Autumn in New York

When Brendan got his appointment to West Point back in 2020, John and I started a new annual tradition of going up there in the fall to watch him play Sprint Football for Army. Brendan has since graduated and this is James's last year, which brings our annual tradition to a close.

We flew into LaGuardia and drove to West Point. Boy that drive is amazing! This is a stop along the way. The Hudson River with some beautiful fall foliage that we don't generally see in Texas.

There are so many bridges in New York that cross the Hudson. This is the Bear Mountain Bridge right outside of West Point.

The Village of Highland Falls is right outside the Thayer Gate of West Point. The village is part of the larger Town of Highlands. Highlands was established in 1725. We stayed at the West Point Motel, which is right on the edge of town. It's a nice walk along the main street. This is the Sacred Heart Church at night.

We had Friday all to ourselves so we drove out to Hawthorne, New York to the cemetery to see John's grandparents. Hawthorne is a hamlet, which is smaller than a village. We don't have these things in Texas. Apparently, a village has more buildings and infrastructure than a hamlet, which is more like a cluster of houses. Either way, it's beautiful here. The colors are vibrant and the weather was perfect. Brisk without being too cold. The cemetery was huge but Emily sent us a video on how to find the markers we were looking for. This place is very peaceful.

As we were leaving we saw signs for Sleepy Hollow of headless horseman fame. Who knew it was a real place? So we had to go. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is a short story by Washington Irving. It's basically about a warrior whose head was blown off during the Revolutionary War. He was buried in the churchyard and rose every night in search of his head. Ichabod Crane was a schoolmaster who encountered the horseman and "rode for his life". In the morning, only Crane's horse is found. Spooky!

In real life, Ichabod Crane was a Colonel in the US Army. He fought in the War of 1812.  He reportedly did not like that Washington Irving used his name in the story.

Also in Sleepy Hollow along the Hudson River I found this sign about Captain William Kidd.

This is "Kidd's Rock" described above. Captain Kidd was in cahoots with a shipping magnate named Philipse who would light a fire on the rock to summon Kidd. Apparently, Captain Kidd was a pirate (as in Arrgghh!). They were smugglers. Kidd was captured, transported to England and executed in 1701. Philipse was a slave trader and died in 1702. 

Kidd's Rock...huh. That reminds me of someone...

This is the Tarrytown Light, (aka Sleepy Hollow Lighthouse) a lighthouse in the Hudson River off the coast of Sleep Hollow NY. It was built in 1883 and was active until 1961.

The need for the lighthouse was reduced when the Tappan Zee Bridge was built. What an amazing view. I could live in Sleepy Hollow. The town was packed on a Friday. Tons of traffic but I can only assume they were having some kind of Halloween festivities.

That night was the Sprint football game. Our hometown Hero, James (#30), was injured last weekend so he wasn't playing but, as a captain, he was part of the coin toss.

John and Michele watching the game. Go Army! Beat Caldwell!

What a magnificent moon!

Army won. It’s always fun to see James when we’re there.

During our little tailgate the bagpipe band came through. I love the bagpipes and these guys were good.

The Army game on Saturday. They played East Carolina University. Me, John, Michele and Mark.

They are renovating the stadium and they’ve torn down the bleachers where the cadets used to sit. Now they sit in the end zone.

Army wins!

It was another beautiful day in West Point. This is the pond by the stadium. I love the colors. The weather started out brisk but it got quite warm in the sun.

Sunday we went to watch Women’s lacrosse. Destiny is managing the team so we went to support her. I know nothing about lacrosse. How do they catch that ball in the tiny little net in that stick?? 

This was the highlight of my trip. We drove to Middletown to see my family.  We ate at Mr. Sushi, which was delicious, and then we went for ice cream!  Tina, Aunt Terry, cousins Dean and Mike Milite. This is my dad’s brother’s family.

I haven’t seen these guys in forever!  I was so happy that we had the chance to get together and catch up. We had the best time. Thank you guys for sharing your Sunday with us!

What a great weekend! Goodbye New York! We’ll be back!