We drove south to the KOA in Plattekill, NY on the 25th. This was the closest RV Park to West Point Academy. The drive into the park was very tight with the 40 foot RV. The roads are narrow and the trees are close to the edge.
We told the people at the park that they should pay us to drive in! We only had 30 amp service, but has not been hot enough to have to run both of the AC’s.
West Point, named for the point on the west side of the river that juts out and narrows the channel.
As you can see, it is a misty morning when we arrive. We did take our umbrellas, but luckily we only had to use them once.
Part of the dormitories and Thayer field where the cadets march.
The chain above is the last 13 of the links of a giant chain that was strung across the Hudson River to keep the British and any other war ships from getting up the Hudson. It was strung across the river after the winter thaw and brought back in before the freeze. It weighed tons and tons!
The above is the memorial to all the Union Soldiers (that they had record of) who died in the Civil War. Their names are inscribed on the band around the balls. The officers names are on the pedestal under the solid granite pole. (you can see a little bit of blue sky!)
On to the cemetery where there are still officers being interred. This is the grave of Thayer, the first administrator of the Academy. Many places are named after him.
After this General’s monument was put in place the Academy put a size limit on the monuments that could be erected. This one even had a buzzer inside so if by any chance the general was buried alive, and he woke up he could press the buzzer and the alarm would sound. The cadets used to take a long stick and set off the buzzer until it was finally unhooked!
The first woman monument for Margaret Corbin who followed her husband into battle during the revolution and when he was shot, she picked up his gun and continued to shoot.
Next we went to the small Chapel. Here the plaques of many famous Generals are displayed. The painting above the alter was so beautiful that I just had to have a picture.
The flags above are recreations of all the flags flown during the years that our country was forming.
The picture above had the words Duty, Honor and Country in the panels.
All four of the pictures above are the main Chapel. This chapel will hold over 1000 people.
After our tour we had lunch and went to the Museum.
The “fat” bomb. A duplicate of the Atomic Bomb that was dropped on Japan.
A full size jeep from WWII is on display as well as a tank and a car from WW I. Many, many kinds or arms are all displayed. From the kind of arms used Before Christ to modern day. And arms from all over the world. It is an amazing museum.
First look at the sky. You actually see the storm moving in. But if you look on the Hudson River you will see a large boat steaming down the river. I thought this was an amazing view that we had on our drive back home.
We are driving right into these clouds and they did rain on us. It poured! We drove most of the way back to the RV (about 40 miles) in the rain. We even stopped and did our grocery shopping on the way home, hoping by the time we finished shopping the rain would have moved on, but no such luck. At least the rain waited until after we had our wonderful tour of United States Military Academy at West Point!
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