Hudson Valley & Mystic Seaport

This was one of those weeks where things didn’t go how we thought they were going to go. The original plan was to camp in New York and take a day trip or two into NYC. It’s not easy to find camping near the city but we found a KOA as close as possible that offered day trips via a shuttle bus. Or at least they did. Once again, due to COVID, they weren’t offering trips into the city. So plan B was to move camp a bit further in at a no-frills county park that was near a train station since neither of us was up for driving into the city. However, getting into the city still seemed rather complicated and coupled with the current state of unrest in NYC, we eventually decided to scratch the plan entirely.

We kept our reservation at the KOA and spent a few days enjoying the campground amenities and catching up on school work. It was kind of a remote area with not a lot going on, but we did some digging and found that we weren’t far from the Historic Walk Over the Hudson.

The Walk Over the Hudson is part of the rail trail program, where abandoned railroad tracks are turned into walking and biking trails.

Most of the week had been chilly and wet but we had perfect weather for our walk. All along the trail are plaques with information about the bridge project and local wildlife.

It’s slightly over a mile to cross the bridge and when you do, you’re in Poughkeepsie! We decided to find some lunch before making the trek back, so we got to take an elevator down the side of the bridge that let us out at the water front. Colin had done some restaurant research before we left and found a Mexican place nearby where we could eat lunch and get our churro fix!

Bellies full of tacos and fried dough, we were ready for the return trip across the river. It was another nice stroll but let’s just say it had gotten a bit windier since the morning!

Because we had scrapped our NYC plan, we were now in need of something else to do for the weekend. Our next big stop was Boston, so we wanted something kind of in between and we eventually settled on Mystic, CT.

It turned out to be a great way to spend a weekend! The Mystic Seaport museum is a maritime museum with a village, historic vessels, activities, and exhibits.

We were able to tour an old whaling ship and a historic fire boat that was visiting the seaport that day.

Admission also included a harbor cruise, and it was a beautiful day for a boat ride!

The museum also has a craft area where the kids could make their very own boats. This was definitely the highlight of their day! I have a small craft box in the RV, but this was a much needed hour of creative expression and doubled as awesome souvenirs.

There was more to see and do then we had time for and I was sorry to miss the planetarium and shipyard but we are all glad to add Mystic to our places visited. The town of Mystic has many cute shops and restaurants and definitely worth a stop if you’re visiting the Northeast!

Had to share one last picture of Colin’s shoe being rescued from the Mystic River. Kids do keep things interesting, don’t they?