Ossining, NY

Some people do not like change.
Or they have a good sense of humor

My final stop on this leg of my journey is Ossining, NY (Ah-si-ning). Until 1901, this village was known as Sing Sing. It changed its name to avoid the stigma of association with Sing Sing Correctional Facility, which is still Ossining's largest employer.

The guard stuck her head out the tower window
and warned me, "no photos on state property".
So I backed up into the street and snapped this.

I needed to do some laundry before I left Lesson Plan for a month. So I asked Joe, at the marina office, about laundry machines. No, they did not have any machines but there is a laundromat just up the hill. And by hill he meant HILL. You see the thing about these villages built along the Hudson River is they are all on a steep hill. I am not talking about a river bank like along the Ohio River, the laundromat is a mile away and 7/8 of that mile is up hill. So I put my laundry bag over my shoulder and schlepped my laundry up the hill to the laundromat. Sometimes, you sometimes meet the most interesting people in laundromats, this time was no exception. I talked with a woman who told me how she just loved this laundromat better that the other one. This one is closer to her home and has more machines so you don't have to wait ...blah blah blah. We were the only two in there and I was only using one machine. She told me all about her latest diet and that she had been eating salad all week and she was having pizza this weekend. I kept trying to read my book, but she was one of those "and one more thing" kind of people. She was quite a character.

The view from halfway down the hill on the way back from
downtown Ossining. Overlooking the marina

After completing my laundry chores, and taking them back to the boat, I decided to go to the post office to mail a birthday card. It was up the hill in the other direction from the laundromat that Joe told me about. So I set off walking. Either way you go you have to go up and over the Metro Train tracks. I no more than crossed the tracks and there was a laundromat. I wished Joe had of told me about this one, it was much closer to the marina, but then I wondered if it was the one the lady had told me about earlier, it did look a lot smaller (I'll find out when I take my sheets to wash in a couple of days). I continued up the hill to find a really neat downtown area. I found an old hardware store in the downtown area and browsed in there for 30 to 40 minutes, didn't need anything but they had a lot of interesting things, some of which had dust on it so thick you could tell it had been there for quite some time (someday somebody will need one of those gadgets). There was a local market. Another store I browsed through. I didn't need any groceries now, but I had to see what they had for when we come back in July.

There were a lot of school children walking home from school, their last day is June 23.

I passed the high school, a beautiful building. but I am sure its a nightmare for maintenance.

As I got down close to the river, I saw a gathering. At first I thought it was a wedding, but someone told me it was prom. It looked like they were having a grand time.