On Saturday August 19th, we made the drive from Woodstock, Connecticut to Croton Point Park in Croton-on-Hudson, New York. Some of the roads coming through Connecticut were absolutely terrible and we got stuck in a few traffic jams (during which we picked up a few social media followers and exchanged messages with other cars also sitting at a standstill) but we finally made it to our park. We were greeted by several of our fellow campers and, once we got settled, opened our house to about 20 visitors over the course of the evening. It was so nice to meet some of our neighbors and everyone was so excited about our house. We met one lady named Maria who brought her wife, daughter, and grandchildren over to visit and they absolutely loved our house. Another couple (Jerry and Chantelle) were local but had brought their son over to the park for the day and stopped to chat. They ended up taking us out for dinner and gave us some amazing information about the area and advice on things to do and see while we were there. We usually get a few people who are interested in our house but this was by far the best welcome we have ever had at a park.
We started our first full day (Sunday) with breakfast from a local deli on the advice of our friends from the night before. The food was dirt cheap and absolutely delicious. I got the Bacon, Egg and Cheese and John got the Andy. We split some home fries and a black & white cookie and were feeling fueled up and ready to take on the day.
We decided to take a “quick drive” into the city just to see what we could from the car and maybe get a handle on things we wanted to do during the week. John had done some research and picked a place for us to start things off so we headed down the road right along the Hudson River and were soon driving into New York City. Our destination was actually in New Jersey so we got to drive through the Lincoln Tunnel. One of my favorite Christmas movies and a must watch for us every year is “Elf” starring Will Ferrell. The entire time we were driving the tunnel, all I could hear was Buddy saying “I passed through the seven levels of the Candy Cane forest, through the sea of swirly twirly gum drops, and then I walked through the Lincoln Tunnel.” This would be just the first time this week that I would recognize a place from television, movies, or books and be in complete awe that I was actually experiencing it in person.
We crossed into New Jersey and I started seeing signs for “Weehawken”. Now, I should probably mention that I am a big fan of Broadway musicals and of history in general. If you are also a fan of one or both of these things, you may be aware of a little production called “Hamilton” which is one of my favorites. It tells a slightly embellished but fairly decent account of the life of Alexander Hamilton, one of our founding fathers. There is one song that sets the stage for the duel with Aaron Burr that would ultimately end Hamilton’s life and it says “Weehawken. Dawn. Guns, Drawn”. I started singing the song immediately but still didn’t put it together to figure out where we were going so I was both surprised and excited when the car parked at the Weehawken Dueling Grounds- the actual site where history took place.
The Dueling Grounds were near Alexander Hamilton Park so we walked over to check it out. The entire area gave such an incredible view of the New York City skyline. It was really an amazing first introduction to the city and was really neat as a historical site.
I also started chatting with a local woman (we bonded over the shared experience of stepping in something sticky in front of one of the information plaques) and she told us that we could drive down the road just a bit and also see the Statue of Liberty. I know that this is such a touristy thing to do but it was on my list of things to see in the city so we headed on over. My plan was just to look at it from the car from the shore in New Jersey but John surprised me again by heading off to the ticket window to get us on one of the ferry boats to go see her up close and personal.
The tickets were sold in an old train station that was so beautiful. This was the station where people arrived right after passing through Ellis Island and boarded trains to take them all over the United States. The trains had stopped running a long time ago and the tracks were all overgrown but it was still such a powerful sight to see and was absolutely gorgeous.
John had visited NYC before as part of a class trip for school but I had never been to the Big Apple. He had gotten to go to Ellis Island but not to Liberty Island so it was still pretty fun for both of us as we boarded the boat and made our way away from the shore.
Our first stop was Ellis Island and I wish we had more time but we had gotten there for one of the last boats of the day. We did go ashore on Ellis Island but only had about 45 minutes if we wanted to make it to Liberty Island as well. We managed to check out a few exhibits and got a very basic idea of the experience of new arrivals to the United States who passed through this checkpoint. We didn’t have time to look up our family’s history (it’s all computerized now but costs $10 per record search) but we still learned a lot.
We boarded one of the last ferries from Ellis Island to Liberty Island and enjoyed walking all around Lady Liberty. They do still offer special tours to take you inside of the statue (they offer a tour for the base and a tour that takes you up to the crown and torch) but those are very hard to get booked on so the majority of visitors (ourselves included) just content themselves with walking around the edges of the island. We took a ton of pictures, bought a few souvenirs, and got back in line for the ferry back to New Jersey.
Over all, I have to recommend the experience. It was crowded and hot but we loved seeing the statue up close. Tip: If you depart from Liberty State Park on the New Jersey side instead of the New York side, it really appears that it isn’t as busy. Our lines were shorter and our boats were much less full than the ones serving New York guests. This may change based on the day of the week or the time of year but for our trip it was definitely better to have come from Jersey.
On the way back home, we took the Holland Tunnel which was also pretty neat.
John was on vacation this week so our adventures didn’t have to stop after the weekend! On Monday, we drove over to Sleepy Hollow which was only about 15 minutes from our park. Being a lover of all things creepy, I couldn’t be this close and not visit the town that was the setting for Washington Irving’s classic “Headless Horseman of Sleepy Hollow” tale. We visited the Headless Horseman monument, the Headless Horseman Bridge, and the Old Dutch Church of Sleepy Hollow. The cemetery at the church contains the grave of author Washington Irving and some of the names on the older headstones served as the inspiration for some of the characters in the story. We tried to visit Irving’s home nearby in Tarrytown but it was closed during the week so we grabbed some lunch and headed back home.
We were already exhausted but still had so much to do! We definitely needed to pace ourselves for the rest of the week!
