Posted by admin | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on 27-05-2010
Tags: adirondack, adirondack hunter, adirondack hunter longbow, adirondacks, adknews, cushion, omp adirondack hunter, omp adirondack hunter longbow, shop
Adirondack Hunter
Beyond Manhattan: The Hudson Valley
Although Manhattan Island is world-renowned for its sights, restaurants, and cultural offerings, few venture beyond its boundaries. Yet the Hudson Valley, rich in natural scenery and historic attractions, can be easily explored within a day or two and is only a short drive from the city.
Located over the Whitestone Bridge, the 150-mile valley, running from Yonkers to Albany in lower New York state and split by the Hudson River, is comprised of the Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area which had been established by United States Congress in 1996 to recognize, preserve, protect, and interpret the nationally significant history and resources of the valley for the benefit of the nation. Four primary, north-south routes access the area: the Taconic State Parkway and Route 9 on the east side and Route 9W and I-87, alternatively known as the New York State Thruway, on the west side.
Driving over the Whitestone Bridge during a recent autumn visit, which seemed to link two diametrically-opposed worlds, I felt as if I had been disconnected from the city’s congestion and stresses, deposited on to the Hutchinson River Parkway, threshold to rural New York State and, beyond, the barnstorming grass field of the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome. Navigating Route 9, which curved between shale rock and autumn-torched, multi-colored trees, I paralleled the blue-reflective surface of the Hudson River whose western shore rose toward Bear Mountain in a collage of colorful tree bursts. The ruby reds, appearing like flames, dominated the palette, while the burn oranges, as if glowing like pumpkins in the sunlight, were almost luminescent. The golds, although more subtle, were rich, while the light yellows and gentle greens seemed to cling to late summer. The route eclipsed both topographical and seasonal boundaries.
Irvington, one of the first historic sights in the Lower Hudson Valley, had been named for Washington Irving, author of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle, and was the location of his gabled and weathervaned house, Sunnyside. Philipsburg Manor, located nearby in Tarrytown, had been an 18th-century farm and gristmill.
Van Cortlandt Manor, dating from the late 1600s and home of New York’s first Lieutenant Governor, had been developed as a major tourist attraction with its 18th century tavern and blacksmith and hearth-cooking demonstrations. The town of Stoney Point, a Revolutionary War strategic fort, is located across the river.
The Storm King Art Center, in Mountainville, is an outdoor sculpture park featuring contemporary works by Calder, Moore, and Noguchi.
The Hudson-spanned Bear Mountain Bridge, which leads to the Highlands of Hudson, accesses both Bear Mountain and Harriman State Parks on the west side, while the US Military Academy at West Point, located on the east side, is the nation’s oldest military academy, identifiable by the stone embattlements on its shore.
Newburgh, located across the river in Mid-Hudson Valley, had been the location of the last east-west Hudson River ferry before the current Newburgh-Beacon Bridge had been constructed in 1963. The historic area, the location of the 1835 Dutch Reformed Church designed by Alexander Jackson Davis, also encompassed Washington’s Headquarters, the oldest publicly-owned historic house museum and site of his residence during the last 16 months of the Revolutionary War. The nearby New Windsor Cantonment had been the living quarters of his troops.
Hyde Park, on the river’s east side, had been the birthplace of Franklin Deleanor Roosevelt, United States president, and features Springwood, the Roosevelt home; the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library and Museum; Val-Kill, the retreat of Mrs. Roosevelt; Top Cottage, the president’s hilltop retreat; and the Vanderbilt Mansion, the 50-room residence of Frederick and Louise Vanderbilt. Across the river, New Paltz, with its historic, stone church- and house-lined Huguenot Street, commemorates the 1690 French emigrant settlement, itself only minutes from the Victorian Mohonk Mountain House, a National Historic Landmark, and Minnewaska State Park Preserve.
Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome, located just east of the historic villages of Rhinebeck and Red Hook, is a living, early-aviation museum featuring original aircraft and engines and offers weekend air shows from mid-June to mid-October.
After walking through the wooden, bridge-like entrance on one recent visit, the 1920 barnstorming-resembling aerodrome had appeared before me.
An original 1909 high-wing, fabric-covered Bleiriot XI arced skyward, albeit briefly, from its rolling, sweeping grass field straddled on either side by the red, orange, and yellow October-brushed trees reminiscent of the 1910 and 1920 barnstorming days, creating the illusion that this era of aviation had somehow been preserved and had continued to play out within the time vacuum beyond the museum’s gates. The hangers, as if ignorant of the calendar, proudly braved the winds, bearing such names as Albatros Werke, Royal Aircraft Factory Farnborough, A.V. Roe and Company, Ltd., and Fokker. But it was the multitude of mono-, bi-, and triplanes which most fiercely wrestled with one’s present-time conception.
Fifteen-minute flights in a 1929 New Standard D-25 biplane are offered before and after the air shows themselves, three of which I have personally taken during my many visits. Assuming an ear-shattering explosion from its propeller and pelted with engine-spitting castor oil, the D-25 gently lifted its tail wheel off the ground and surrendered its dual, fabric-covered wings to the sky. Bitten by the stinging, slipstream-produced October wind whose force almost inhibited respiration, and periodically needled by the engine-spit castor oil, I looked out over the wing. The ground, camouflaged by a dense pattern of orange, yellow, and red autumn-transformed trees, was otherwise devoid of contemporary civilization as the biplane surmounted the silver surface of the Hudson River.
The Kingston-Rhinecliff Bridge, located a few miles from Rhinebeck, crosses the Hudson River and accesses the 1,094-square-mile Catskill Forest Preserve, location of three, 1,500-foot mountains which provide winter skiing: Belleayre, Hunter, and Ski Windham.
So beautiful had the Hudson valley been that it had spawned a 19th century painting movement called the Hudson River School of Landscape Painters, which had been sparked by Thomas Cole and Frederic Church, whose Persian-style estate, Olana, is located on the river’s west side. Painting directly from nature, these artists, among others, had created a visual medium which expressed optimism, vitality, and personal theology through color, light, and perspective.
Dotted with vineyards, the valley affords the tourist the opportunity to sample many local New York State wines.
Albany, with its modern sculpture-resembling architecture, is located in the Upper Hudson Valley and is characterized by the granite French Chateau State Capitol building. The state capital since 1797 and the second incorporated city in America, it continues to operate under its 1686 charter, and has continually served as a transportation center since the Indian trail days.
The Hudson Valley can alternatively be enjoyed from Amtrak’s day-long, 381-mile route from New York to Montreal designated the “Adirondack” and considered one of its four most scenic US rail journeys.
The next time you visit Manhattan, take the “short” drive over the Whitestone Bridge: it may take you a “long” way…
About the Author
A graduate of Long Island University-C.W. Post Campus with a summa-cum-laude BA Degree in Comparative Languages and Journalism, I have subsequently earned the Continuing Community Education Teaching Certificate from the Nassau Association for Continuing Community Education (NACCE) at Molloy College, the Travel Career Development Certificate from the Institute of Certified Travel Agents (ICTA) at LIU, and the AAS Degree in Aerospace Technology at the State University of New York – College of Technology at Farmingdale. Having amassed almost three decades in the airline industry, I managed the New York-JFK and Washington-Dulles stations at Austrian Airlines, created the North American Station Training Program, served as an Aviation Advisor to Farmingdale State University of New York, and devised and taught the Airline Management Certificate Program at the Long Island Educational Opportunity Center. A freelance author, I have written some 70 books of the short story, novel, nonfiction, essay, poetry, article, log, curriculum, training manual, and textbook genre in English, German, and Spanish, having principally focused on aviation and travel, and I have been published in book, magazine, newsletter, and electronic Web site form. I am a writer for Cole Palen’s Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome in New York. I have made some 350 lifetime trips by air, sea, rail, and road.
 |
 Hunter Green Cedar Adirondack Chair New  US $69.99
|
 KidKraft Kids Outdoor Adirondack Chair Hunter Green US $54.95
|
 8x10 HUNTERS DEER CANOE ADIRONDACKS 1903 HUNTING PHOTO US $11.95
|
 Early Hy S Watson Lithograph Print Wolf Moon Hunter Campfire Adirondack US $12.99
|
 Rustic Cedar Adirondack Seat Cushion US $33.83
|
 Oxford Garden Adirondack Chair Cushion US $56.00
|
 hunter log cabin adirondack mountains new york postcard US $6.99
|
 Hunters with Deer Paul Smiths Hotel Adirondacks photo US $4.25
|
 Shine Company 4611 Standard Westport Adirondack US $129.98
|
 Shine Company Inc Marina Adirondack Chair in Hunter Green 4618N US $129.98
|
 Shine Company Inc Marina Adirondack Chair US $129.98
|
 UTICA Adirondack Fixed Blade Hunter Cocobola NEW US $59.99
|
 Marina Adirondack Chair Hunter Green by Shine Company US $139.00
|
 Westport Adirondack Chair Hunter Green by Shine Company US $139.00
|
 Postcard Lake from Hunters Rest Raquette Lake NY Adirondack Mts US $13.00
|
 Jim Catfish Hunter Signed Bat Rawlings Adirondack PSA DNA US $199.00
|
 1903 HUNTERS BUCK DEER LAKE ADIRONDACKS HUNTING PHOTO 2 US $11.95
|
 V112 Veranda Adirondack Rocker Uwharrie Patio Furniture US $609.00
|
 Jim Catfish Hunter Signed Bat Inscribed New York Yankees Adirondack PSA DNA US $375.00
|
 The Hunters Shanty Adirondacks New York Postcard US $6.95
|
 V052 Veranda Adirondack Swing Uwharrie Patio Furniture US $955.00
|
 The Woman Hunter from the Adirondack Mountains NEW US $39.22
|
 Greetings from Adirondacks NY Hunters Prey Deer PC US $4.75
|
 PRINT OF HUNTERS WHITETAILS ADIRONDACK MTS NY US $12.95
|
 Hunter Green Adirondack Chair US $132.00
|
 Rawlings Adirondack signed by Brian Hunter wood bat US $250.00
|
 1907 Adirondack Mountains NY Postcard Loon Lake Hunters Boating Undivided w PM US $9.00
|
 Adirondack Chair Hunter Green by Kidkraft 00084 US $74.93
|
 Deer Hunters In The Adirondacks 1905 US $3.25
|
 11x14 HUNTERS DEER CANOE LAKE ADIRONDACKS HUNTING PHOTO US $14.95
|
 5x7 HUNTERS DEER CANOE LAKE ADIRONDACKS HUNTING PHOTO US $9.95
|
 5x7 HUNTERS DEER LAKE ADIRONDACKS HUNTING PHOTO 2 US $9.95
|
 11x14 HUNTERS DEER LAKE 1903 ADIRONDACKS HUNTING PHOTO US $14.95
|
 Hunters Camp Adirondack Museum Blue Mtn NY Postcard US $2.99
|
 Siesta Poly Wood Adirondack 2 pc Set Pick Your Color US $315.00
|
 ADIRONDACK PATIO CHAIR CUSHION WITH FABRIC OPTIONS US $124.99
|
 Raquette LakeHunters Rest Campthe landingAdirondacksNY US $8.99
|
 Hunter Green Adirondack Chair by Jack Post JN 22H US $139.99
|
 ADIRONDACK MTNS NY HUNTER SITTING NEXT TO RUN WAY P C US $4.00
|
 1909 COBLESKILL HUNTER CAMP NY TUCK ADIRONDACK POSTCARD US $11.98
|
 HUNTER GREEN OUTDOOR FURNITURE WOOD WOODEN ADIRONDACK KIDS CHILDRENS CHAIR SEAT US $63.95
|
 Prairie Leisure Adirondack Porch Swing Hunter Green US $523.06
|
 Hunting in the Adirondacks New York Hunters Guns and Deer Valentine Postcard US $7.75
|
 Autographed Jim Catfish Hunter Rawlings Adirondack Baseball Bat HOF US $150.00
|
 Currier Ives Hunting Print Hunters Shanty in Adirondacks BOGO US $7.00
|
 V111 Veranda Adirondack Chair Uwharrie Patio Furniture US $592.00
|
 International Concepts Adirondack Side Table in Hunter Green T 51901 US $59.99
|
 V051 Veranda Adirondack Settee Uwharrie Patio Furniture US $807.00
|
 Jack Post Jennings Adirondack Chair with Ottoman in Hunter JN 22H US $139.99
|
 KidKraft Adirondack Chair Hunter Green US $64.99
|
|
|
