Dusty Penguin: Westpoint Sunday

The wedding was Saturday morning, followed by the dinner, and ending with sending off the bride and groom in a white Jaguar with a cloud of bubbles being blown at them! After saying goodbye to everyone, we spent the late afternoon and evening relaxing in our room, reading, watching TV, and sleeping (again)! (I forgot to mention that after the Cadet for a Day on Friday we thought about taking the pay-for tour of Westpoint, but decided we'd already seen most of it. So we went to the museum instead and were there until it closed). Late Saturday evening when we started getting hungry after the delicious and filling wedding dinner, we discovered that the eating places on base had all closed, so it was back to the Highland McDs.

Sunday a.m. the father of the bride, Harry, invited everyone who had stayed overnight to get together for an informal worship service at the Thayer Hotel. Far more guests attended than he had expected, and the hotel staff kept bringing in more chairs. I have to admit that I spend the entire service with tears flowing down my face. The moment the service began, I was transported back to our first days, weeks, and years in The Gambia, when Sunday church was held in his living room, and we were seated then on wooden benches and living room furniture. This service was informal, as were those, with prayer, scripture, singing, and close fellowship. He told me after the service, that wave after wave of memories from The Gambia were washing over him as well. It was a very special time, and we were reminded from the word of verse after verse that mentions His steadfast love and faithfulness. Harry did a bit of a word study on steadfast love.

After the service we decided to drive/walk back around the Military Academy to take pictures, since we hadn't taken any on the other days. We had a good time remembering several of the events of the Cadet for a day. We also discovered a nice trail that runs along the Hudson and hiked it. After that we drove back home, unpacked, and went to bed! I'm not going to post too many pictures, because we have over 100, and I won't try to label them all, as I can't remember what all the places are. But this will give you an idea of how beautiful all the old stone buildings are.

This is the sign for the engineering building.

Finding myself at the wrong end of the cannon....

This is called Roman Battery and is a Revolutionary War battery located on Constitution Island just across from Westpoint. This island was the home of the sisters who wrote Jesus Loves Me. They were taken over by boat to the military academy to teach Bible classes to the cadets.

Called the "Million Dollar View", this photo is taken from Trophy Point. All around the point are plaques narrating the history of the Revolutionary War and other wars.

These strange green objects surrounded the memorial for the Civil War. They are cannons placed with the muzzle in the ground to remind all who see them that Americans should never again fire upon American. Very poignant.

This is a portion of the chain that was forged during the Revolutionary War to go from Westpoint to Constitution Island to keep ships from passing up the Hudson.

Jeremiah tells us that this statue of MacArthur is of him looking for the library (he learned that on his previous visit to Westpoint). Apparently it took MacArthur 5 years to get through Westpoint because he couldn't find the library. It serves as a reminder to cadets to never give up.

Westpoint Chapel seen above the buildings and courtyard where we did much of our Cadet for a Day practice.

The well-known Cadet Oath is engraved into marble here and is surrounded by a large number of engraved plaques with famous quotes about honor and integrity. This was one of our favorite spots.