The Saugerties Lighthouse

Our next stop on our lighthouse tour was the Saugerties Lighthouse.   You have to really want to find this lighthouse and the directions we had were sketchy but after some wandering around, we found a small parking lot where a couple cars were parked.  There was a large sign that identified the path to the lighthouse.  We parked the truck and started the short half-mile hike to the lighthouse.  This was Mary's first official hike since her knee surgery in January.
 

It was a nice little hike as it was pretty level walking.  There were some muddy spots because of all the rain we've been having but there were also a lot of boardwalks to keep us out of the muck.

This was the scene across the river but we don't know what we are looking at.  Eventually we ran out of boardwalk and hiked through sand for quite awhile.

Then we were back on a boardwalk to take us to the lighthouse.

Lee is at the bottom of a ramp that leads to the Saugerties Lighthouse.

The Saugerties Lighthouse was established in 1835.  It was automated and destaffed in 1954 and eventually replaced by a light atop a pipe structure.  In 1990 it was reactivated and is currently operational.

 The Saugerties Lighthouse

http://www.saugertieslighthouse.com/

This lighthouse now offers overnight Bed & Breakfast accommodations, public tours and special events.  It is furnished as it may have looked in the early 20th century, the Lighthouse contains a small museum, gift shop, parlor, kitchen, keepers’ quarters, and two guest bedrooms. It is only open on weekends, however, so we had to be content to see the outside of this lighthouse. 

There is a nice deck surrounding the lighthouse with even a picnic area in the back.  

We aren't sure of the significance of this bell.

We met a couple from New York with a dog called Ozzie.  Ozzie carried a stick around in his mouth and just waited for someone to take it from him and toss it so he could run and catch it.  He loved being in the water.

Ozzie carrying his stick back to his owner.

Lee took some pictures of the Barn Swallows that we housed in the Martin House near the lighthouse.  The parents were feeding a couple of baby birds who kept sticking their heads out of the birdhouse.  

This plant looks like Queen Anne's Lace but it was on a tree so I'm not sure that is what it is.

We are almost back to the parking area where there was more muddy areas that we had to hike through. We are going to take a little side trip into Saugerties to see the Cantine Dam Waterfall.