Jen and Russ

images of our life

Hudson River Valley

On our earlier trips to New England and western Massachusetts, we were struck by the beauty and majesty of the Hudson River north of New York City.

We explored the river valley from Kinderhook to Sleepy Hollow and discovered great art, stunning nature views, human courage and cruelty driven by religious beliefs, and a beautiful cemetery honoring the lives of many creative and strong people .

Great trip.

Olana, Frederic Church’s home at Hudson, New York.

The farm at Olana.

A beautiful location, this was our picnic spot at Olana.

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The house and studio of Frederic Church.

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The Catskills in the distance.

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The Hudson River below Olana.

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Church’s library with his original books.

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A small park in the town of Hudson.

The Hudson Athens Lighthouse began operation in 1874 and remained manned until the 1950s.

This restaurant was a few miles out of town and sounded great on its website. The exterior, though, caused us to pause before we finally decided to go in. Once we were inside, we had a delightful experience and probably our best meal of the trip.

Jen’s baby eggplant, tahini yogurt, roasted beets, cucumbers, and sunnies (sunflower seed hearts).

My aged cheddar risotto, with roasted zucchini, mushrooms, and herbs.

Our shared dessert.

A surprise guest across the street from the restaurant.

Our hotel in Hudson.

We had a great breakfast in Le Perche.

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Across the river in Catskill is Thomas Cole’s home, a national historic site.

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This is a reconstruction of the New Studio built in the 19th century for Cole.

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Catskill Creek paintings, one of his favorite subjects.

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The home.

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This is believed to be one of twelve honey locust trees planted on the property in 1817.

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Thomas Cole’s chair…...

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…and his guitar.

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Hand painted glass slides were projected using candle light.

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Today’s view of the Catskill creek that Cole painted many, many times.

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A glimpse of Lindenwald, Martin Van Buren’s home in Kinderhook.

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Van Buren was America’s eighth president and the only one to speak English as a second language. His parents were from the Netherlands and he grew up speaking Dutch.

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The circle in front of the house is the “friendship circle” and was there to provide a place for friends to walk and talk, with some degree of privacy.

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Stuyvesant Falls on the Kinderhook Creek

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First Presbyterian Church of Hudson

Brisket and pulled pork plus cornbread

We traveled west on the Rip Van Winkle bridge over the Hudson to head south to New Paltz.

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We had a very interesting stroll around Huguenot Street, a collection of buildings from a 17th century settlement of French Protestants.

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They were fleeing religious persecution, religious wars, and religious slaughter in Europe with governments attempting to eliminate those whose religious beliefs did not match the government supported faith. They came to America for religious freedom.

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SUNY students searching for relics from the 1600s.

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The New York Dutch influence can be seen in the construction of the buildings.

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We walked quite a distance in New Paltz to find this restaurant where we wanted to have lunch. After many backtracks, changes in direction, and consultations with google maps, we discovered that we had been about 50 feet from the restaurant at the beginning of our search. We just didn’t see it tucked back off of the street.

It was worth the trip, though, and we had a wonderful lunch on their patio.

We went to the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art on the SUNY campus in New Paltz. Not too much was going on, though, so we didn’t stay long.

This is Andrew Carnegie’s grave at the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery.

The churchyard of the Old Dutch Church, founded about 1685. Washington Irving used this church and churchyard in his story of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.

The churchyard is where the headless horseman begins his nightly ride to search for his severed head.

William Sloane Coffin, Sr. and Henry Sloane Coffin, father and uncle to William Sloane Coffin, Jr. Coffin, Jr. was an influential activist during the Vietnam War and served as the pastor of Riverside Church in New York City. Henry Coffin was president of Union Theological Seminary and William Coffin, Sr. was president of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Tourists always seemed to ask where the bridge in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow was located. So they built one.

John Dustin Archbold, a senior Standard Oil executive and John D. Rockefeller’s closest advisor.

William Rockefeller, brother of John D. Rockefeller.

Walter P. Chrysler

On our way home, the George Washington Bridge, dedicated in 1931 and the busiest motor vehicle traffic bridge in the world.

© Russ Milam 2018