As we wrapped up Rhode Island it was time to say goodbye to the Atlantic coast and aim the Beast west for the final leg of our 39 month journey. In just over three months, on October 31st, the Beast will be parked in front of our Livermore home. We have eight states yet to visit, or revisit in some cases, in that time to cap off our 48 state adventure.
For those of you who appreciate statistics you'll be interested to know that our Rhode Island RV park was the 150th unique RV park since we started this gig three years ago. That doesn't count the 20 or so times that we've stayed at the same park more than once or have boondocked. As you might expect, on travel days we've gotten pretty efficient with the set up and take down of the Beast.
Woodstock
Well, I came upon a child of God
He was walking along the road And I asked him, "Tell me, where are you going?" And this he told me
Said, "I'm going down to Yasgur's Farm Gonna join in a rock 'n' roll band Got to get back to the land Set my soul free
By the time we got to Woodstock
We were half a million strong And everywhere was a song And a celebration
Lyrics from "Woodstock", recorded by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and released on their 1970 Deja Vu album about seven months after Woodstock. I didn't realize it until researching for this post that the song was written and also recorded by Joni Mitchell. Joni was not at Woodstock but she had a romantic relationship with Graham Nash at the time. Hearing Graham wax enthusiastic about the Woodstock experience afterwards inspired her to write the song.
Here is the CSNY recording set to a photo montage from Woodstock:
The Woodstock concert was in Bethel, NY, an hour east of our KOA campground in the Hudson Valley. I couldn't be that close and not go see one of the most iconic sites in rock and roll music history!
The site of the festival: the stage was located at the bottom of this slope just in front of the trees.
The festival was expected to draw 50,000 fans. The attendance was over 450,000!
This link has FAQ's and the performer line up and bios that will quickly get you up to speed on the concert that you may have attended but perhaps have little memory of...
The stage was about 100 yards in front of the marker, on the left side of the photo. The previous photo was from the top of the slope on the right (where the white pavilion tents are). It's hard to imagine that 450,000 people fit in the space that you are looking at!
The festival organizers originally intended to hold the event about 60 miles away in Woodstock, NY (thus the name) but were rebuffed due to concerns from the community. 300 acres were subsequently acquired for a venue in Wallkill, NY with the expectation that "only" 50,000 people would attend. Construction work on the venue commenced. However, local opposition surfaced and intensified to the extent that the town officials ultimately pulled the plug on the concert.
The August 15,16,17 concert was only a month away, with 50,000 tickets having been sold, and no venue! Max Yasgur saved the day by leasing a portion of his 600 acre dairy farm in Bethel, NY for the festival. The short time frame left the venue woefully unprepared for the 450,000 people that were to descend upon it.
The Museum at Bethel Woods does a really great presentation of the Woodstock story
We sat inside of the hippie bus (in the RV world they are now called "schoolies") to watch a short video about the means and modes in which young people - including more than a few hippies - traveled from all corners of the U.S. to attend Woodstock.
Groovy man!
Another museum video exhibit that provided period appropriate seating!
Take a seat Johnny and let me explain how we communicated during the dark ages...
The "Information Booth" was a tree to which people attached messages in an effort to connect with others.
Tickets were $8 for one day or $18 for all three days. Ahh, the good old days...
Actually, music was played for four days because the concert didn't end until Monday morning, largely due to rain delays on Saturday and Sunday. Jimmy Hendrix took the stage at 9:00 a.m. Monday for a two hour set that included his iconic version of The Star Spangled Banner. By this time the audience of a half million had dwindled to "only" 40,000 people.
Credence didn't come on until 1:00 a.m. Saturday night (i.e., Sunday morning). I'd pay $8 all day (or night) long to see that set!
Fun fact: CCR does not appear on the Woodstock movie or soundtrack album because John Fogerty refused to grant permission. Fogerty felt that the set "wasn't remarkable" because "we were on so late and the audience was asleep mostly caused by hippie dysfunction and the fact that we followed the Grateful Dead."
Fogerty said "we actually played a really hot set, in spite of the fact that the audience was in such disarray in the middle of the night."
