OK, sounds great. I guess we can meet at the Beacon Station.
The tickets are in hand. Well okay, actually they’re in the glove compartment of my car. I have Saturday off. The plan is coming together.
Eve, I hope your mother is doing well. If so, I hope you’ll be able to join us. Tickets are still available.
For those of you not joining us on the island, there’s still an opportunity to join us before or after for a meal. Gorgon Heap, are you still interested? Eve? Zebra? Bueller?
I’ll be driving to Beacon and waiting at the train station. There’s a large overpass that crosses over the railroad track. At the bottom of this and to your left there is a parking lot. I’ll be parked there. I drive a black Toyota Camry.
Friedo, I’ve met before and will hopefully recognize. Alto I don’t know, so please post or email me some description.
Sounds good Nemo. How long does it take to get from the Beacon station to the tour? There are trains on 10/25 that arrive 10:21, 11:17, and 12:17, but that last one is probably at least 17 minutes too late.
Also, email me if you want my cell number for extra planning.
I was told we should arrive at the landing by 11:30, so the 11:17 train should be the best choice (unless we want to have a meal first). I was also told the boat ride takes half an hour, which seems unlikely to me. The island is hardly any distance from Beacon. However, apparently there are barricades under the water to prevent unauthorized boats from landing on the island. Maybe it takes awhile to navigate through them. (Edifying culture and and death defying adventure all in one - there’s value for your entertainment dollar.)
Definitely can’t make it–Mom’s back in the hospital.
Sorry to hear that, Eve.
Our schedule is completely clear this weekend, so if y’all want to make a plan, we can join you, though I’m thinking “after” would be best, because if we plan anything before the event, you’ll probably end up suddenly realizing you are late or some such.
After your tour, we would love to meet you guys for a meal and some friendly chatting. If you are looking to stay on that side of the river, however, I think you someone else should suggest something, as we have little opportunity to go go galavanting around there and don’t know the area all that well.
[sub]Sheesh. That’s what I get for typing quickly during lunch.[/sub]
I agree - eating after the tour is definately the way to go. Do you guys know any good places to eat in the area?
Well, as I said, we don’t know a lot on that side of the river. On our side, we know a few nice places (an Italian retaurant we took Cajun Man and DrMatrix once stands out in my mind) but I don’t know how much farther y’all are looking to travel.
For that matter, I’m not even really sure how far north Beacon is from the Bear Mountain Bridge, where we would cross.
friedo is all set for tomorrow. Hooray!
PS: Alto, I got your email, but I accidentally deleted it before I replied. I will be on the same train as you.
Gorgon, if you email me your phone number, we can call tomorrow and see if we can set up a convenient place to meet for a meal.
Just a reminder that you are all obligated to take photos and post them where I can look at them. Also write descriptions of the place in prose if possible.
Jealously yours,
chikki
racinchikki, don’t worry. I’m bringing my digital camera and will have photos up on the interweb thingy the same day. I’m also bringing my fancy camera (Mamiya 645 (with all sorts of neato lenses). 
) and will scan the negs when I get a chance to process them.
Well, I’m stupid. I brought my digital camera but I forgot the battery.
:smack:
But I got a whole bunch of regular pictures with my Mamiya, in glorious BLACK AND WHITE! I promise to post them as soon as I process the film and scan the negatives.
It was a great tour! We got to go around to the different parts of the island (there’s more than one building.) And we got to wear hard hats! We also met a pair of rogue kayakers, one capsized and near hypothermic, who attempted an unauthorized visit to the island and had to be rescued by the staff. They rode back on the boat we took from Beacon Station, but I don’t know if they got in trouble or not. The Bannerman people do not take kindly to unauthorized visitors, as there are many DANGEROUS hazards about.
Alas, we were not allowed inside the actual castle, as the guts long since burned away and it’s not safe in there. Oh well.
Special thanks to Mr. Nemo, who was nice enough to alert the Doper community about this neat stuff.
Cool ruins and a fine day spent with two fine people. A good time was had by all. Except the kayaker who almost drowned, probably got arrested, and worst of all, ended up looking like a dork in front of his girlfriend.