Some things are just worth waiting for. After departing New York Harbor, we enjoyed our first day cruising up the Hudson River and arrived at Croton-on-Hutson on Saturday, June 5th for 6 days. Why 6 days? Waiting for a weather window? Nope. Chris on Betty Gail had scored reservations for the 4 of us at the Culinary Institute of America’s (CIA) prestigious Bocuse Restaurant for Thursday., June 10th. In speaking to many other loopers, these reservations were hard to come by. Waiting a few days for this treat was well worth it.
So, what to do? Of course, there are always boat projects. Never ending boat projects. Dave had designated me as his helper in waxing the top deck of the boat, especially in the lower places which are hard for him to get to. Yep – I can squeeze in the side walkways and wax both sides.
And, there is a nearby train station that runs into Grand Central Station. Since Dave enjoyed 2 days of being a New York City tourist while we were in Staten Island, he encouraged me to travel by train into the city and explore. What I really wanted was a slice of NY pizza. It was fun riding the train into Grand Central Station and sight seeing before hunger pains said it was pizza time. I went to my favorite Little Italy’s Pizza on 45th Street and had my slice sitting on a park bench right next door. Scrumptious!
What else? Roger and Chris rented a car for two days so we explored the nearby Croton Dam and Bear Mountain State Park. Both were fun adventures on our day off of the boat. The Appalachian Trail runs right through Bear Mountain and we saw several hikers. We also took advantage of having a car and ran errands such as grocery shopping and stopping by markets to stock up with locally sourced provisions.
On our last day, we drove up to Hyde Park for our Bocuse Restaurant experience. Fine dining is always a treat but when you know the food is prepared by chefs in training, they truly go the extra mile to make it exceptional. We had an option of a 3 or 4 course meal. Seriously? I want to try as much as I can – 4 courses it is! For my main course, I had the best duck I’ve ever had (sorry Mom, yours was always good but this just melted in my mouth). Dave had Wagyu beef. It was sliced thin in little medallions and again, just melted in his mouth. All 4 of us had the chocolate dessert – I can’t even describe all of flavors bursting in my mouth bite after bite.
As evening approached on our last night at Croton-on-Hutson, I texted two other looper boats that I was serving “Little Beers” at 5 p.m. and pass the word along. A “Little Beer” is a shot made with a Spanish liquor called “Licor 43” topped with heavy cream and it looks just like a “little” beer. In the looper community word traveled fast and we had about 15 loopers on the dock outside of Slo Pace to share a Little Beer and chat about our upcoming adventures.
Speaking about next adventures, we have now made our way up the Hudson River, first for a stop at Kingston, NY and then Albany, NY. Along the way we passed by West Point. What an impressive site! Next, we arrive in Waterford, NY to begin our trip through the Erie Canal. We are officially turning to port (left) and will now be heading west.
Loving the looper life,
Dave, Brenda & Murphy
Love those “Little Beers” !!
Thank you, Brenda 😊 🍻