charltonlido america trip: june04

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ok, so, i think, i am coming to america, on the 25th june, maybe for 9-10 days.

it will involve new york. it may well involve other places, maybe montreal, or chicago, or toronto, i dont know yet...

make suggestions

― charltonlido (gareth), Tuesday, 15 June 2004 08:51 (twenty-two years ago)

montreal and toronto are in canada

― Dave Stelfox (Dave Stelfox), Tuesday, 15 June 2004 08:53 (twenty-two years ago)

but they're both nice

― Dave Stelfox (Dave Stelfox), Tuesday, 15 June 2004 08:53 (twenty-two years ago)

thanks dave, i wasnt sure.

how is pittsburgh?

― charltonlido (gareth), Tuesday, 15 June 2004 08:53 (twenty-two years ago)

I liked Pittsburgh. There was a cool little market area by the river and there's a giant Andy Warhol museum, if you're into that sorta thing.

― Rob Bolton (Rob Bolton), Tuesday, 15 June 2004 08:55 (twenty-two years ago)

i had an inkling that you were aware of that fact, but couldn't resist it. on a serious note, montreal is beautiful, toronto is very friendly and cheap. you'll also like montreal from a musical perspective - less so TO. canada is a damned good idea right now as it'll be ludicrously cheap.

― Dave Stelfox (Dave Stelfox), Tuesday, 15 June 2004 08:56 (twenty-two years ago)

G, i do worry that your WHOLE BODY WILL EXPLODE if you keep on spending so much time on aeroplanes...

― CarsmileSteve (CarsmileSteve), Tuesday, 15 June 2004 08:58 (twenty-two years ago)

You know my thoughts on Canada - go to Montreal if you can only do 1 city. If you are going to Toronto, be sure to get some local guides - ILXors or anyone - otherwise the city can be quite boring.

Dunno about Toronto being 'cheap', though. I guess anywhere in Canada is cheap from a pure currency perspective, but on average Montreal is cheaper than Toronto.

― Rob Bolton (Rob Bolton), Tuesday, 15 June 2004 08:59 (twenty-two years ago)

yeah but we have icredibly robust sterling currency burning a hole in our pockets!

― Dave Stelfox (Dave Stelfox), Tuesday, 15 June 2004 09:33 (twenty-two years ago)

Come to Chicago!

― Melissa W (Melissa W), Tuesday, 15 June 2004 09:40 (twenty-two years ago)

you could do nice trips starting in new york and ending in chicago and pick either going north and hit montreal, toronto, detroit and chicago, or go south and do whatever in pennsylvania you'd like to see, go through stinky ohio (and could still very easily pop up to see michigan) and end up in chicago.

i haven't been to montreal in years, but enjoyed it when i was a young teenager with my family. i always enjoy toronto.

driving through the mountains in PA can be really beautiful.

if you're into kitchy tourist stuff, might be worth having one of your chicago friends take you to the wisconsin dells. it's this small town that obviously was a tourist magnet in the 1950's and still has that absurd feeling about it, including loads of mini-golf, airbrushed t-shirts, and hotels with water slides in.

(email me if you want more information on any of this, or want to look at some of my maps...)

i'm jealous! i want to go on a roadtrip.

― colette (a2lette), Tuesday, 15 June 2004 10:06 (twenty-two years ago)

visit lovely willkes-barre/scranton, gareth

― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Tuesday, 15 June 2004 10:23 (twenty-two years ago)

Montreal and Toronto are both very nice, I like Chicago too -- I'd probably pick Montreal out of the three if forced to choose one.

― El Diablo Robotico (Nicole), Tuesday, 15 June 2004 11:18 (twenty-two years ago)

come to montreal. it's the 20th anniversary of the fireworks competition, an event no one in their right mind would want to miss. plus the main streets are closed half the time, for one festival or another, and there is nothing better than walking the streets of a carless city, warm beer in hand. plus here you can smoke in churches and hospitals, something you can't do in toronto. baah, toronto.

http://www.lemondialsaq.com/en/Competition/Historique.asp

― chomicat, Tuesday, 15 June 2004 12:06 (twenty-two years ago)

montreal and toronto are in canada

They are in America as well, as Canada is a part of North America. That always used to confuse me.

