Day 23: Along the Hudson River to Albany

On Tuesday I retraced my train route from Boston to New York City and then took the train from New York to Albany along the Hudson River. The direct train from Boston to Albany had been canceled, perhaps due to track work, which necessitated the two-step trip through New York City.

The two and one-half hour ride up the Hudson was spectacular. The weather was quite different from the weekend, cloudy, gray and misty, which made the scenery perhaps even more dramatic. The train closely follows the east bank of the Hudson for most of the trip, with great views of the palisades, bluffs, and deep green hills with wisps of mist on the opposite shore.

We passed many historical sites and landmarks along the way, including the George Washington Bridge, Tarrytown (site of Washington Irving's "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow"), the Sing Sing Prison at Ossining, the West Point Military Academy, and Hyde Park (Franklin D. Roosevelt's home), among other places.

Arrived in Albany late in the afternoon. It's a city with lots of interesting older buildings along with the Empire State Plaza, which has a Brasilia-like series of stark office towers set along a plaza leading to the ornate Nineteenth Century State Capitol. Stayed in a bed-and-breakfast in a block of row houses across from a large leafy park.

West Point Military Academy

View across the Hudson River
north of West Point

Bridge across Hudson at Rhinebeck

Washington Park neighborhood in Albany