Saturday 14th October 2023
Cruising the Hudson River
Mary wrote: The day was spent at sea, cloudy, drizzly and cold. I wore my polo neck jumper as it is meant to be 12°C at its highest. We are setting off at 0800 for a scenic cruise of the Hudson River from about 0830. We were given very little information, but apparently a commentary was being broadcast on the outside decks. This was useless to anyone who was inside because of the rain. I went to the Craft Class as my shawl is nearly completed. Mel went to the talk about the beauty of the October sky, with speaker Jonathan Clough. I put my coat on before lunch and stood near a lifeboat to keep dry to take some photos, but there is still very little autumn colour showing. The captain spoke at 1200 and said we would shortly be turning round and going back to New York, passing the Statue of Liberty at around 1630. It was the first we had known that this was the plan, since it was not clear from the tour book for the cruise or in the Daily Times. However, it did make sense. All vessels are legally required to stick to the right bank, (starboard side), of any rivers or estuaries, so only when sailing out into the ocean could we get near enough to the Starue of Liberty for the closest photos.
After lunch we went to the talk on Washington DC and its role in American history, given by Paul Madden who had worked at the British Embassy in Washington for five years. We also went to the talk by Mark Adkins on Frank Lloyd Wright, the architect who thought outside the box, which included the Guggenheim Museum. After evening dining we went to the Neptune Lounge for Showtime featuring Mawgan Stott who normally sings with Funky Blue. not as a soloist.
