Cowfeathers Farm to Foxcroft Farm: Spring Break ..Part I

Spring Break. Images of Daytona Beach and Honda Civics stuffed with 20 year olds in string bikinis and muscle tees abound. This is not our Spring Break. In years past, Spring Break has meant pounding fence posts into cold ground, or skipping a break entirely to accommodate school's out snow days. In college, my Spring Break was spent riding fuzzy horses in West Virginia and working for Dr. Ron Thompson in the Appalachian hills, staying with dear friend, Mary Di and her energetic Mom, Laura Ellen.
Spring Break 2011 we enjoyed the sun! Of West Point, NY. (Thus, we also enjoyed wind and the cold early spring of the leafless hills of the Hudson River, with snow gathered still in the shadows.)

This is a parade. Which we did not get to experience. They don't parade as often as they used to, and besides, if we had seen a parade, it would've been without green trees and grass. So this looks a bit nicer.

The idea of visiting "The Point", came from Huz, last fall. See, my Dad is a Graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point. As a child growing up in the New York, New Jersey, Connecticut area, we travelled to West Point for football games and Fourth of July Concerts-BOOM! BOOM! Cannons going off during the 1812 Overture making the ground rumble and your insides pop. Each of these visits was accompanied by the spoken memories and tales of my parents. For, although my Mother attended Muskingum College in Ohio, she and my father dated in high school and in college, and she spent time at The Point, as well. Her tales mostly punctuated and modulated Dad's, as his are broad and grand and have an element of drama, hand gestures and bodily poses. Without this, the tales wouldn't have been as memorable, or descriptive. Truly, how would you ever understand the idea of "bracing" without illustration?

And certainly The Great Chain wouldn't have been nearly so Great without the buildup of the massive chain, and how it stopped the British from controlling the Hudson River and perhaps beating the colonies back into submission. Without The Great Chain, I might even now be sitting at my computer in a British Colony, sipping tea. Okay, well, I'm sipping tea. The Great Chain was strung from the tip of West Point across the Hudson River to Constitution Island. It hung just below the surface of the water, and the ships sailing up the Hudson had to greatly slow to make the "S" curve in the river there, the chain would completely stop progress of the sailing ship, allowing the cannons on land, manned by colonists, to send exploding bits at the sitting duck British ships. Brilliant, eh? This was such a consternation to the British that without the Hudson River, their stratagems were stalled. They decided to try and buy the plans to West Point from a Officer of the resisting Colonies. The guy they recruited for the job was one Benedict Arnold. The man who tried to foil The Great Chain. He did not.

The Great Chain looks like this:

Only, this is only part of The Great Chain

And, Huz and my children had never experienced West Point, and all of the tales of our family Cadet. So, Huz said, last fall "I'd really like to visit West Point." and our Spring Break trip was born.

We met Yummie and Poppie at the Thayer Hotel, inside the gates of the Academy. As with much else, we have traded our freedom for security, and to get in you need I.D. and a car search. The Thayer was built in 1925, and is a beautiful old hotel. The grand hall has an enormous fireplace and as with all the buildings in West point, it is a massive stone building with a baronial flavor. Knights and portcullis and banners and crenellations.

This is Yummie with Eldest, Middlest and Youngest in the Thayer Hotel Grand Hall.

We had a royal meal in a secluded area of the hotel restaurant after a nice wander around Trophy Point and a drive around the campus. Then, all to bed for the festivities of Sunday.

Quite a chapel. Note the perfectly aligned hymnals and bibles. It is always thus.

Sunday, in days past was a mandatory day to go to chapel. There were 1500 cadets seated in the Cathedral, with another 200 in the choir. An altogether grand affaire. No longer is chapel mandatory; in fact, all but the first year Plebes are allowed off the campus grounds on the weekends! So, the Cathedral, whilst still a grand affaire, was emptier than in times past. It still holds the world's largest organ, and wow! is that a big sound! More than 23,500 pipes in one instrument. The cool hall is filled with color from the stained glass windows. The two massive ones on the ends and the 192 windows along each side, full of images and intricate design. Incidentally, the 192 windows on the sides were gifts in honor of each graduating class from the founding in 1802 until the last window dedicated in 1976. The Willet Stained Glass Company charged the same price from 1910( when the cathedral was built) until the last window dedicated....$300.