Life on the Hudson - Kingston

Aug.22nd: KINGSTON

We had been told that this town would be one of the highlights of our trip down the Hudson. It was a bust! Talk about “fake!” We tied up at the lovely docking area and could hardly wait to explore the little square of brightly painted establishments we could see from the boat. They were either hair salons or expensive restaurants. Walking down the beautifully restored side street we encountered little but empty shop front windows. Beyond and behind these beautiful facades were streets of poor and decaying houses. To us this stop was simply a “dressed-up” docking area. But we made the best of it and splurged on a wonderful dinner of “soul food” at one of the trendy restaurants. We were also able to spend several hours at the impressive dockside Marine Museum which contained many working models and artifacts from the steamers and paddleboats that were so popular here at the turn of the last century. We also saw two informative films detailing the history of boats on the Hudson. When we arrived at the museum we were disappointed to find it closed for the day. But the curator, who was working inside, generously opened it up just for us—an unexpected act of kindness, only one of which we have experienced on our journey through the United States.