Larry & Mary’s Great Loop Blog

Riverlink Park and Marina in Amsterdam NY June 28

Some waterskiing practice was happening when we got to Amsterdam River Link Park. We docked on the high wall, and there was quite a bit of rocking from the skiers.

We went through several locks on our way to Amsterdam, NY. Once we got to Amsterdam, there wasn’t much to do — we did a quick walk around and stopped for Pizza that was really good!

After leaving Amsterdam, we went through several more locks on the Erie Canal.

We spotted this “Glamping” campground on the banks of the Erie Canal.

A giant circular building was seen along the Canal, we searched the web and determined that it was Our Lady of Martyrs Shrine.

Our Lady of Martyrs Shrine seen from Erie Canal near Auriesville, NY

Waterford + beginning of Eastern Erie Canal June 25-26

It was a hot day on our way to the Troy lock – the first lock in the Eastern Erie Canal.

We did a walk around in Waterford and saw several historic buildings from the 1800’s

We stopped for a cool beverage at McGreivey’s bar and also the Angry Penguin Tavern. After the walkaround was done we headed back to McGreivey’s for dinner on their back porch. Appetizers were bacon wrapped scallops in a bourbon glaze with a Strawberry Old Fashioned– YUM!

We went for a 4 mile run on a local trail then walked to local grocery for re-provisioning.

Mary took a stroll to Peebles Island across the canal from Waterford and walked the perimeter of this small island which was a couple miles. There were several trails on Peebles Island. Here are some great pictures of this park.

We went to the Catholic Church at 4PM Saturday night before having a cookout and docktales with some other looper boats.

Schenectady Yacht Club in Rexford, NY June 27th

Leaving Waterford, NY on our way to Rexford and Schenectady Yacht Club

Another very hot day, we took a trip over to Schenectady Yacht Club — it was a very nice clean marina.

We were glad they had a pool at the Yacht Club. After washing down the boat in 90 degree heat, it was a cool break to relax in the pool. We cooked out on the gas grill provided at the nice picnic table near the grill and had a cozy, quiet dinner.

Living the Dream at Schenectady Yacht Club

The next morning, we went for a 4-mile run across the bridge and on their local bike trail — that was wooded and reminded us of the Greenbelt back in Tennessee.

With exercise complete for the day, we headed further down the Erie Canal and got to experience more locks !

New Baltimore, NY June 22-24

We stayed at a great marina — Donovan’s Shady Harbor Marina in New Baltimore, NY. There were some other “Loopers” there too. We went on a 6-mile hike near the boat that led us to a waterfall. We got a great picture of our boat at the marina from the hill during our hike. There was an old paper mill that used to be on this creek back in 1826-1897 called Crosswell-Parsons Paper Mill.

Even though they had a pool, the temperatures were only 70 degrees during the day and down to 48 at night, so we didn’t go to the pool. We did however hang out at the bonfire one night, which was very fun.

Kingston, NY June 20-21

It was a great day heading up the Hudson — sunny and calm – just perfect! We saw this lighthouse on our way to Kingston.

Lighthouse and Kayakers seen on the Hudson

We arrived in Kingston, NY and stayed at the Hudson River Maritime Museum docks. These were nice floating docks located at the museum, next to a park and convenient to history downtown where there were several restaurants.

Nice floating dock parked next to Rip Van Winkle II

At the park, there was a farmers market that we enjoyed, and an outdoor festival was going on with some live music and entertainment.

Along with our slip rental we got free admission to the Hudson River Maritime museum. It was a small museum that shared the history of the area on the river. There was an exhibit about the Mary Powell Steamboat built in 1861 that sailed 55 years in the Hudson. She was one of the fastest and luxurious steamboats of her time.

Learned about Ice boating — where these crafts powered by sail would glide on the ice when the Hudson River freezes over in the winter — they did ice yacht racing in the 1880’s!

We took a short run to the Beach in Kingston — located on the Hudson River —- small, but a beach nonetheless.

Then we went on a walking adventure to try and find the movie theater. After 5 miles walking, we took an uber to the local mall that was 90% vacant with most stores closed. We did to to the movie to see part 2 of the Quiet — Mary thought it was a horrible horror movie — next time Larry can go alone…

When we got back to the boat, we cleaned up and ordered a family meal of Lasagna from Savona that we took back to the boat and enjoyed. The take out order included an entire 9×12 lasagna, same size salad, loaf of Italian bread and 32 oz of Sangria for $64 — We will enjoy this for several days!!!

Poughkeepsie, NY June 19th

Heading North up the Hudson River from Croton-on-Hudson, we went right by West Point Army Academy.

We would have liked to tour this while we were at Croton-on-Hudson, however this military academy (like in Annapolis) was closed to visitors, so we could only take pictures from the river.

After arriving in Poughkeepsie, we went for a walkabout on our way to Saturday 4PM church at Our Lady of Mount Carmel.

After Church we went back and had dinner at the Shadow’s Marina restaurant overlooking the river and our boat. This is a gorgeous venue and is used by many weddings for ceremony and reception.

The next morning, we went for a 4-mile run taking us over the two bridges. One was a railroad bridge turned into a walking park — the highest in the country.

“Franklin D Roosevelt” Mid-Hudson Bridge and Walkway over the Hudson bridges

Looks like a tiny boat going under the bridge, however it was as large as our own boat, just that the bridge is so high!

