Weekend in Newburgh, NY

    We packed our van, topped the gas tank, and were ready to go as soon as the boys hopped off the school bus.  Excitement was running high with the anticipation of exploring castle ruins on a tiny abandoned island on the Hudson River near Newburgh, NY.  Two pit stops and 6-hours later, we entered the Stewart Hilton Garden Inn’s  hot tub, then swimming pool.  A perfect ending to a long drive.

    Saturday morning dawned over-cast and we headed to the hotel breakfast smorgasbord, omelets station, and juice bar.  After that, we were off to meet my long-time friends at the Stewart Airport Diner. Enroute, we swung passed the house my parents and I used to live in off Grand Avenue, Balmville, a section of Newburgh.  The lovely flag-stoned patio still looked inviting; however, a fountain had been installed between the house and the road – right in front of the house.  Tacky.  At least it wasn’t a plastic, pink flamingo.

    My friends arrived at the diner at the same time, so there was much hugging, kissing, and BS-ing.  We’d kept in touch via e-mail, but hadn’t actually been together in almost 23-years.  Flo is a retired Spanish high school teacher and Gary is a retired high school History teacher. As a matter of fact, I introduced them many long years ago.  Gary was going to be our tour guide of Bannerman’s Castle and Island.

    During breakfast, he kept stressing how rough the terrain would be; How many wooden steps to climb  (72 one-way); It would take 1-1/2 hours of hiking up steep rock and sliding down the other side; and we’d have to wear hard-hats in case the castle crumbled some more, not to mention there might still be unexploded shells from the arsenal and to stay on the paths.  He insisted he wasn’t trying to talk me out of going on the tour; only to let me know what we were in for.  Our young boys were even more keen on going and I certainly wasn’t going to be left behind.

    Gary and his co-workers took the work boat out to the island ahead of us to get things set up.  Eventually, we boarded the Pollepel and found our recycled airline seats near the windows of the enclosed flat-bottomed boat. During the ½-hour ride to Bannerman’s Island, we learned that only flat-bottomed boats could get to shore, due to the shallowness of the water surrounding the 6.5-acre granite island.

    I won’t go into the long and fascinating history of Bannerman’s Island Arsenal and Castle in hopes that you’ll visit the website and read www.Bannerman Island History– A Hudson River Jewel.Copyright © 2009 by Kate Chamberlin

For tour information, check out:  www.PrideoftheHudson.com.

    Suffice to say here that we had a great time on our tour, even if we did get caught in a rain shower.  Afterwards, we drove over the Beacon-Newburgh Bridge to donate three of Mom’s oil paintings to the Bannerman Castle Trust Fund.  www.BannermanCaastleTrust.org. 

    Back at our hotel, we had a leisurely soak in the hot tub and swim before heading to the Union Square Restaurant for dinner with Gary and Flo.  They are pals with the owner/chef, so needless to say, we had a great time with long-time friends, good food, and new memories.