Reading and researching about the area, we decided to spend 4 days at Hyde Park and take advantage of the many attractions. We are not sure if it was the beautiful mid 80 weather with cool evenings, the places to walk and explore, the museum and breweries, the very bike friendly streets and lanes, the quiet, wonderful, simple marina with very few people, or the fact we were close enough to MA for Zach to visit, but we just loved this spot.
We dropped the ball early in the AM to catch a strong current to move us along. Our 56 Nautical Mile ride was projected to take just over 8 hours but 7 hours later we pulled into Hyde Park Marina. Leaving Manhattan the Hudson River transforms into a valley flanked with stone, trees and a few houses in the distance. The landscape was stunning, quite different from others we have cruised and peaceful. After a little auto-pilot malfunction, we returned to snapping pictures and enjoying the views.
Walkway Over The Hudson
Although we had a difficult time finding the the world’s longest elevated pedestrian bridge, Google Maps finally lead us to the Walkway Over The Hudson. The Walkway spans the Hudson River and is 1.28 miles from one gate to the other. It stands 212 feet above the Hudson River. We rode over the bridge to Caboose Ice Cream and them back over to Blue Collar Brewing. Can’t beat a day filled with biking, views, beer and ice cream.
FDR Library and Museum
After a restful morning, we rode our bikes up to the Hyde Park Roosevelt Family Estate. First, we toured Springwood, the Roosevelt family home. Enjoying the tour way more than we expected, we bought the second ticket and toured The Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum. We became fascinated with the special displays, immersive audio‐visual theaters, and artifacts that convey the dramatic story of the Roosevelt era, that we did not realized the museum was closing. A first to say, we closed down a museum!
The Hyde Park Marina
We docked on the outside dock directly on the Hudson since our draft to too deep for the marina. It was not a fancy marina, but we just loved the area and views. We had a front row view of trains along the both sides of the Hudson. The length of the trains zipping along sounding their whistles with Amtrak/commuter trains on the East bank and freight trains on the west was unbelievable. OMG! Even understanding how much we all shop at Amazon, the amount of blue blue train cars with big yellow smiles was shocking to see.
Culinary Institute of America (CIA)
The NY CIA was voted one of the 56 prettiest campus in America. It sits along the Hudson Rive and is beautiful. We ate dinner at the CIA twice. First at the EGG, which is the student dining commons. It was quite the experience being back in a dinning hall but the food was delicious and cheap. Plus, they house a brewery and felling the need to support the students, we tried each variety, except the sour. Definitely al pours got 5 stars! Returning to campus with Zach, we had dinner Ristorante Caterina de’ Medici. Being a fine dining experience, it was a stark comparison to the cafeteria. The restaurant is totally run by students and it was entertaining watching the staff learning on the job. We enjoyed a bottle of wine, four courses and lovely evening chatting.
West Point
We toured West Point military academy which was amazing. Our tour guide was so knowledge and had a genuine passion to West Point. Turns out he was a History professor on campus for 35 years. The grounds were beautiful with majestic architecture and grandeur. Hearing about the discipline of the cadets and the Patriotic focus was profound. It was amazing how every event, task or activity was rooted in tradition.
Val-Kill
After reading First Ladies by Marie Benedict, Tracy was fascinated by the life and accomplishments of Eleonor Roosevelt. To learn even more, we peddled over to visit The Eleanor Roosevelt Historical Site. Val-Kill, named after the flowers that frow along the river, is the home of Eleanor Roosevelt and where Franklin and Eleanor entertained friends, the press, activists, and official state visitors in the relaxed atmosphere.
Vanderbilt Mansion
Well, when you are the richest person in the world, this is how you live! Amazing!
Every Ready Diner
We had breakfast at a Retro diner that was featured on Diners, Drive-In’s and Diver. Since we rode our bikes their we could not take advantage of the around-the-clock hours on weekends.