CCR was followed by Janis, who, we learned at the museum, had been biding her time with adult beverages and wasn't in top condition when it was her turn to perform. Consequently Janis' set was subpar for her.
After our visit we were inspired to watch the Woodstock documentary later (all four hours of it...)
Here is the movie trailer:
The Pavillion concert venue is located on the Bethel Woods grounds. There are 5,000 seats under the canopy plus room for 11,000 on the lawn. The night before our visit Dave Matthews Band played and the two nights after our visit Phish was scheduled to play.
My story? At 12 years old I remember sitting in our living room in 1970 listening to the Woodstock album (a three record set) that one of my older siblings had acquired. It was a vicarious thrill for me, and particularly so when Country Joe McDonald performed "The Fish Cheer". This is a G rated blog so you're going to have to Google it yourself if you don't know or remember that "song".
The Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum is located in Hyde Park, just north of Poughkeepsie overlooking the Hudson River.
It is America's first Presidential Library - and the only one used by a sitting President. Designed by FDR himself, it opened in 1941 on the grounds of the Roosevelt estate.
From the library pamphlet:
"By donating his papers to the Library, FDR established the precedent for public ownership of presidential papers. His library became the model for the nation's presidential library system, now part of the National Archives. With more than 17 million pages of documents, it is the world's premier research center for the study of the Roosevelt era.
Prior to FDR, Presidents or their heirs often dispersed Presidential papers at the end of the administration among other libraries, historical societies, and private collections. Many materials have been lost or deliberately destroyed.
Today there are 15 Presidential Libraries, one for each President since Herbert Hoover, all erected with private funding and subsequently turned over to the National Archives and Records administration to operate and maintain.
The FDR museum is much larger than you might think from this photo. There is a lower level below the main floor. The museum was very well done with more information than we had time to absorb. It doesn't have the architectural impact of the Clinton museum we visited in Little Rock, AR but was well worth the visit.
This is FDR's actual office. Located in the Library/Museum building, he used it when working from Hyde Park.
Janell is listening to one of FDR's "fireside chats"
FDR's Hyde Park home, a National Historic Site, is located a stone's throw from the library/museum. FDR was born in this house in 1882.
From the NPS:
Franklin accompanied his father on daily horseback rides. During these times he became immersed in the land, its history, and particularly the trees. In later years he expanded his parents' land holding to nearly 1,500 acres and planted over half a million trees. His interest in tree farming translated into a New Deal program, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). The CCC provided jobs to unemployed men age 17-28. Over 10 years, enrollees planted over three billion trees and built over 800 parks nationwide.
Alas, we were not able to tour the home because the tickets were only available in person but were sold out when we arrived at the park.
The Franklin Delano Roosevelt Mid-Hudson Bridge as seen from Poughkeepsie
Originally opened as the Poughkeepsie-Highland Railroad Bridge, the first train crossed in 1889. Known as "The Great Connector", the bridge linked the industrial Northeast with the raw goods of the Midwest. At the time the span was the longest in the nation. At peak, more than 3,000 train cars crossed each day. Railroad traffic continued until a fire in May, 1974.
Dormant for 35 years the bridge was reborn as Walkway Over the Hudson State Historic Park in 2009, now the longest elevated pedestrian bridge in the world, welcoming over 600,000 visitors each year.
We broke out the bikes and went for a 20 mile ride across the bridge eastward and then onto the Dutchess Rail Trail
Hudson River Valley looking south (at FDR Mid-Hudson Bridge) from the Walkway
From the "did you know?" file:
Did you know that almost half of the 315 mile long Hudson river is actually an estuary? From Troy to New York Harbor, 153 miles, the river is subject to the Atlantic Ocean's tidal pulse. Twice each day the river flows upstream as the rising tide pushes the water back from whence it came! Salty sea water also pushes up the estuary, diluted by freshwater runoff as it moves north. In drought years the salt water reaches as far as Poughkeepsie.
Bonus fact: The Hudson River is the only sea level breach in the 1,500 mile long Appalachian Mountain Range. Ponder that for a minute!
