Travel Adventures in Upstate New York, Part 11: West Point and Bethel Woods

This is my eleventh post about our travel through upstate New York. I recommend reading the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth posts from the trip before this one. Because I blog about educational travel, I received admission tickets and other benefits for some of the places we visited during our trip. Other places are free for everyone; we paid full price for the rest. This has no bearing on my reviews. If you see any gaps in my narrative, it is because I didn't love a particular attraction, restaurant, or hotel enough to recommend it, regardless of how much I paid or didn't pay.

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West Point and Bethel Woods, New York

When I was planning this trip, I nicknamed Friday, September 12 'War and Peace Day.' We started with the war portion: a visit to the United States Military Academy, West Point. We would be taking a 75-minute bus tour from West Point Tours, which started at the Malek Visitor Center. 

We arrived early in order to check out the West Point Experience exhibit, which allows visitors to walk through the 47-month experience of being a West Point cadet. It's absolutely fascinating. 

Our bus tour took us all around the large, beautiful campus. We made several stops for a photos and a closer look. We were under strict orders to stay close together and not to photograph cadets under any circumstances. Nor could we acknowledge them in any way, nor them us. No casual 'good morning' or 'excuse me' as they squeezed by on a path. It felt strange. 

This is the West Point Cadet Chapel. It is home to the largest pipe organ in the world, with 23,511 individual pipes.  

Such beautiful views from campus. 

This chain was stretched across that water during the Revolutionary War to prevent the British from entering. 

During our tour, we learned all about the life of a cadet. Not surprisingly, it is very strict and extremely regimented. The schedule is grueling and breaks are very rare. There is no time for anything else than being a cadet. It is the complete opposite of the college experience I had. 

Literally every single part of it sounded terrible to me, other than the fact that there is no tuition, you get a stipend for being there, and you have a guaranteed job when you graduate. A job you can't leave for at least 8 years, but a job nonetheless. (After graduation, you're required to serve 5 years of active duty and 3 years in the reserves.)

The dedication, commitment, and determination West Point cadets show is amazing to me. It takes a really unique high school student to choose (and be chosen by) West Point.

The bus tour ended back at the Visitor Center, which is next door to the West Point Museum. It's under construction, but still open for visitors. 

The West Point Museum is the oldest federal museum and dates back to the American Revolution. First used just to train cadets, it opened to the public in 1854. It has exhibits about American warfare, the history of warfare, and the history of West Point. 

I'm pleased to see that cadets are still learning from the items in the museum. 

I screeched to a halt when I saw this. Could it be?!? Over to the right? Or is it just wishful thinking? 

Yes, another moon rock sighting! I would not have guessed that West Point would be on the list of 8 Places to See Moon Rocks. 

After West Point, we headed to the National Purple Heart Hall of Honor. 

I underestimated how much time we'd need there. It's not huge, but it's very well done and it takes some time to see it all. 

  

They give each visitor a stylus for the many touchscreens. So smart! I shudder to think how germy those must be at every other museum. 

There are stations to conduct research and explore the Purple Heart database. 

The stories of many Purple Heart recipients are recorded in video interviews. You can select a person, then follow their story in five installments as you work your way through the museum. We chose a man from California.  

He received two Purple Hearts during his service.

You could spend all day listening to all the stories. 

It was interesting seeing how the award itself has changed over time. 

I highly recommend a visit to the National Purple Heart Hall of Honor. I expected to enjoy the visit and learn a lot, but I had no idea how outstanding the Hall would be.  

With the "war" portion of our day complete, it was time to move on to the "peace" section. We drove for an hour through the beautiful Catskills before arriving at Bethel Woods. 

You may know it as the site of Woodstock in 1969. 

The Museum at Bethel Woods tells the story of the most impactful 3-day festival of all time. 

The museum starts with a look at the years leading up to Woodstock.  

You learn the stories of the festival organizers and the struggles they had...

... and of the attendees, who came in numbers greater than anyone had ever imagined. 

The museum does an outstanding job of portraying the many different experiences people had at (or near) Woodstock. Exhibits look at the musical and cultural impacts of the festival, as well as the effects that the crowds, the food shortages, and the weather had on attendees, performers, and residents in neighboring areas. 

  

I learned so much about Woodstock during our visit. And every bit of it was absolutely fascinating. 

After enjoying everything at the museum, we explored the rest of the grounds, including where the stage was during Woodstock. Can you picture 400,000+ people here?

After a fun day of War and Peace but no lunch, we were eager for a delicious dinner. We found one at The Captain's Table in Monroe. I had a balsamic chicken sandwich and a mango mocktail - so good!

We returned to our hotel for our final night in upstate New York. We had so much fun exploring the region and visiting so many neat places. And we were excited to start the second leg of our trip! I'll tell you all about that tomorrow.