Croton-on-Hudson, NY Day 2

Miles Traveled 0

Total Miles Traveled 4440

Day 265

Today was sightseeing day; our first stop was West Point.  The Continental Army first occupied West Point New York, on January 27, 1778 and it is the oldest continuously-operating Army post in the United States.  George Washington considered West Point to be the most important military position in America, stationing his headquarters there in the summer and fall of 1779.   Following the war, President Thomas Jefferson signed legislation establishing the United States Military Academy on the site in 1802.  Notable graduates include 2 American Presidents, 4 additional heads of state, 18 astronauts, 74 Medal of Honor recipients, 70 Rhodes Scholars, and 3 Heisman Trophy winners. 

Washington Hall, with the West Point Chapel in the background.  The majority of the Norman style buildings are gray and black granite.

West Point Sports complex.

The Cadet Chapel is a Gothic architecture, with a cross-shaped floor plan, soaring arches, and stone carvings.  It has the largest chapel pipe organ in the world which consists of 23, 511 individual pipes which are located throughout the chapel.  Visitors can attend Sunday service; I would love to be here on Sunday to hear the organ inside this granite building.

Duty Honor Country

These are actual links from the Great Chain, used from 1778-1782 during the American Revolutionary War and placed across the Hudson River to prevent British naval vessels from sailing upriver.

The Battle Monument located at Trophy Point, is 46 feet tall, weighs 72 tons, and is the largest column of polished granite in the Western Hemisphere.   The monument was dedicated to civil war veterans, some of which graduated from West Point and fought on opposite sides of the conflict.  The barrels of the cannons, pointing into the ground around the monument, represent an agreement that our Nation will not fight each other on our soil again.

Our next stop was the CIA…….well we switched gears a little and visited the Culinary Institute of America.  The CIA is the first and oldest culinary college in the United States specializing in culinary and baking and pastry arts education.  The college offers associate and bachelor’s degrees, and has the largest staff of American Culinary Federation Certified Master Chefs.  The college operates student-run restaurants on their campus, where the students learn the front and back of a restaurants operation.  We toured the campus, watching the students in individual kitchens learning all aspects of preparing different types of food, then we dined at one of the restaurants, served by the students.