Tuesday, June 8, 2021

Sailing South aboard Lucy III: 2020-21 (Part III - returning North)

 Norrie Point Marina, Mills-Norrie State Park, Staatsburg, Hyde Park, New York:  June 8, 2021

https://www.google.com/maps/place/41°50'07.1%22N+73°56'31.4%22W/@41.835305,-73.9426032,155m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m14!1m7!3m6!1s0x89dd122936605c1b:0x3a6784666e2e665!2sStaatsburg,+NY+12580!3b1!8m2!3d41.8498151!4d-73.9301365!3m5!1s0x0:0x0!7e2!8m2!3d41.835304!4d-73.9420556

Mills Mansion

Marc-  We had a late departure at 08:30 this morning to catch the tidal current in the Hudson River.  We also took advantage of a South wind the funneled through the mountain gap east of Storm King Mountain.  Four hours later we arrived at the Norrie Point Marina and were greeted by the managing park ranger.  This is a nice park setting combining forests and several nearby mansions of the ultra rich that lived here.  Families such as the Mills, Roosevelts and Vanderbuilts moved here.  

Today was Steph's birthday and she wanted to visit the village of Rhinebeck nearby.  She did find some nice shops and came home with clothes and candy.  On our return we went on a biking adventure at twilight.  First we followed the biking/hiking trails (mostly) set out by a park ranger to visit the Mills Mansion.  Two small deer were seen at the outset and then we headed off road.  The gravel and dirt trails were in a thick forest that became darker as we progressed.  We eventually made it over to the Mansion from a trail by the river.  There was no way we would be going back through the now very dark forest so I found a return route by the "old Post Road" that brought us through the scenic village of Staatsburg.  We  passed a very cool Library, several stone churches, historic homes and a few shops.  As we rode through town a police cruiser was parked by the side of the road.  Steph waved to the officer.  I was thinking this guy is going to pull us over for not having lights on our bikes (he did not).  We did have helmets and reflectors and the village was well lit by street lights.  After the village we returned to the Park roads without anything but the waning natural lighting.  I took action deciding to take a shortcut down a closed road back to the marina.  This was a one lane road with a tunnel passing beneath the railroad tracks.  It worked out well even with the tunnel cutting our return time in half.

Tomorrow we are off to Catskill for the un-masting of Lucy III for the low bridges of the upper Hudson and Champlain canal.


No comments: