June 8 - 19 - Haverstraw NY to Kingston Rondout Yacht Basin to New Baltimore NY and VERMONT!

June 18, 2025

So sorry for the delay in posting, we've been landlubbers again. The delay due to the closures of the Erie Canal locks have actually created some interesting adventures! Let it be a reminder, to always look on the bright side.

We left Haverstraw on the morning of June 8th, cruising up the Hudson. On that ride we passed West Point, Hyde Park, home of the Franklin D Roosevelt and Vanderbilt Mansions, and the IBM campus at Poughkeepsie. We moored at Rondout Yacht Basin.

On June 9th we cruised through the fog (again) to Donovan's Shady Harbor and that's where we are now until June 25th. The Hudson is chock full of "flotsam & Jetsam" floating debris - floating trees, etc. So, it was fun dodging them in the fog. According to NOAA, flotsam is debris not deliberately thrown overboard, while jetsam is debris deliberately thrown over. Who knew??

The Hudson traffic is diverse with freighters, oil and gas barges, asphalt and aggregate barges, and cruise ships.

We spent four great nights with our friend Joan and her husband Mitch in North Bennington Vermont. Joan and I worked together at Valley Media in the 80's and 90's. Highlight of the week! Hung out, did some sightseeing, went to hear the Tower of Power at Stratton Mountain - danced too! And Don picked up some nice boat tools at a community yard sale!

Vermont is a beautiful rolling hills oasis. And who, knew that the Bennington area had so much history and notable Americans. Robert Frost is buried there, and Grandma Moses is buried in nearby Hoosick Falls, NY.

It is said that the Green Mountains Boys of Vermont, turned the tide in the Revolutionary War by defeating the British in Bennington in 1777. That victory set the stage for the British defeat at Saratoga!

Joan lent us her car for 4 days, so we were able to shop, run errands and even do some sightseeing. Highlight of the sightseeing excursion was visiting the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum at Hyde Park, the first presidential library and the only one used by a sitting President. Hyde Park was FDR's childhood home, and he loved it there. The grounds are gorgeous with the museum, their home, Springwood, the stables, gardens, gravesite and more.

The magnitude of work that the Roosevelts did in their lifetime is amazing. My favorite quote of FDR's is his Four Freedoms:

Freedom of speech and expression; "Freedom of every person to worship God in his own way; Freedom from want; Freedom from fear."

And a favorite quote of Eleanors is: "One's philosophy is not best expressed in words; it is expressed in the choices one makes."

We also visited the Vanderbilt Mansion just down the road purchased in 1895 and the national historic site preserves over 200 acres of the original property.

NOTE: If you have never visited a presidential library, you should. So far, I have visited 4 out of 13 museums in existence today.

In spite of the continuing rain, the Canals have finally been opened! So, when we return from a road trip to Maryland, we will finally head North to the Erie Canal and Canada!