Hudson River Valley looking north from the Walkway
In the center foreground you can see (albeit barely) an eight person shell and crew rowing downriver with a coach alongside in a launch (motor boat).
The Hudson River at Poughkeepsie was the site of the Intercollegiate Rowing Association's National Championship Regatta each year from 1895 - 1950. The four-mile straightaway at that point in the river made the perfect natural race course for collegiate rowers.
At the June 1936 regatta the University of Washington freshman, junior varsity, and varsity crews all took first place. The varsity team went on to Berlin later that year to compete in Hitler's 1936 Olympics.
I won't tell you how they fared in that Olympics because I encourage you to read the book "The Boys in the Boat" about the young men on the UW rowing team. Janell and I both feel that this is one of the best books we have read.
The Dutchess Rail Trail was in great condition, rather flat, and tree shrouded for most of our ride. It was one of the best bike trails on which we have pedaled in our three years on the road!
Yes, we did whistle as we pedaled past the graveyard...
The Dutchess Rail Trail is part of the Empire State Trail, a 750 mile long network of trails from New York City northward to the Canadian border and from Albany to Buffalo in the east/west direction. About 60% of the trail is dedicated "rail trail", and the remainder is on road.
When you camp you make a fire, right? Even when it's 90 degrees outside!
We surreptitiously took this photo of our neighbors as they enjoyed their roaring fire from 15 feet away. When you carted the wood all this way you gotta burn it...
This is actually Part 2 of the previous post. We stayed in the "New York City North / Newburgh KOA" for eight nights. New York City "North" is 76 miles north of mid town Manhattan!
From this KOA we explored Woodstock and the Hudson Valley, as you saw in the previous post. We also went into NYC for a quick three night visit.
Ferries on the New Jersey side of the Hudson River
Taking the Beast into NYC was a non starter. For that matter, I didn't want to take Little Red in either. Instead we drove about 90 minutes to Weehawken, NJ and took an eight minute ferry ride to Manhattan. Piece of cake!
The first order of business was lunch at the Lexington Candy Shop: "An Original NYC Luncheonette"!
Opened in 1925 the luncheonette has been owned and operated by the same family for three generations.
The restaurant hasn't been renovated since 1948 (part of it's charm I suppose...) and has been used in the filming of a few commercials, some Kojak episodes, and Robert Redford's "Three Days of the Condor".
After lunch we visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art, just a few blocks from the Lexington Candy Shop. I tried to get a photo without a dark blue sedan in it, but it was either the sedan or multiple buses and taxis...
Winslow Homer's work was on exhibit at The Met. I could tell you that I've always admired Winslow's work or I could be honest and tell you that his name was only somewhat familiar to me and that I think I've seen the painting below before.
Here is what the Met says about Winslow Homer:
Winslow Homer (1836–1910) chronicled some of the most turbulent and
transformative decades of American history. He developed his distinctive
artistic vision in a crucible of struggle, creating emblematic
paintings that illuminate the effects of the Civil War (1861–65) on
soldiers, formerly enslaved people, and the landscape. Turning to
charged depictions of rural life, heroic rescues, and churning seas,
Homer continued to grapple with themes of mortality and the often-uneasy
relationship between humans and the natural world. Close study of his
art reveals a lifelong preoccupation with conflict and uncertainty as
well as persistent concerns with race and the environment.
The Gulf Stream
From the Met:
In Homers epic saga set along the Gulf Stream, a Black man faces his possible demise on the deck of a distressed boat, while threatened by sharks and a waterspout. This painting is the culminating expression of various deeply personal and universal themes that Homer explored across his career, particularly the conflict between humans and the natural environment. Completed at the dawn of the twentieth century and during what historians have called the nadir of race relations in the United States, The Gulf Stream is also rich with geopolitical implications. Homer acknowledged the expanded imperial ambitions of the United States beyond North America with the addition of key elements. Splayed across the ship's deck are stalks of sugarcane - the Caribbean commodity central to the economy of empire and directly linked to the swift ocean current of the title, which enabled its trade, and the devastating history of transatlantic slavery. Homer interweaves these complicated narratives in a painting that confronts human struggle, personified by a stoic survivor, against the relentless power of nature.
