Our plan for Day Two was to meet downstairs in the lobby of the Comfort Suites in Woodbury, New York, at 9:00 a.m. Once everyone was gathered, we got on the road and headed toward West Point.
We managed to arrive at the wrong gate first, but the guards were very helpful and directed us to the correct entrance. After a little turning around and heading in a different direction, we finally made it to the right place. Every good road trip needs at least one U-turn!
Once we were parked, we made our way down the stairs to the Visitor Control Center to get our passes.
They were serving number 19, and our numbers went all the way up to 42 and 43. Poor Michael took one look at that and thought it was going to take forever, but they were actually very quick.
Everyone had received a pass except Michael, who had the very last number. I had 42 and he had 43. Naturally, the young lady helping him decided she needed to chat with him about all kinds of things, so the rest of us waited while they finished their conversation. Everyone always seems to chat with Michael—but then again, we all know Michael likes to chat too—so it all worked out!
After receiving our passes, we went upstairs to the West Point Experience. David had already gone up ahead of us to check it out, so the rest of us strolled through the exhibits. We watched a wonderful film that took us through the history of West Point, from its beginnings up to today, and we all agreed that it gave us a good overview.
West Point’s motto is “Duty, Honor, Country,” three simple words that say so much about the generations of men and women who have passed through there.
There was also a beautiful view of the Hudson River from inside the building.
After seeing the exhibits and watching the film, Michael was perfectly happy to skip the larger museum and head toward the cemetery, which was what he had really been looking forward to seeing. So off to find the cemetary. David spotted the Old Cadet Chapel and knew that this is where we needed to go and located the graves that Michael dreamed of seeing.
When we arrived at the Old Cadet Chapel, Michael immediately noticed the firehouse across the street. While everyone else started walking toward the chapel, I went over and took a picture of the firehouse for him—because every trip with a retired firefighter must include the required firehouse picture!
I then joined everyone inside the chapel. It was beautiful, and I especially loved the magnificent pipe organ. I also happened to spot all the communion wine lined up and ready in the office area, so of course that deserved a picture too!
David helped Michael locate the graves of Anna and Susan Warner, whom Michael had especially wanted to find. Anna Warner wrote the words to the beloved hymn “Jesus Loves Me,” which first appeared in a novel written by her sister Susan.
The Warner sisters lived on Constitution Island, directly across the Hudson River from West Point. For many years, they taught Bible classes to the cadets and became a very special part of life at the Academy. Because of their long friendship with and spiritual influence on generations of West Point cadets, Anna and Susan were given the rare honor of being buried in West Point Cemetery even though they were civilians. Michael was very tickled that he got to see their graves.
There was so much history throughout the cemetery. Michael stood beside the Cadet Monument, originally erected in 1818 in memory of Cadet Vincent M. Lowe, who was killed when a cannon fired prematurely. The names inscribed around the monument honor other cadets and professors who died during West Point’s early years.
We also found the impressive grave marked simply “GRANT.” This is the gravesite of Major General Frederick Dent Grant, the eldest son of President Ulysses S. Grant, and his wife, Ida Marie Honoré Grant.
From there, we headed over to meet Mark, Susan, Freida and Wayne in another section of the cemetery. This was where Michael got to see the gravesite of George Armstrong Custer. That was especially interesting because, during an earlier visit to Fort Leavenworth, Michael had seen the grave of George’s younger brother, Captain Thomas Ward “Tom” Custer. Tom was a two-time Medal of Honor recipient, and both brothers died at the Battle of Little Bighorn.
Michael also found the grave of Edward H. White II, the first American to walk in space.
In that same section, we saw the beautiful and very ornate monument of Major General Daniel Butterfield, a Union general and Medal of Honor recipient. He is probably best remembered as the man credited with creating or arranging the familiar bugle call “Taps,” which was first sounded during the Civil War in 1862.
Another unusual monument was topped by an enormous stone globe. It marks the grave of Major William Johnson Twining, a West Point graduate, Civil War veteran and Army engineer. He later served as an engineer commissioner for Washington, D.C., and proposed the tidal reservoir that eventually became Washington’s Tidal Basin, where the famous cherry blossoms are today.
The photo below is a pyramid-shaped mausoleum of Brigadier General Egbert Ludovicus Viele and his second wife, Juliette in the West Point Cemetery.
Viele was a West Point graduate, Civil War Union general, civil engineer, and former U.S. congressman. Here’s the wonderfully strange part: he was reportedly terrified of being buried alive, so he had a buzzer installed inside his coffin, wired to the cemetery caretaker’s house! 😳
The Egyptian-style pyramid and sphinxes certainly make it one of the cemetery’s most memorable sights.
West Point Cemetery was filled with so much history, and Michael was very happy that he got to see the graves and monuments he had been hoping to find.
After leaving West Point, we headed to Handsome Devil BBQ for lunch. Judging by Michael’s pose beneath the sign, there was apparently no question that we had found the right place—or perhaps the right handsome devil!
Susan ordered the pulled pork, I had the brisket and Michael chose the ribs. I can’t remember what everyone else ordered, but there was certainly plenty of barbecue around the table.
Our next stop was Uptown Kingston to see the Old Dutch Church. We found the church, but we could never figure out how to get inside, so our visit was limited to seeing it from the outside.
As we walked around Uptown Kingston, we discovered yet another firehouse. This one was actually a fire hall museum, which made it an especially good find for Michael. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get inside that building either, but at least we came away with pictures. Apparently, the theme for that part of the day was, “You may look, but you may not enter!”
We eventually got back in the cars and headed toward Lake George. We started out taking the scenic route along the Hudson River, but after a while we decided to meander over to the interstate so we could reach Lake George in time for an earlier dinner.
As we got closer, we began seeing old cars arriving in town for the Adirondack Nationals car show. That gave us our first little preview of what was waiting for us in Lake George.
We ate dinner at the Olde Log Inn, and no sooner had we been seated than two gentlemen in the booth next to Michael struck up a conversation with him. I’m telling you, people just like to chat with Michael—it never fails!
One of the men strongly encouraged Michael to try the clams. Michael listened politely but ended up ordering eggplant Parmesan and a cup of French onion soup instead. Fortunately, the gentlemen had already left by the time his food arrived, so they never discovered that he didn’t take their recommendation!
Some of the restaurants decor below that Mark took.
As we were leaving the restaurant, even more old cars were arriving and driving past us. Then, as we headed toward Lake George Village, we began seeing people sitting in lawn chairs along the sides of the road, waiting for the cars to drive by. I had never seen anything quite like it. The car show hadn’t even officially begun for us, but the parade—and the audience—were already in place!
Once we got checked in, David, Mark and Michael walked down the street from the hotel to get a closer look at some of the cars. It turned out that what we had seen along the way was only the beginning—there were miles of old cars along the streets. Here are a few pictures that David took showing some cars from his youth.
We had been blessed with beautiful weather all day, and by evening the air had turned wonderfully crisp and cool. It was a lovely ending to a day filled with history, barbecue, firehouses and more classic cars than I had ever seen in one place.
And now we’re off to enjoy more of those classic cars before saying goodbye to Lake George and heading toward Vermont. Day Three, here come the Crazy 8!
