner, having missed the cocktail hour.  But we arrived to find three different cocktails in plastic glasses set out by the dining room entrance - whiskey sours,  brandy mojitos??, and White Russians to warm up the chilled tourists.