You know who crossing the you know what...
This is a very impressive and gigantic painting. You wouldn't know how huge it was from this photo had I not included Mark Zuckerberg's kid to give you a sense of scale.
One could spend a couple of days at The Met. We had limited time in the City so we only spent a couple of hours.
Look who I bumped into across from Central Park! Where is Abraham Lincoln, or somebody like him, when you really need him!
The Blue Note Jazz Club in Greenwich Village. Note that entrance awning is cleverly shaped as a piano (sans the legs)!
The Blue Note is one of NYC's top rated jazz clubs. We were treated to a
really impressive set by The Bad Plus in an intimate setting. These guys are so good they can play with their eyes closed!
Janell did all of the research and planning for our three days in NYC, and boy did she nail it! We attended the Blue Note jazz club, a comedy club, and the Jackson Browne concert at The Beacon, along with some great dining and other NYC experiences.
We have been to NYC a few times previously so this visit did not include many of the popular attractions (Times Square, Statue of Liberty, 9/11 Memorial, Empire State Building, Central Park, etc..)
We didn't go there, I just thought it was creative branding for a bar that is below street level
Little Island
Little Island, opened in 2021, is a 2.4 acre public park constructed at the former Pier 54 location on the Hudson River. British Cunard-White Star line operated their trans-Atlantic ocean liner voyages from Pier 54 between 1910 and 1935. Pier 54 is where the Titanic survivors disembarked after their rescue and where, in 1915, the Lusitania began it's fateful voyage. The pier had been derelict for decades before Superstorm Sandy finished it off in 2012.
The park cost $260M to construct and was fully funded by billionaire Barry Diller and his wife, fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg. The couple pledged another $120M to maintain the park and pay for programming over the next 20 years.
Here is a CBS piece about the park which includes some good images of the park under construction and upon completion. You can watch the 6 minute video or read the text:
There are over 350 species of flowers, trees and shrubs and a 687 seat amphitheater on the 2.4 acre park
The steel arch at the foot of the Little Island entrance remains from the Cunard-White Star building.
One block east of Little Island, running adjacent to 10th Avenue, is the High Line, a 1.45 mile long linear park that features over 500 species of plants and trees. The people and greenery that you see in this photo are 30' above street level.
The High Line, known initially as the "West Side Elevated Line" was constructed in 1934 as an elevated rail line to carry freight trains laden with meat, dairy, and produce to lower Manhattan. Prior to constructing the elevated tracks the freight trains ran on street level tracks which created dangerous conditions for pedestrians, such that 10th Ave became known as "Death Avenue". By 1910 more than 540 people had been killed by trains.
By the 1960's train use dwindled due to the transition to trucking. In the 1980's train traffic ceased completely and demolition of the elevated train tracks was only a matter of time.
By 1999, after decades of disuse, and demolition still pending, a thriving garden of wild plants had taken over the structure. This natural "garden" inspired the community to "think different" (as Steve Jobs might have said) and the concept of an elevated linear park was the result. By 2009 the first section of the High Line opened to the public.
To see historical photos of the freight line and it's evolution into an elevated linear park check out the History link from The High Line website:
The architecture along the High Line is quite interesting. Each time we walk the High Line (this is our third time since 2012) there are more new buildings, more people, and the vegetation is more developed (I am ducking under tree limbs now). The High Line is a tremendous success as a public space: 8 million people (locals and tourists) visited the High Line in 2019.
At the northern end of the High Line is the 28 acre Hudson Yards mixed use development. The modern buildings you see are the 'Eastern Yard' portion of the development. The first office tower opened in 2016. The buildings rise from a platform constructed over the West Side Yard (a storage yard where the Long Island Railroad engines and cars while away the time each day between the morning and evening commute hours.)
The cars and engines that you see are in the 'Western Yard' portion of the development. These tracks will be covered in a few years by a second platform from which will rise seven residential towers, a grammar school, and other buildings.
The project when complete is projected to cost $25B (yes, 'B' as in 'Billion'), making it the most costly private development ever in the U.S.
