A cruise on the Hudson River
By Mary Jo
Some cruises are glamorous, like seeing the Mediterranean, others are adventurous like cruising the North Atlantic in the wake of the Vikings. And some are simple and homey, like our last week Hudson River Fall Foliage cruise.
The Mayhem Consultant has been interested in this American Cruise Line itinerary for years. ACL operates small ships in American waters. We've cruised with them before and it's always interesting fun, with no passports, intercontinental flights, or money changing.
The Hudson cruise is particularly easy since it starts and ends in New York City, about a three hour drive north of our home in Maryland. Even easier, we used a great local sedan service to drive to the pier to embark, and then pick us up at the end to bring us home. I loved using them--going through the Lincoln Tunnel and emerging into the mad traffic of the city is not for the faint of heart. <G>
I grew up in Western New York State, between Buffalo and Rochester. My home was hours west of Albany and Troy, the northern end of the cruise, but I felt a sense of homecoming because of the light and landscape and the foliage. We timed the trip just right; the morning we left, the Mayhem Consultant heard on the Weather Channel that it was the optimum week for Hudson River foliage.
The Hudson is not a huge river like the Mississippi, but it has all sorts of history along it, and it's important in the development of the United States. The very knowledgeable ship's lecturer gave a great talk on the Erie Canal, which he said has been called the greatest engineering feat of the 19th century. I'd learned in fifth grade that the canal was build by Governor DeWitt Clinton and opened in 1825. (On the right is a very handsome lighthouse set right in the river.)
Like other visionary enterprises such as the Louisiana Purchase and buying Alaska, lots of people sneered at the idea of a canal across the state. It was called Clinton's Big Ditch. But it was completed in seven years, on time and under budget, which is pretty amazing right there!
The Hudson River and the Erie Canal connected the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes and enabled the development of the Midwest and further westward expansion. It also brought great wealth to New York State and turned New York City into one of the great world cities. It's not an accident that the state's descriptive phrase is The Empire State.
Excuse me, my New York chauvinism is showing! To return to the cruise, excursions included the West Point Military Academy and Hyde Park, home of Franklin D. Roosevelt. As an interesting historical tidbit, at this time forts were often named after the generals that built them. West Point was originally called Fort Arnold, named after the soldier who became the most infamous traitor in American history, Benedict Arnold. Not surprisingly, the name of the fortress was changed to West Point and it became the oldest military academy in the country.
Our favorite excursion was the New York State Museum in Albany. It was a wonderful museum with sections on natural history, the original inhabitants (there was an exhibit of gorgeous contemporary Native American crafts), and a moving exhibit of the 9/11 terrorist attack on the Twin Towers, including a pumper truck belonging to Engine Company 6, which had been founded in 1756 (!!!)
Station 6 was close to the Twin Towers, and it had a specially built pump that could push water up to the top of the towers, 102 stories. They were first responders on that terrible day, and the pumper was partially crushed by the fall of the North Tower.
But this was a fall foliage cruise and it was wonderfully scenic. The lovely chimney right by the water probably belonged to an iron smelter according to the MC, who knows about such things.
Our cruise ending in NYC at the same pier we sailed from. We arrived after dark and saw the amazing lights of the city, and for a grand finale, the captain took us the Statue of Liberty, gloriously lighted. I'd seen Lady Liberty before, but never this close and never lit up at night.
Are you familiar with the Hudson River or any of the wonderful history associated with it? Tell me more!
Mary Jo