Beacon to Newburgh's Washington's Headquarters, 7-8 miles

Please read the entire trip description 3 or 4 times before responding or asking questions. Please, please, please do not rsvp for this walk unless you intend to come. Please change your RSVP as soon as you know you can't attend after all, but no later than Wed. Aug. 26, to allow others to take your place. Meet at the Clock at 8:40 to take the 8:56am train from Grand Central to Beacon, (Senior one way off peak fare is $12.50, adult is $18.50; The bus from Newburgh to Beacon is $1.00) Please look for me on the Beacon platform. Do not leave the platform. Use the restroom on the train, no later than 3 stops prior so you don't miss disembarking at Beacon. There are no restrooms at the Beacon station. Drivers, please let me know if you will be on the northbound station at 10:30am. We'll walk to Newburgh over the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge. We'll make our way to Thomas Edison's second site in New York State to be electrified, a former woolen mill, now a transformer station, (the first was a Pearl Street, Manhattan shirtwaist factory). We'll also stop at the Ritz theater, where Desi and Lucy got their start! The Beacon Public Library has great bathrooms and wonderful views of the Hudson. There's a historic church nearby. This is where we will eat lunch. Onward to Washington's Headquarters State Historic Site, also called Hasbrouck House, overlooking the Hudson River. George Washington lived there while he was in command of the Continental Army during the final year of the American Revolutionary War; it had the longest tenure as his headquarters of any place he had used. In 1961 the house was designated a state historic site. It is also the oldest house in the city of Newburgh, and the first property acquired and preserved by any U.S. state for historic reasons. The museum recently received a grant to restore the house, and therefore it will be closed. Once at the Headquarters and Museum we'll divide into 2 groups of 20 and take turns being guided around the exterior of the house, and through the tower. We will view a slide show of paintings inside the house. The staff will do there best to make the tour as interesting as possible to compensate for not being able to enter the house. There is a $5. charge for the group tour. Please bring exact change. Highly recommend the Wikipedia article on Newburgh. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newburgh,NewYork on Washington's Headquarters: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington%27sHeadquartersStateHistoricSite We'll return to Beacon train station via the 3:45pm (or earlier) Liberty and Broadway $1.00 bus ride from Newburgh to Beacon Train Station in time for the 4:09 train to Grand Central, arriving at Grand Central at 5:51 pm. Please note these times are approximate and we may end up taking a later train depending on our progress through the walk. We will take a bus from Liberty and Broadway to return to Beacon train station. If you must be back in New York by a certain time you may want to consider a different event. Alternatively, you can walk or take an Uber back to Beacon. Trains leave Beacon for Grand Central approximately every hour and arrive in Grand Central approximately 90-120 minutes later. Please bring hat, sunscreen, lunch, snacks and at least 2 liters of water. Steady rain will postpone but we go in light intermittent rain. Ellen Fleishman, 917 734 7813