The architectural centerpiece of Hudson Yards is the 'Vessel', a staircase consisting of 154 interconnected stair flights, 80 landings, and 2,500 steps spiraling to a height of 150 feet. If you look again at the photo above this one you will see the Vessel in the center of the photo amongst the high rise buildings.
The Vessel, at an estimated cost of $200M, opened to the public with no admission charge in March, 2019. However, it has been closed since July, 2021 after four suicides occurred since its opening. It is not known when, or if, the attraction will be open to the public again.
This photo is looking up from the ground floor of the Vessel, which is still open to the public
The Shed is a 200,000 sq. ft. arts center for visual and performing arts in Hudson Yards. The retractable steel shell rolls out to cover the plaza to the left, creating a larger space protected from the elements. The steel shell weighs eight million pounds! The entire structure cost $475M to construct, of which NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg donated $75M. Nothing is cheap in NYC!
Check out this one minute video to see the 8 million pound shell rolled out to cover the plaza:
We popped into Macy's Herald Square to pick up a few things. This is the Macy's headquarters and flagship store which, at 1.25M sq. ft., is the largest department store in the U.S.
And it was the setting for this classic Christmas film. We made a mental note to watch 'Miracle on 34th Street' when the holiday season rolls around.
There were a variety of unique and clever chess sets displayed in the store window
Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village
The Empire State Building visible through the Washington Arch
The park is very lively day and night!
California doesn't have a monopoly on gorgeous sunsets!
Who doesn't like a good back rub? Not just a good one, but the BEST one!
The Comedy Cellar in Greenwich Village is reputedly the top comedy club in NYC and, some say, in the country. Their very strict rules for attendees include requiring that you put your smart phone (or smart watch or camera) in a sealed envelope during the show. Our best guess is that they want the comedians to be able to try out new material without concern that it might show up on social media.
NYC subway stations, as a rule, are NOT this modern. This one happens to be the World Trade Center station which was reconstructed after the 9/11 attacks.
The Oculus crowns the transit center. The transit center, which incorporates a Westfield shopping mall, is the fifth busiest transportation hub in NYC. The complex, constructed for the tidy sum $4B, was completed in 2016.
We didn't ride the Staten Island Ferry, but we walked past the terminal! We have never taken the Ferry but it's free to ride (yes, free!) and offers spectacular views of NYC and the harbor. We're keeping it on the list for a future visit!
Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge
We took the subway to Roosevelt Island, in the East River between Manhattan and Queens.
Roosevelt Island is 2 miles long and quite narrow. We walked halfway down the west side where we were treated to Manhattan views, including the Chrysler Building, and up the east side where we were treated to Queens...
The Smallpox Hospital opened on Roosevelt Island in 1856. It was the first hospital in the country dedicated to treating smallpox. The building was converted to a nursing school in 1886 and abandoned in the 1950's.
We had a fun ride back to Manhattan on the Roosevelt Island Tramway. You can see the tram car on the left just above the bridge.
A birds eye view of 1st Avenue from the tram
I learned a few months ago that Jackson Browne would be playing at the iconic Beacon Theater on my 65th birthday. I'm a big fan of Jackson so we scheduled our foray into NYC around this concert. Jackson did not disappoint!
If you or I were playing at the Beacon this is about how many people would be there for the show. For Jackson it was a full house (for the first of four concerts at the Beacon that week.)
We all know this as an Eagles song, their first single, but did you know that it was co-written by Jackson Browne and Glen Frey? In 1971 Glen Frey lived in the apartment above Jackson in LA. Glen heard Jackson working on the song and later asked Jackson, his friend, about it. Here is what Glen Frey said:
From American Songwriter website:
Frey continued, “I told him that I really liked it. ‘What was that, man?
What a cool tune that is.’ He started playing it for me and said,
‘Yeah, but I don’t know – I’m stuck.’ So, he played the second
unfinished verse and I said, ‘It’s a girl, my lord, in a flatbed Ford,
slowin’ down to take a look at me.’ That was my contribution to [the
song], really, just finishing the second verse.”
The view from the ferry as we head back to our car in Weehawken, NJ.
