Visit Henry Hudson's Half Moon in Yonkers

Just in case you didn't know -- next year, 2009, is the 400th anniversary of the discovery of a certain river by a Dutch explorer named Henry Hudson. And an important part of the year-long celebrations from New York City to the upper reaches of the Hudson River Valley is the plank-for-plank replica of Hudson's ship, the Half Moon.

The Half Moon is now docked at The Pier in Yonkers, and will stay there for two weeks. Students from schools throughout Westchester take part in educational programs on the boat, to learn what it was like to live and work in the early 1600s, including the life of a sailor aboard Henry Hudson's ship of discovery during the week. And on weekends, the Half Moon is open for public tours. Remember to watch your head when you go below deck -- people were a lot shorter in the 1600s than we are today.

The original ship, called the "Halve Maen," in Dutch, was commissioned in 1609 for the Dutch East India Company, which hired an Englishman, Henry Hudson, to find a passageway between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. He thought he had found it when he sailed up the river that was later named for him. His mistake -- our history.

The Half Moon is just one of hundreds of activities, festivities and celebrations for the Quadricentennial of Henry Hudson's discovery. Check the ExploreNY400 website regularly for updates so you can start planning now.

Hudson claimed the area for his Dutch employers, and soon Dutch farmers, cattle ranchers and fur traders began arriving to settle the Hudson Valley. Hudson's voyage here in 1609 was 10 years before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock.

The Half Moon replica was built in Albany, the New York State capital city on the shores of the the Hudson River. It is 85 feet long. Can you imagine sailing across the Atlantic into the unknown today in an 85-foot wooden boat, with no GPS, no iPod, no credit cards, no ice for the afternoon social hour and no balcony to enjoy it on?

German Alps Festival at Hunter Mountain This Weekend

Beer, bratwurst and more. So grab your lederhosen and head for the annual German Alps Festival at Hunter Mountain the weekend of August 9-10.

Entertainment includes 16-time Grammy award winner Jimmy Sturr and his Orchestra, plus bands from Bavaria, like the Enzian Band pictured here, plus performers of the famous folk dance Schuhplattler. The festival also features German-American food -- and beer -- and plenty of vendors offering more than just cuckoo clocks, plus activities for the entire familly.

There's also the chance to win two round-trip tickets to Germany courtesy of Air Berlin, and fireworks on Sunday evening. And, of course, you can take the chair lift to the top of the mountain for picture postcard views of the Hudson Valley and Catskill Mountains.

Okay, I admit it. I have a special fondness for Hunter Mountain, where I learned to ski and have hiked with and without a backpack, and for Bavaria, where my mother was born.

But I also love Scotland and bagpipes and Tartan plaids and single malts. And that's later in August, the weekend of the 16-17 -- for Hunter Mountain's International Celtic Festival.

Summer festivals are a great reason to visit the Hudson Valley!

Wounded Soldiers and Marines go Camping

If there is something that Soldiers and Marines are good at, it is leading from the front and working as a team. These ideals will be put to test when visiting Wounded Warriors are paired up one-on-one basis with STRIDE Youth Athletes for a Wounded Warrior Fall Family Retreat at Moreau State Park in Glens Falls in September.

STRIDE also has Wounded Warrior ski and snowboard programs. The photo you see here is from one of those this past winter.

Glens Falls really is in the Adirondaks, but its water feeds into the Hudson River and therefore the Hudson Valley. More importantly, this is such a worthwhile program that it should be mentioned here -- and supported -- including by Hudson Valley businesses who can contribute money as sponsors, or products such as steaks and sleeping bags that the Wounded Warriors, their spouses and their kids, will need for this weekend.

STRIDE is a unique program, since it unites Soldiers, Marines and other Veterans who have sustained injuries and/or disabilities with some of STRIDE’s youth athletes who also have special needs. So, it's theraputic and supportive for both sides.

It is a first of its kind program nationwide. Each soldier, along with their family members ‘volunteers’ to mentor a STRIDE youth athlete with a similar disability for a weekend of learning together. Soldiers and children are introduced via email and ‘pen-pal’ before camping together, so by the time the event is held, it's more like an extended family than a group of strangers.

STRIDE has been taking youths with special needs into the woods of New York State Parks for more than two decades. The success of that program, plus the growing population of U. S. Military members returning from deployment with permanent injuries, prompted them to add this type of camping event.

Help Clean up The Hudson River

Join Riverkeeper, TEVA Footwear and Keep Rockland Beautiful this Saturday, July 26th, to help get the junk out of the water and away from the beautiful shores of the Hudson River.

There are two ways you can help -- actually three, if you count making a donation to Riverkeeper, the #1 protector of our beautiful Hudson River.

Grab a trash bag or two and meet at the Piermont Pier in Piermont for a 10:30 a.m. start to pick up trash around the pier and nearby, too. To sign up, contact Heartie Look -- what a great name! -- at hlook@riverkeeper.org.