Sorry, I'm bored.

― jellybean (jellybean), Tuesday, 15 June 2004 12:14 (twenty-two years ago)

Come to DC already, we'll hang out

― TOMBOT, Tuesday, 15 June 2004 12:54 (twenty-two years ago)

take the high-speed ferry from ROCHESTER to TORONTO.

― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 15 June 2004 12:56 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm assuming that this is being done by Amtrak. I write off Montreal and Toronto immediately because who cares about Canada? (I don't know anything about Canada) So I would go to Chicago. All three trains between NYC and Chicago that I see sound appealing, though all will have less interesting sections:

Lakeshore Limited - gets you up the coast to Boston, across moderately scenic areas of Massachusetts to the Berkshires, across upstate NY of varying interest, Cleveland, Lake Erie, mostly boring Northwestern Ohio and Indiana with perhaps a touch of Amish country, Lake Michigan (touching on the Indiana Dunes?)

Three Rivers - gets you Philly, some Amish country, a route across the Appalachians of indeterminate interest, Pittsburgh, Youngstown, maybe some of the lower stretch of the Cuyahoga Valley, and a lot of boring OH and IN, interrupted by a bit of Amish country in the latter

Cardinal/Hoosier State - gets you Philly, Baltimore, DC, the Blue Ridge, Charlottesville and Staunton, the Appalachians, White Sulphur Springs, maybe a bit of the Midland Trail, through a good chunk of the New River Gorge, a lot of the Ohio River, perhaps some of the area traveled by the National Road in Eastern IN, and a stretch of boring Northwestern IN

If this were a round-trip, I'd definitely recommend taking the Lakeshore Limited one way and Cardinal/Hoosier State or Three Rivers the other, as the former follows the New England culture dispersal pattern, and the latter two the Pennsylvania culture. As between the last two, while I'd be sorry not to go to Pittsburgh, I would probably take Cardinal/Hoosier State over Three Rivers, as the latter is of uncertain interest across PA and seems to have a long stretch of deadly West of Akron. If it's a one-way trip, I can't tell you what to do.

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Tuesday, 15 June 2004 15:01 (twenty-two years ago)

(I have never been to most of these places)

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Tuesday, 15 June 2004 15:02 (twenty-two years ago)

dude gabbneb he could just take Amtrak to Albany and switch there without ever having been to Beantown. Given that you use silly tourist names for Manhattan neighborhoods, though, I'd discount your advice if I was gareth.

― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 15 June 2004 15:03 (twenty-two years ago)

Yeah, and if he wants the easiest route to Chicago, he can go to LaGuardia

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Tuesday, 15 June 2004 15:06 (twenty-two years ago)

probably cheaper to fly from Newark.

― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 15 June 2004 15:07 (twenty-two years ago)

i really enjoyed my Amtrak to Chicago via Albany and Buffalo. Albany looked very unusual to me, something odd about it. Rochester reminded me of an English city...maybe even Manchester at times (this was just passing thru on the train of course). going straight West was a bit dull I guess but for the Hudson trail it's well worth it, esp. as you know your destination is the greatness of Chicago.

― stevem (blueski), Tuesday, 15 June 2004 15:10 (twenty-two years ago)

probably cheaper to fly from Newark.

only LaGuardia gets you "a bit of Amish country"

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Tuesday, 15 June 2004 15:11 (twenty-two years ago)

cheap flights to Chicago (Midway) from Islip Long Island too - which is what, just under an hour from Manhattan by train?

― stevem (blueski), Tuesday, 15 June 2004 15:11 (twenty-two years ago)

yeah, Southwest from Islip is pretty cheap if you don't factor in L.I.R.R. prices + shuttle bus irregularity.

― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 15 June 2004 15:12 (twenty-two years ago)

Gareth + ~~Arthur~~ Burl Ives + myself + June 25th-27th weekend = SOMETHING MUST HAPPEN!

