Hudson River Cruise

Wednesday, October 8th, Albany -- Our second day in Albany, which started with an intense rain storm associated with the passage of a weather front.  By 10 am the  rain was mostly done, and by the end of the day, skies were clear.  In an effort to get some idea of the next 7 days, I took a photo of the TV playing in the breakfast room.

The forecast is looking good.

After breakfast in the hotel (standard fare), we walked out, with the idea of ultimately getting to the Rensselaer Train Station to meet Betsy's sister Catherine who was traveling from Boston, via NYC to Albany.  The route to the train station involved walking along an existing bike path,  detouring around some construction on the ramp up to the bridge, and crossing over the Hudson River.  To ensure that the route was passable around the construction we visited the Visitor Center.  The staff people there were very helpful and gave us advice on how to not miss the detour.  We also got a few questions answered.

Scale model of Albany in 1695.  Note the walled town with the "fort" at the top of the model on a hill.  The Hudson River is at the bottom of the photo.  Most home plots resembled the British model of land use with deep backyards, presumably for grazing and kitchen gardens.

My one representative manhole cover with the seal of Albany (it features a Dutch settler and an Indian).

One more "Nipper" dog, who represents the original dog listening to the gramophone in a nineteenth-century painting by Francis Barraud entitled "His Master's Voice.  It became famous as the RCA logo.  There are 17 of these decorated statues scattered around downtown.

View of Albany from the middle of the bridge over the Hudson River.

The Hudson River

The Rensselaer Train Station, renovated in 2002, and quite modern inside.

Catherine's train arrived a little late, but she was otherwise unscathed from her trip from Boston (which started around 6am).  Betsy and I enjoyed a midday snack/drinks in the train station while we waited for her to arrive.  We took a Lyft car back to the hotel and Catherine checked in.  After that, we all went off to same restaurant as last night (Dove & Deer), but we had an hour to wait before it opened at 4 pm.  So we circled around the capitol and plaza before heading to the restaurant.

A notable repeat from yesterday's blog post commemorating Joseph Henry for the discovery of "magnetic induction" or how to generate electricity with a magnet and a coil of wire.  All current motors, generators, and a number of other electrical devices use this principle.  Also note the time period - 1829-31.

We went by the Corinthian columns again.

And the cantilevered "Agency" buildings.

Ditto.

And one more photo of the capitol, with fountain, sculpture, and The Egg.

Sculpture of a cube with a reflective one.

Dinner at the Dove & Deer was again quite marvelous -- souvlaki chicken, truffle fries, smash burger, tropical salad, and waygu mini-hot dogs, with beer and ciders.

After dinner we walked more directly back to the hotel and retired.