Day 2 in the Hudson Valley

Our day started with a drive to West Point Military Academy. This is our third military academy after visiting the US Navy Academy in Annapolis and the USAF Academy in Colorado Springs.   They have a 75 minute bus tour so, unlike the other academies, you don't have to pass a security check. The campus is beautiful, with all the granite buildings, built from their own quarry. 

The first stop on the tour was the chapel, which was very impressive.  The  many American flags in the chapel are from various times in our country's history.  Someone asked about marriages so the tour guide told that only graduates of the academy (and a few others) could be married there.  He followed that up with telling how, since all cadets are required to be unmarried, starting at 1pm on graduation day, they have a wedding scheduled for every half hour!  

The next stop on the tour was Trophy Point which has a beautiful view of the Hudson River.  The guide spoke about  the chain the Americans stretched across the  river to stop British ships from passing by.  A picture of a few links of that chain is on the right. 

After the tour we headed for our Hudson River boat ride.  I had found three tours, but when I went to make a reservation, only one offered a tour on the day we needed to go and it was the farthest from West Point.  So we had a 1 hour drive to get to this tour.    But the good news is that it was a beautiful, pleasant ride on the Hudson as you can see in the picture on the top left. 

Since the Hudson is navigable all the way to Albany and has a large amount of boat traffic, it has several lighthouses (upper right) to warn about dangerous areas.

Most of the shoreline is tree covered, but there were a few pretty houses (lower left) and we passed a large barge (lower right) being pushed by a tug.

Overall it was a very relaxing afternoon on the river.

Tomorrow we head back towards home, stopping in central Pennsylvania.  I'm not sure there will be too much to blog about for the next 2 days.