Cleaned the boat fenders as we left Shadow’s Marina onto the next stop. It was a sunny morning that turned rainey later. We saw some big boats and sites on the way.

The Huntress is a massive private yacht that we were told could be rented for ~$60k/day

Half Moon Bay in NY with side trips to Vegas and St. George UT June 5-18

We went to Half Moon Bay at Croton-on-Hudson, NY for a 2 week stay.

Church Saturday night at Holy Name of Mary Catholic Church, Downtown Croton-on-Hudson, NY

One of the best 9/11 memorials we have seen was just a short walk from our boat at Croton-on-Hudson. It was a sundial made from a recovered steel beam from the North Tower of the World Trade Center. Nine bronze medallions commemorated the sequence of events in the hours between 8AM and 4PM on September 11th, 2001. Very thought provoking!

View from Sundial towards World Trade Center

There was quite a lot to see at Croton-on Hudson, and we got to try out a few good restaurants and historic Taverns for some good food and libations. We LOVED Croton Tapsmith – a Hudson Valley Craft Beer tasting room and wine bar. We visited Tracy Shea, the owner there at least 3 times during our the week at Croton-on-Hudson.

We had one mishap at Croton-on-Hudson : Local Postal Office lost a package we were expecting back at the boat. Can only hope this will show up in the next month or so and the dockmaster Steve will forward it on to us…

We left the boat for one of the weeks while we took a trip to Vegas.

Waliking around the Lync Hotel on the Strip

It was Mary’s Niece Emily’s Graduation and her sister Hailea’s and husband Zac’s birthdays — Mike Logan (Mary’s brother) hosted a great cookout and pool party to celebrate.

We took a side trip to St. George Utah to see the play Annie at the Tuacahn Theater. This was really hot! Ann Logan went with us and we did get to have dinner and see Andrew, Jessica and her sister, Amanda.

After getting back to Croton-on Hudson, we took a 7-mile hike out to the Croton Dam and along the historic Aqueduct. It was quite a warm day, but well worth the views of the dam and lake.

New York City Harbor June 4th

It was a short trip to New York Harbor from Raritan Bay — and a little overcast as we entered the Harbor. We stayed at the most expensive marina to date: Liberty Landing — that was at the Liberty Landing Park where the Statue of Liberty is.

It was a cloudy day when we arrived, but the view of Lady Liberty was awesome as we came into New York Harbor. we could see New Jersey and New York skylines in the background.

We went for a walk after docking the boat for the evening. At the park we saw the Empty Sky New Jersey September 11th Memorial. It was two great columns with names of New Jersey people who died. Between the columns is where the twin towers once stood and where now there is an empty sky. There was a section of the towers also in front of the memorial.

We also walked through this historic railway station in Liberty Park that was abandoned and served as a museum.

We saw the “Bridge of Nations” memorial symbolizing the connection between Italy and America. It started to rain so we had to cut our walk short, but we got some great pictures of the New York skyline.

The next morning before heading out, we took a ride by the Statue of Liberty once more. It was a bright sunny day that morning — contrasting the pictures from the day before.

Next it was heading up the Hudson River – which was carved by glaciers.

The Hudson River valley on this first day had some spectacular views.

Atlantic City + Raritan Bay, NJ – June 1st-3rd

Leaving Utsches Marina early in the morning for the 100 mile trip to New York on June 1st

We took the short trip to Atlantic City from Cape May — about 3 hours. The ocean was so calm!! Just how we like it…

Atlantic City Skyline — biggest hotel is Ocean

Farley State Marina (named after a Senator) in Atlantic City at the Golden Nugget

View of the Farley State Marina from pool deck at the Golden Nugget in Atlantic City

We took the Jitney for $2.25 per person to go down to the World Famous Atlantic City Boardwalk.

Caesars — much smaller than the Caesars Palace of Las Vegas, but same statues themes…

We went into Bally’s and decided to play a little poker at the bar and have a couple drinks before dinner. Larry lost only $8, but we had some nice happy hour drinks before going to get an appetizer at Guy Fieri’s Signature Steakhouse. We decided to get the signature buffalo wings.

We were told to go to Guy Fieri’s in Las Vegas Bally’s and get their bacon wrapped Jalapenos — only available at the Las Vegas location. May have to do that in a week or so…

The next day we went 100 miles to Raritan Bay Marina — this was a small marina, but a great place to stop before going to New York Harbor as it was supposed to rain all day on the 3rd. Tomorrow we will be heading to New York Harbor to get a picture of the Statue of Liberty.

Chesapeake City Inn on C+D Canal \ Delaware Bay to Cape May May 30-31

May 30th was our last day on the Chesapeake bay. We traveled in semi rough weather up the bay to the Elk River and into the C&D canal.

After our long day to Chesapeake City Inn, we took some time to update the blog and then met some other loopers at the Tiki Bar. Some of them joined us later on our boat for appetizers and a game of “Liars Dice”. There was no walking around time here and it was only in the 50’s so pretty cold!!

Loopers – Carol (Spirit), Stella (dog) and her owner (Agape), Linda (Indigo Seas), and Mary (Living the Dream)

The following day May 31st, we were back on the canal early for the long journey down the Delaware Bay to Cape May.

After our arrival, we took a walk to downtown Cape May where the historic town and shopping areas were — about 1.5 miles walk. We walked by an entire neighborhood of historic homes from the 1800’s.