Stonegate® Hunter Green Painted Cedar Adirondack Chair $69.99 Outdoor living requires something timeless and rugged enough to stand up to the elements. Get the classic look and comfort of a real Adirondack chair. These chairs feature durable cedar construction painted in your choice of weatherproof colors. Seat height is 14.375in. and chairs are a substantial 35.75in.L x 30.5in.W x 35.5in.H when fully assembled. In Hunter Green. Assembly required; rustproof ... |
|
|
Adams Mfg./Patio Furn. 8500-26-3731 Folding Table $13.93 Folding side table. 20" high with table top dimensions 15 1 4" x 17 1 2". Perfect for co ordinating with Adirondack chairs. Multitude of uses: End table for porches and decks, ideal for use next to chairs at tailgating events, or children's sporting event... |
|
|
Recycled Plastic Adirondack Curveback by Polywood $441.00 Adirondack Curveback is antique style with graceful look. Is the ideal seat for leisurely basking. Heavy duty construction by Polywood is eco-friendly. Made from 100% post-consumer waste, comprised of specially processed recycled plastic soda bottles and milk jugs, once destined for the land-fill. Heavy duty so it will not be blown around by the slightest breeze.Carry capacity 250 lbs... |
|
|
Factory-Reconditioned Hunter HR20715 52-in Brittany Bronze Ceiling Fan with Light $249.99 This is a factory reconditioned product. Reconditioned generally means that the product has been returned to the manufacturer, who brings the product back to like new condition. Some products may contain cosmetic blemishes. Includes 52-in Brittany Bronze Ceiling Fan with Light - HR20715, Light Fixture... |
|
|
Hunter Fan 54-Inch Beachside Ceiling Fan ... |
|
|
Park 48 Backless Bench $506.00 This heavy duty and Recycled Plastic Park Bench is attractive, comfortable, durable, and virtually maintenance-free. You can place it anywhere from your backyard, pool, patio, with your chair. Made in USA with amazingly strong and durable recycled plastic polymer (HDPE resin) crafted to look and feel like real wood, this bench combines style with maximum comfort. It's a Eco-friendly with UV stab... |
|
|
KidKraft Adirondack Chair - Hunter Green $49.88 Based on the classic Adirondack style of furniture established in the mountains of upstate NY in the 1870's, the KidKraft Child Sized Adirondack Chair is the perfect piece for lazy days in the sun with your little one. The sturdy all wood construction and choice of colors makes this a popular item among kids and parents alike.... |
|
|
Adirondack Rocker Finish: Hunter Green $359.99 ADRC-1GR Finish: Hunter Green Table Sold Separately Features: -Made to withstand a range of climates including hot sun, cold winters, and salty coastal air.-Made in the USA.-Stainless steel hardware.-Rot.-Warp.-Crack.-Splinter.-Support bacterial growth.-Painting and Staining.-Waterproofing.-Stripping and Resurfacing. Options: -Available in an assortment of finishes. Color/Finish: -Fade resistant c... |
|
|
Adirondack Chair - Hunter Green by KidKraft $74.93 The Adirondack Hunter Green Chair by KidKraft is made from wood and provides solid construction. Weather resistant paint keeps color vibrant. The Adirondack chair is perfect for any young boy or girl who likes to relax outside. Dimensions:21.89L x 19.13W x 24.72H Some assembly may be required. Please see product details.... |
|
|
Vanishing Act (Jane Whitefield Novels) $3.58 "A CHALLENGING AND SATISFYING THRILLER. . .[WITH] MANY SURPRISING TWISTS. " --The New York TimesJane Whitefield is a Native American guide who leads people out of the wilderness--not the tree-filled variety but the kind created by enemies who want you dead. She is in the one-woman business of helping the desperate disappear. Thanks to her membership in the Wolf Clan of the Seneca tribe, she can fo... |