On a recent road trip to Tarrytown, New York (more on the trip in the next couple of posts), we (okay, mostly me but my husband is a real trooper) wanted to stop by the Tarrytown Lighthouse, a pretty white structure on the Hudson River just this side of the Tappen Zee Bridge.
We had seen the lighthouse from Lyndhurst Castle, and it looked pretty close. After all, we were in Tarrytown and the name of the lighthouse as I had found it online was the Tarrytown Lighthouse, or just Tarrytown Light. However, according to the GPS it didn't exist. The closest thing we could find was Lighthouse Ice Cream. We applied our extensive logical abilities and figured the lighthouse was nearby. We were on our way to Rhinebeck for dinner, but the GPS said it was a 10 minute ride from Lyndhurst Castle so we headed out for a quick pit stop.
The first snafu occurred when we were less than a minute from our destination. The GPS had us taking a left at the fork and then doing a U-Turn. What it didn't tell us was that we were supposed to take a left at the fork that was across the intersection from the fork we were at. That added about 8 minutes to our trip while the GPS recalculated.
We finally made it to the ice cream place and went beyond it to a small marina, looking around for the lighthouse. No luck. We pestered a man walking with his kids and he told us we could walk there from a pathway nearby. It was about a mile but it was sweltering heat so we asked if we could drive there. He gave us directions through the construction site next door that would take us 'pretty close'.
Since we had a few hours before dinner we decided to make a pit stop at the ice cream store. If you're ever in Tarrytown I recommend the black raspberry. We also asked the employees if they could direct us to the lighthouse but neither one of them had heard of it. Ah youth!
We cut through the construction (no worries, we were not trespassing or otherwise lawbreaking) and reached a dead end, literally. No lighthouse in sight, just more construction and abandoned warehouses. Between the ice cream and dead end we added 30 minutes to our quest.
Husband rechecked the GPS to no avail. I remembered that the lighthouse was in a park but that still didn't help. The next logic we applied was to follow the shoreline. How hard could that be? We knew the lighthouse was just within reach. Hug the shoreline and look for a park.
Yup. Actually, no. Next thing we knew we're at the visitors' entrance to Kykuit and Philipsburg Manor. So we circle back and stalk a woman walking her dog for directions. She was very helpful and gave us the name of the park the lighthouse was in, Kingsland. She also said it was next to the Philipburg Manor train station. We put that into the GPS and thought we were on the right track (ha ha) when we saw signs for the train station. The GPS took us straight to the park.
But it was not the Kingsland Park, it was the DeVries Park. The signs said for residents only, it was mainly a playground and sports field park, and it was on the wrong side of the railroad tracks. Now into almost an hour of our 10 minute trip, I decided that we were just wasting our time and we headed back from whence we started.
By this time hubby had to use the restroom, and I decided to give it one more shot. We pulled into the visitor lot for Kykuit etc. and luckily it was still open. The reason for stopping there was an off-chance that my aunt, a docent for Kykuit, might be there and we could say hello. End result was that she was not, but hubby did get to use the restroom and I got a couple of cool books in the gift shop. The woman working the gift shop was pretty uppity and unhelpful, just saying, and was not too thrilled to give me specific directions to the lighthouse. She knew exactly where it was, but her directions consisted of go right, then left, then right. Not kidding. There were multiple streets between there and the park so that was like saying just go that way. I guess I annoyed her because I asked her what Philipsburg Manor was. She looked down her nose at me and explained with one eyebrow up the entire time.
Sigh. I love history so I truly wanted to know for a future visit. Oh well, back on the hunt.
We decided to go back to the train station and take another shot from that angle. Lo and behold, there was a tiny sign for the lighthouse and Kingsland Point Park. We drove down the shady lane and there it was. The sign, that is.
Apologies for the poor picture quality. There was no fog or ghostly apparitions floating by. The a/c was cranked in the car and when we stuck the camera out of the window the lens fogged up.
We had to pay $4.00 to get into the park, but hey, support the local economy. And the gentleman collecting the cash was a riot! (The visitor center lady should take people skills lessons from him.)
It was still beastly hot out when we parked the car. I asked hubby if he was getting out and he said "After all the %^&* we went through to find this thing, you better believe it!" And of course it was a bit of a hike to find it once we got into the park.
The best surprise of all was that we could not get even close to it. The pathway to the lighthouse was padlocked shut. /sarcasm
Maybe some day it will be opened again. In the meantime, I got some from-a-distance pictures for you.
The first snafu occurred when we were less than a minute from our destination. The GPS had us taking a left at the fork and then doing a U-Turn. What it didn't tell us was that we were supposed to take a left at the fork that was across the intersection from the fork we were at. That added about 8 minutes to our trip while the GPS recalculated.
