U-puku-ipi-sing – Kindred Spirit

The name Poughkeepsie evolved from a word in the Wappinger language, roughly U-puku-ipi-sing, which means “the reed-covered lodge by the little-water place.” That little water place referred to a stream feeding into the Hudson River south of the present downtown Poughkeepsie area. You can almost hear the “Po-kip-si” in U-puku-ipi-sing, right?

Saturday, June 9 and another 18 nautical miles north to Poughkeepsie. These easy 2-3 hour days are nice!

Both *Kindred Spirit* and *Magnolia* anchored in Foundry Cove with West point in the background.

A last look at Cold Spring’s harbor and waterfront.

Looking ahead, up the river, mountains on both sides.

Storm King Mountain, on the west side, is more than 1,300 feet and the tallest peak in the region; an area known for summer thunderstorms.

About 4 miles into our day’s journey on the water, we came upon rocky Pollepel Island on the east side of the river, an island with an interesting history. The ruins of an old castle-like complex, known as Bannerman’s Castle, are visible on the little island.

Francis Bannerman became the world’s largest buyer of surplus military equipment, starting after the Civil War and then growing large enough to operate a storeroom and showroom in New York City that opened to the public in 1905. After purchasing 90 percent of captured Spanish American War goods, Frank needed a secure place to store the explosive black powder. The family purchased Pollopel Island in 1900 and Frank Bannerman designed and built this very eccentric castle over 17 years to store munitions. After we returned home Al saw this video posted in Trawler Living and Cruising from video the Science Channel’s FaceBook page. It’s worth a quick look – what a story!

The remains of bridge supports between Pollepel Island and the land.

A better view from the north side. The castle was eventually destroyed by fire and in 1967, and the family sold the ruins of Bannerman Castle to New York State. It is too dangerous to visit the island and castle now.

We planned to stay in Poughkeepsie for 3 days and made reservations for a slip at Shadows Marina and for a rental car. There is so much to see in this area, but we can only choose a few things to do.

Magnolia and Kindred Spirit shared the inner side of the long face dock. There were some major wakes and strong currents!

Shadows has a large restaurant and separate space for weddings. Keith,the dock manager, is very nice and helpful, but the marina seems to be an afterthought. No office, just Keith’s truck; and only a little white trailer for a bath house.

Annette wrestled this long floating log from under Magnolia, pulling it up on the dock.

Although we had just arrived that day, we already had plans for late afternoon. The “GlassBarge” from the Corning Museum of Glass (CMoG) was in Poughkeepsie this very weekend. The GlassBarge is a 30’ x 80’ canal barge equipped with CMoG’s patented all-electric glassmaking equipment. It began its summer journey in Brooklyn in mid-May and is traveling north on the Hudson through the Erie Canal to Watkins Glen, ending in Corning in September. Tickets are free for the 30-minute demonstration of glass blowing.

The GlassBarge was docked at Waryas Park on the Poughkeepsie waterfront.

Lower left – Mike provided the narration to the demonstration
Upper left -Tom did most of the glassblowing.
Right – Helen assisted.

Al and I enjoyed a glassblowing experience (under supervision) in Newport several years ago, so we were quite interested in this demonstration. I took many photos but here is a sampling of the process, without any technical explanation. Sorry!

A hot ball ball of glass from the furnace is gathered on the pipe.

Tom begins to work the glowing glass by rolling it on the marver.

After rolling it in colored crushed glass to give it color, Tom began the blowing process while continually twirling the pipe.

Helen is going to add an additional different colored glass for the stem..

To finish off our first day here, we ate dinner at the Mill House Brewing Company. What a find! Good job, Anthony!

The Mill House Brewing Company and “gastropub”

If you are at a brewery, shouldn’t you taste as many kinds as possible? That’s why we like to get a “flight” of little beers to share! Al’s flight – Grocery Getter, Huber, NWT, Derailleur, CO2 Michele’s flight – Kold, Cucumber, Zoe, Grocery Getter, Cuatro Cien Our favorite? We both liked Grocery Getter! Really. Such a mundane name, but so refreshing.

Our server, Nathan, was personable and knowledgeable. I enjoyed asking him about the beer and the food.

A good note to end our first day in U-puku-ipi-sing!

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