If you have a kayak or a canoe, you can help clean up the river while you paddle from Nyack to Piermont. This mid-river clean-up starts at Nyack's Memorial Park at 9 a.m. Contact Manny Polloni from American Terrain Outdoors Store to sign-up -- manny@americanterrain.com.

The Hudson River is the heart and soul of the Hudson Valley. Help keep it clean. See you there?

African-American Food Festival

Philipsburg Manor's third annual African-American Foodways Festival is being held on Sunday, June 27th, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., at the historic farm. The event is in conjunction with Stone Barns Center for Food & Agriculture, and will feature West African, West Indian, and colonial American foods.

You'll learn about okra, beans and other leafy greens -- how they were prepared in the 1600s, and the important role of food in the culture of the Hudson Valley. There also will be dance performances and children's activities.

Events are being held in both places, so be sure to take advantage of the free shuttle that runs between the two sites all day -- between Philipsburg Manor and Stone Barns.

Food and history -- two great reasons to visit the Hudson Valley.

Fireworks at the Bellayre Music Festival

Renowned Irish tenor Ronan Tynan teams with the Festival Orchestra to open the 2008 Belleayre Music Festival on Saturday, July 5 at 8 p.m. A gala fireworks display follows the concert.

Tynan is best known as a member of the Three Irish Tenors. He left the group in 2004 to go solo. The Belleayre concert program features a memorable mix of traditional classics, Irish melodies and Broadway and pop favorites, including, of course, music appropriate to the Fourth of July weekend celebration.

At the personal invitation of Nancy Reagan, he performed "Amazing Grace" and "Ave Maria" at the 2004 state funeral of former U.S. President Ronald Reagan at the Washington National Cathedral, which was viewed by an international television audience of more than 35 million. He has also is well known to New Yorkers for his performances of "God Bless America" during the seventh-inning stretch at Yankee Stadium and for singing at numerous benefits and memorial services for New York City firefighters and police officers killed on September 11, 2001.

In addition to a glorious, inspiring voice, Tynan's personal story is an inspration, as well. Following a car accident when he was 20, Tynan's legs had to be amputated below the knee. Within a year, he was winning gold medals in the Paralympics. Between 1981 and 1984, he earned 18 gold medals and 14 world records - nine of which he still holds.

The Bellayre Music Festival has conceerts all summer. The schedule includes legendary Beach Boy Brian Wilson - The Hits Tour, on Saturday, July 12.

Summer music concerts by international stars. Definitely a reason to visit the Hudson Valley.

Award Winning Hudson Valley Wines

The Hudson Valley Wine Competition has produced some winners to sip and savor.

These wineries are Gold Medal winners --

• Millbrook Vineyards and Winery was the top winner, for its 2006 Cabernet Franc. This fragrant red received awards for Best in Class, Best in Show, and Best Hudson Valley Wine.


• Benmarl Winery, for its 2007 Seyval. Benmarl also won Best of Class and Best White Hybrid for this light, white that's perfect for summer.


• Millbrook also garnered gold for its 2007 Tokai Fruilano, which named Best of Class and Best White Vinifera.


• Adair Vineyards received the award for Best Fruit Wine for its 2007 Peche.

Grapes have been growing in the Hudson Valley since 1677, when French Huegonots planted the vines they brought with them from Europe. That means the Hudson Valley has been producing wine for a couple of hundred years more than California.

Hudson Valley wines -- yet another reason to visit the Hudson Valley.

Visit the West Point Museum

The West Point Museum contains one of the world's largest collections of weapons, flags, uniforms and other military artifacts, from ancient Egypt and Roman times through today. An excellent reason to visit the Hudson Valley.

Look for items from some of the most famous graduates of the United States Military Academy, which is the official name of West Point, including the generals

• Dwight David Eisenhower,
• George S. Patton,
• Robert E. Lee,
• William Tecumseh Sherman.

There is an exhibit of items from the NASA space program, and sections on Native American weaponry, Revolutionary War flintlocks, even a 1916 Dodge Brothers car used by officers in World War I.

The West Point Museum is open daily.

West Point is one of the most famous and most popular sites to visit in the Hudson Valley.

I LOVE NEW YORK

The logo that started it all is back. The iconic "I LOVE NY" campaign has gotten a facelift and new budget sure to bring more tourists to visit the Hudson Valley.

"I LOVE NY' is one of the world's most well-known, signature brands, copied by hundreds of other cities and states.

The new advertising and marketing campaign is expected to help increase New York State tourism from 155 million visitors in 2006 to 200 million by 2020, and boost direct tourism spending to $60 billion annually.

Tourism in New York State supports more than 740,000 jobs, which does not include the souvenir makers who will be churning out zillions of "I LOVE NY" t-shirts, coffee cups, refrigerator magnets, and other chotchkes.

The original "I LOVE NY' campaign was launched 31 years ago.

Here's a tidbit I bet you didn't know -- the slogan was coined by John Dyson, when he was commissioner of the New York State Department of Agriculture and Commerce. Today, Dyson owns Millbrook Vineyards and Winery in the Hudson Valley.

I love New York. I love the Hudson Valley, too.