On the fence in Ossining!

Shattemuck Yacht Club – Ossining, NY – Tuesday, 6/8

Today was a day of indecision; first on how to spend the day, then on where to go to next after Ossining.  We figured this must be what real retirement is like.

Denise went out for a run; the only decisive action at the start of the day.  Her travels took her down the road of the yacht club past the industrial area, near the train station, around a new condominium complex and to the path that runs along the Hudson River.  Here there is a park that is about a half a mile along the waterway, and it includes sculptures and playground areas, as well as plenty of lawn area. The park leads all the way to the edge of the property where there is a water treatment facility and a back gate into Sing Sing prison.

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From there she ran back towards the train station and up the ramp to get over the tracks.  This took her to the lower downtown area where there is little to see.  From there she went up the big hill of Maine Street to the real down town and was pleasantly surprised; another town that is part of The Museum in The Streets. There are several streets with restaurants and independently owned stores, a pharmacy, toy store, post office and a small grocery store.  She ran past several old churches, historical buildings (involved in the American Revolution) and past the High School.  Then back down the hill to head back to the boat.

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The forecast called for a rainy day beginning around 11:00 am, so we were trying to figure out what to do with the day.  We considered taking a train to the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) – just north of us in Hyde Park. But we had already been there in 2015, and with Covid restrictions they have limited access to their bookstore and bakery.  We had already learned that they only had two of their restaurants open, and both were sold out for lunch and dinner.  Given this, we nixed the idea and also nixed going back into NYC (about a 50 minute commute to Grand Central Station on the train).

Meanwhile, we were also trying to decide where to go next.  We had several options on where to spend the next two days, and we spent time more thoroughly researching several destinations. After confirmation of an opening on their docks, we opted to return to Kingston, only this time staying on the waterfront at the Maritime Museum. On our last two visits we stayed at Roundout Marina, but it is away from the downtown. This time we would be staying in the heart of town and will get to explore a different area. We also set our sights on an anchorage for Thursday night, leaving a short travel day on Friday up to Shady Harbor.

When all this was done and finally decided, it was time for lunch and we had not seen one drop of rain. About this time, we lost all power in the boat.  After determining it was just our slip (not the entire dock or marina), Mark switched our power plug to the pedestal to use the 50 amp (we now use the 30 amp mostly) and we were back up and doing ok.

After lunch and getting a few other things done we decided to go up the hill and explore the downtown. We needed milk on the boat and Mark had scoped out the location of the grocery store. On our way out of the marina Mark stopped by to talk with dockmaster DE to tell him about our power issue; he was fine with our switch out and said he would put his electrical guy on it.  Note: we had been forewarned about the inconsistent power issues here as they have some new floating docks and have had some problems.   While Mark was talking with the DE, he offered to give us a lift into downtown (a 2 minutes car ride) and so we took him up on this.

Once downtown, we walked around for a bit but only for Mark to see what was here. We found the small grocery store and once we purchased the milk, we headed back down the hill to the yacht club.

In the meantime the storms were brewing all around us, but we were able to make it back to the boat before the rain came.  And for the next two hours we endured a horrendous thunderstorm with lightening hitting all the mountain areas around us.  At one point there was a loud alarm and then we realized the train had shut down; they must have lost power somewhere along the electrical line.  We used this time to get caught up on reading and Mark even got in a late afternoon nap.

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Finally around 5:30 pm the rain started to let up and by 6:00 pm it was barely sprinkling. We ventured out of the yacht club and walked over to The Boathouse restaurant, located at the marina next door. It is a nautical themed restaurant and offers a variety of items on the menu, which are reasonably priced. We both ordered fish-topped salads that were refreshing and large enough that were stuffed when we left.

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In the evening we both dove back into reading, at least until our eyes could no longer stay open and then we went to bed.

We really liked our stay here, and despite the fact that the yacht club was not really open for drinks or dining (it is not that kind of club), and the power issues, it was a nice place to stay.  Their Wi-Fi is excellent and the people here were super friendly.  From our boat, we enjoyed watching the coming and going of the trains, and consider their rumble along the tracks as “normal” and part of the Hudson River experience.

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Ossining is a very interesting town. Initially built for industry due to waterway access, it is rich in history and has a very diverse multi-cultural population of people whom all seem to get along well together.  Despite the state penitentiary being located here (or maybe in spite of it), it is rated as one of the safest cities in NY.  Many people live here, but work in NYC and commute either by train or by car. And the view of the Hudson River is understandably a huge attraction.  We are glad we came and would suggest it to anyone on their way up the Hudson River.

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