2495 Hilly Highway, Super Drummer

Sunday, July 12, 2009

American journalism thrives on exploring conflicts, often to the exclusion of ideas.

----------------------------

After the hawk-watching broke up yesterday, I headed for Cornwall-on-Hudson, a village on the river just north of West Point. There was a bellydance show there last night, and I figured since I was in the area....

I found the location easily enough. Given West Point and the proximity to N. New Jersey and The City, I expected the area to be very built up. It wasn't. It was little villages tucked into the mountains, and gas stations were few and far between. I was going to need gas before I headed home, and I was afraid they'd be closed by late evening, so I kept on through the village headed south, to find a gas station.

Ack! The next hour was panic-filled. I found nothing on routes 218 or 9 but government reservation (West Point land), woods, and mountains. No towns, no people, no one to ask.

However, in the midst of my panic, I did find something wonderful. Remember this photo from my river tour last month? That cut in the side of the mountain (click to enlarge) is a road.
I found myself on that road yesterday, entirely by accident. It's route 218. It's windy (as in curvy) and windy (as in getting buffeted around by fast-moving air), so it's closed in the winter. There's only one viewing spot where you can pull the car off the road, and the spot is large enough for only two cars at a time. The following photos are taken from that spot.

Looking south. The West Point campus is just beyond that mount. The straight fill is railroad tracks.
Looking north. The island to the left in the following photo is Bannerman's Island - the one with the castle ruins. In the far distance is (probably) the Newburgh-Beacon bridge. The leaves are blurry because they were whipping in the wind. So was I.
Looking south-east. The village is probably Cold Spring

The road, looking north.
Pretty cool, eh?

I finally found a gas station, and got to the dance show a half-hour after it started. I stayed for about 20 minutes and then left. I would have liked to have stayed a lot longer, but the room was very dim, and the only lights were small bulbs (like Christmas tree lights) strung on the backdrop, behind the performers. Bad bad bad plan. The eyestrain was giving me a headache. I had to leave.

The dancers were good, but the drummer/guitarist was incredible. Mindblowing. I've never seen hands move so fast. He was playing a dumbek with his hands, and then accompanying himself on two deeper drums with his feet.

I'm very sorry that I have forgotten his name, and deleted the email announcement. (If anyone knows for sure, enlighten me in the comments.)
.