― donut bitch (donut), Tuesday, 15 June 2004 15:14 (twenty-two years ago)

i think it was about $70 for me + train (around $10) and cab to airpot ($5)

someone tell me about that 'castle' on the Hudson river which you pass about 90 mins after leaving Manhattan (it's actually on an island on the river)

― stevem (blueski), Tuesday, 15 June 2004 15:14 (twenty-two years ago)

is it in Mianus?

― chris (chris), Tuesday, 15 June 2004 15:16 (twenty-two years ago)

it's pronounced Meeannus y'dolt

― stevem (blueski), Tuesday, 15 June 2004 15:18 (twenty-two years ago)

DC.

― Aaron Grossman (aajjgg), Tuesday, 15 June 2004 15:18 (twenty-two years ago)

Bannerman's Island

― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 15 June 2004 15:19 (twenty-two years ago)

i kiss h

― stevem (blueski), Tuesday, 15 June 2004 15:21 (twenty-two years ago)

― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 15 June 2004 15:21 (twenty-two years ago)

To become a friend of Bannerman Castle, call 845-831-6346, or send a check to:

i want to be it's friend!

― stevem (blueski), Tuesday, 15 June 2004 15:23 (twenty-two years ago)

NOTE: Do not attempt to visit Bannerman Island. At this point it is a very treacherous combination of buried hazards and dangerous wall conditions.

― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 15 June 2004 15:25 (twenty-two years ago)

there is actually a similar ruin on Tivoli Bay that the entire time I lived there, I never visited.

― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 15 June 2004 15:25 (twenty-two years ago)

buried hazards? like landmines?

― lauren (laurenp), Tuesday, 15 June 2004 15:31 (twenty-two years ago)

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

― donut bitch (donut), Tuesday, 15 June 2004 15:33 (twenty-two years ago)

well it was an arsenal.

― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 15 June 2004 15:35 (twenty-two years ago)

yeah here it is, can't believe I forgot it's called CRUGER Island (there is a shitty Bard dorm called Cruger btw).

History:

olden times -- island complex occupied by Wappinger and then Mohican tribal groups

1680 -- Colonel Peter Schuyler, an Albany merchant & later mayor of Albany for 12 years, purchases Cruger Island from the native Americans.

Schuyler gets a patent grant from Governor Dongan (including town of Red Hook).

1720 -- Barent Van Benthuysen purchased the middle portion of the patent, including Cruger Island. He erects a big house known as the "Castle," near the eastern end of what became Cruger Island Road.

1812 -- a map of this period calls Cruger's Island, Magdaline.

1812 -- Dr. John Masten of Kingston buys Cruger Island. Builds a house at the south end of the island.

prior to 1835 -- Cruger Island Road, a causeway, built.

1835 -- After the death of his wife, wealthy New Yorker John Church Cruger buys the island.

1838? -- their house burns down.

1843 -- Cruger marries Euphemia Van Rensselaer. He expands a cottage into a mansion..

1879 -- Cruger dies.

1888 -- Mrs. Cruger dies. Two spinster sisters, Cornelia and Catherine, stayed on in the house.

1914 -- Catherine Cruger dies.

1919 -- the Mayan sculptures on South Cruger Island purchased by the American Museum of Natural History in NYC when Cruger Island briefly owned by New Yorker L. G. Hamersley, who then built a great gray Tudor mansion on the mainland.

Before 1922 -- house sold. House later torn down.

1922 -- Cornelia Cruger dies.

1926 -- bread manufacturer Robert Boyd Ward buys Cruger Island. Ward then conveyed the estate to the New York Society for Improving the Condition of the Poor for a home for the aged and convalescents and as a summer outing camp for working class families. At one time there were 2 boys' camps on Cruger Island and 4 girls' camps on the mainland.

1930s -- "rum running" in Tivoli Bays, to Cruger Island, to river boats bound down the river to NYC.

1947 -- archeologists survey the southernmost island, South Cruger Island.

1960 -- Bard College buys the Tudor mansion, now used as a college dormitory.

1979 -- Cruger Island and part of mainland purchased by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.

1982 -- Hudson River National Estuarine Research Reserve established.

― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 15 June 2004 15:58 (twenty-two years ago)

circa 1880:

― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 15 June 2004 15:59 (twenty-two years ago)