Quiz time! There are at least two interesting things to notice on the headstones of John and Gerritude (Gerritile? I can't tell with that crack running through her name) Ten Broeck, what are they? Answers after the jump.
I got off the Thruway in Saugerties on Sunday thinking I could quickly find an ice cream shop. That didn't work out too well. For a reason to be revealed later I had to stop at this cemetery on the south side of town.
Quiz answers and close-up photos below.
Seen at the Storm King Art Center on a beautiful November Saturday last fall.
Let's wander into the Hudson Valley. The Moodna Viaduct was built a little over a century ago by the Erie and Jersey Railroad Line. It's the longest (3200 feet) and highest (193 feet at the highest point) railroad viaduct east of the Mississippi.
As the name of that railroad implies, this is how you would have gone from Hoboken to Buffalo in the early 20th century. That route closed down ages ago but there are still commuters who make the long trek between Port Jervis and Hoboken every day.
Part of the Port Jervis Line was wrecked by Hurricane Irene so no trains were passing overhead when I was there. The line has been repaired and brought back into service so maybe I need to make a return visit.
I couldn't fit the big panoramic photo above so here you go.
This photo is a couple month's old so there's a chance that Felon's been captured and reunited with his younger sister, Miss Demeanor.
Near the tip of Manhattan, on Broadway between 211th and 212th Streets, you'll notice a lone red sandstone rock among the Manhattan Schist that makes up the wall at Isham Park. That red rock is a milestone letting travelers know that they were twelve miles from City Hall on the Albany Post Road.
The milestone has been here (okay maybe it was at 203rd street for a while) since the mid-1700s. It's placement was supervised by Ben Franklin, who later went on to found a chain of craft stores.
The writing has worn off only in the last century. In 1905 C. G. Hines wrote in The New York and Albany Post Road: "there still exists on Manhattan Island a stone imbedded in a bordering wall along Broadway, and in about its proper place, in the neighborhood of Two Hundred and Fifteenth Street, which reads '12 miles from N. York.'"
There's a whole bunch of milestones along the road in Westchester County. I happened upon the marker for mile 48 when in Peekskill a couple of months ago. As you can see that marker was enthusiatically, if not competently, restored by the DAR in 1908.
Ack! I think I've bit off more than I can chew. I'm a bit overwhelmed by the places I've been to and the photos I've taken over the past few months. There's the trip to Washington and Oregon, a daytrip in the Hudson Valley, an upstate New York trip, and this past weekend's trip to Missouri and Illinois. There's also photos from several bike rides around town and my sister's visit. While this is hardly one of life's bigger problems, I am perplexed as to how to put all these photos online in a timely fashion. As long as I don't eat more of those horseshoe sandwiches (thanks, Marie) I should live long enough to get through them all.
Electric Windows. On the windows of the old electric blanket factory in Beacon.
Close-up of Alexander Calder's Five Swords at Storm King.
Five Swords, Alexander Calder
Mozart's Birthday, Mark Di Suvero
Endless Column, Tal Streeter
Storm King Wavefield, Maya Lin
While in the neighborhood on Saturday I also paid a visit to the Storm King Art Center. I especially wanted to see the new Maya Lin sculpture that opened to the public earlier this year. The late-afternoon autumn light did not disappoint.
Some readers may be familiar with Di Suvero's Old Glory (aka Special K) sculpture in the Willa Cather Native Weed Garden at the University of Nebraska.
I finally got a chance to go up to the Walkway Over the Hudson in Poughkeepsie. When it opened in 1888 the Great Poughkeepsie Railroad Bridge was one of the longest bridges in the world and the first bridge crossing the Hudson south of Albany. The bridge was closed in 1974. In 1998, after nearly a quarter century of sordid dealings, the bridge was deeded to Walkway Over the Hudson a non-profit that has spent the last ten years raising money and renovating the bridge. Last month the pedestrian bridge was finally opened to the public.
It was cool yesterday, 212 feet above the Hudson. Despite the chill the pedestrian bridge had plenty of pedestrians. The bridge is still a work in progress. Eventually it will connect to trails on either side of the river. For now all you can do is walk, or ride if you have a penny-farthing, back and forth. It's worth it. Look at those views!
Speaking of walking, the Times has a great narrated slide show of a woman who walks up to 90 miles a week around the city.
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