We finally made it to the ice cream place and went beyond it to a small marina, looking around for the lighthouse. No luck. We pestered a man walking with his kids and he told us we could walk there from a pathway nearby. It was about a mile but it was sweltering heat so we asked if we could drive there. He gave us directions through the construction site next door that would take us 'pretty close'.
Since we had a few hours before dinner we decided to make a pit stop at the ice cream store. If you're ever in Tarrytown I recommend the black raspberry. We also asked the employees if they could direct us to the lighthouse but neither one of them had heard of it. Ah youth!
We cut through the construction (no worries, we were not trespassing or otherwise lawbreaking) and reached a dead end, literally. No lighthouse in sight, just more construction and abandoned warehouses. Between the ice cream and dead end we added 30 minutes to our quest.
Husband rechecked the GPS to no avail. I remembered that the lighthouse was in a park but that still didn't help. The next logic we applied was to follow the shoreline. How hard could that be? We knew the lighthouse was just within reach. Hug the shoreline and look for a park.
Yup. Actually, no. Next thing we knew we're at the visitors' entrance to Kykuit and Philipsburg Manor. So we circle back and stalk a woman walking her dog for directions. She was very helpful and gave us the name of the park the lighthouse was in, Kingsland. She also said it was next to the Philipburg Manor train station. We put that into the GPS and thought we were on the right track (ha ha) when we saw signs for the train station. The GPS took us straight to the park.
But it was not the Kingsland Park, it was the DeVries Park. The signs said for residents only, it was mainly a playground and sports field park, and it was on the wrong side of the railroad tracks. Now into almost an hour of our 10 minute trip, I decided that we were just wasting our time and we headed back from whence we started.
By this time hubby had to use the restroom, and I decided to give it one more shot. We pulled into the visitor lot for Kykuit etc. and luckily it was still open. The reason for stopping there was an off-chance that my aunt, a docent for Kykuit, might be there and we could say hello. End result was that she was not, but hubby did get to use the restroom and I got a couple of cool books in the gift shop. The woman working the gift shop was pretty uppity and unhelpful, just saying, and was not too thrilled to give me specific directions to the lighthouse. She knew exactly where it was, but her directions consisted of go right, then left, then right. Not kidding. There were multiple streets between there and the park so that was like saying just go that way. I guess I annoyed her because I asked her what Philipsburg Manor was. She looked down her nose at me and explained with one eyebrow up the entire time.
Sigh. I love history so I truly wanted to know for a future visit. Oh well, back on the hunt.
We decided to go back to the train station and take another shot from that angle. Lo and behold, there was a tiny sign for the lighthouse and Kingsland Point Park. We drove down the shady lane and there it was. The sign, that is.
Apologies for the poor picture quality. There was no fog or ghostly apparitions floating by. The a/c was cranked in the car and when we stuck the camera out of the window the lens fogged up.
We had to pay $4.00 to get into the park, but hey, support the local economy. And the gentleman collecting the cash was a riot! (The visitor center lady should take people skills lessons from him.)
It was still beastly hot out when we parked the car. I asked hubby if he was getting out and he said "After all the %^&* we went through to find this thing, you better believe it!" And of course it was a bit of a hike to find it once we got into the park.
The best surprise of all was that we could not get even close to it. The pathway to the lighthouse was padlocked shut. /sarcasm
Maybe some day it will be opened again. In the meantime, I got some from-a-distance pictures for you.
This lighthouse is also known as the Sleepy Hollow Lighthouse and Kingsland Point Lighthouse. This lighthouse was originally half a mile
off shore, but over the years debris from a demolished General Motors
factory moved the shoreline a few feet from the lighthouse. If you go to this link you can see an old postcard of the lighthouse from the early twentieth century which shows the lighthouse in its original location.
The link also gives a comprehensive history of the lighthouse's 78 years of operation, which was officially lit in 1883. The lighthouse was decommissioned in 1961 when its light was replaced by the navigation lights installed on the Tappen Zee Bridge. The Hudson River has quite a few lighthouses, some of which I hope to visit in time.
The link also gives a comprehensive history of the lighthouse's 78 years of operation, which was officially lit in 1883. The lighthouse was decommissioned in 1961 when its light was replaced by the navigation lights installed on the Tappen Zee Bridge. The Hudson River has quite a few lighthouses, some of which I hope to visit in time.
This lighthouse was unique to the lower Hudson River lighthouses because it has living quarters for the keeper and his family. The first keeper, Jacob Ackerman, manned the lighthouse until 1904. The last keepers, Richard and Agnes Moreland, were a young couple who lived there for two years. Both of their daughters were born during that time.
In the end, our 10 minute ride took about 90 minutes, but what can you do. The park itself was beautiful, especially the views of the river. Next up, an interesting rock in the park. In the meantime, enjoy some views from the park.
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