How exciting – Celebrate NY’s 400th — celebrating the great voyage of 400 years ago when Henry Hudson first saw this beautiful valley. We are also celebrating the river, boats and all of our valley communities with the Great River Day Flotilla.
The flotilla started this morning with the boat and yacht clubs of Manhattan and New York City being the first to send out their memberships around the tip of Manhattan and coming round the statue of liberty led up the river by our New York State heritage flagships tracing Henry Hudson’s path to Albany.
Along the shores at Verplanck’s Steamboat dock, we sat waiting to see the flagships; the famous Onrust, Clearwater, the Woody Guthrie, the Half Moon and the Mystic Whaler were scheduled to participate in this historic event.
Having grown up in Verplanck, it was a pleasure to see so many friends gathered around the dock on this beautiful Sunday afternoon. As we all sat with out folding chairs, coolers, picnic lunches eagerly awaiting the ships! The boat traffic was much more than we’ve seen recently. Today was all about celebrating our great Hudson Valley and Hudson River. We cheered and waved as these beautiful ships passed by us. Flags waving, cannons fired and salutes from the Coast Guard–simply wonderful!
So I “wonder” what did those like Henry Hudson think when they first passed our shores?
Thanks to great activities such as this (and my age I would suspect LOL) my love for the river and the beautiful Hudson Valley grows deeper each year.
Hopefully you will get to enjoy some of the many exciting activities scheduled throughout the month of June!
