Day 39, Wednesday, October 7th
Kingston to Hyde Park
I woke up in the same spot where I stopped last night, in spite of the tide having come and reversing my direction twice overnight. I think my anchor works very well.
The Esopus light house marks a big turn in the river, and some big ships are carefully maneuvering around it.
I'm keeping my distance, but yesterday I saw some cabin cruisers cutting right in front of one of those big freighters. The freighter captain stepped on the horn and probably had a fit on his bridge.
Just a little further downriver I saw I nice little home, Mt St Alphonsus. Formerly a priest seminary, then a retreat, it's now becoming a high school for the 'Bruderhof'. Not too shabby really.
RoseAnn of Pyxis had warned us about 'deadheads' floating in the Hudson, and indeed I had to keep a good lookout for them - some were large enough to have inhabitants:
I had planned to stop at Poughkeepsie and visit the FDR home and the Vanderbilt mansion from there, but when I studied the map I realized it would be better to stop at Hyde Park and hike from there. Activecaptain listed a little marina called 'Hyde Park Landing', I tried to snag one of the transient buoys, but wasn't successful grabbing it, so I anchored instead.
Next I got out the ancient inflatable dinghy (remember, my good dinghy is floating in Lake Erie somewhere) and inflated it, wondering if it still worked. The last time I used that dinghy I put a mother duck and her eggs in there many years back. A different story.
The dinghy seemed to work more or less and I rowed to shore. It doesn't row well but works in a pinch. But I really need another decent dinghy soon.
Nobody was at the marina and the listed owner Peter Andros didn't answer the phone. I had to search for an exit as all gates were locked, eventually I found a way through bushes on a side access road and made my way to the Vanderbilt mansion.
Today's blog post has lots of photos. Unlike on many of my other cruising days, I actually got to see a lot more than the river today.
The mansion is surrounded by a huge estate, complete with park and an Italian style bridge
The mansion was built for Frederick Vanderbilt and his wife Louise, and was preserved in a state closely resembling the time when it was used by them about 100 years ago. The house is full of furnishings and art bought all over but mostly in France and Italy.
The mansion isn't the size of a palace, but each room is exceedingly well appointed.
Louise had her bedroom (she had her own) built like Marie Antoinette's chambers, including a fence around her bed. Maybe that's why they didn't have children.
The 'Bridal suite' was used by freshly married visitors, all others had to sleep, like their hosts, in their own separate bedrooms. But even the bridal suite has two single beds instead of a double. What's going on here?
Our guide also took us into the servant's quarters and the kitchen:
A great tour, with lots of fun information.
Before leaving the grounds I visited the 'formal gardens'. Frederick loved plants and flowers (possibly more than people). He even had a degree in horticology and his gardens show well.
I hiked south next, past the anchorage (Caprice still there) and on the Hyde Park Trail through nice woods, up and downhill. I eventually reached the former house of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt. I didn't want to visit the house itself, as it was getting late and there were too many other tourists. But I walked the grounds and saw the outside of the house.
He and his wife are buried in the Rose garden.
I hiked back to the boat and found my oars had gone missing, and some people pulling the buoys out from the water. I suspected them of taking my oars for ransom to make me pay the marina fee. They soon finished pulling the buoys and returned to shore and it turned out that this was the owner of the marina. We chatted with each other and he told me the marina rate was $35, as expected. I said I had the money but would need my oars back. He pretended that he hadn't taken them but said that we should go search for them since 'kids' sometimes play with things. Of course we soon found them and I gave him his money and he warmed up considerably. We had a long chat and he gave me more tips for the journey south.
The dinghy wasn't quite as firm as when I left it, I think the valves need some new o-rings. Either this or they have a slow leak. I'll have to work on this. Always something to fix on a boat...
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