It's a Mule Ma'am

Picking up on our New York trip where we left off yesterday… After two *wonderful* days in New York City, we headed north to the Hudson River Valley.  It was a beautiful drive!

Honey booked our rooms at a Bed and Breakfast called the Pig Hill Inn. It was PERFECT! The B&B was located on the *cutest street* of the most adorable little town. The fall leaves were changing and the air was crisp, it was the best way to tumble into fall.

The town of Cold Spring was so perfectly *quaint*, we loved exploring it! We were about a 20 minute drive from West Point and the drive was so beautiful we all looked forward to making it each day. The campus itself is certainly a *masterpiece*! Surrounded in history, it is something spectacular! We enjoyed letting Honey show us around and share some of his stories with of his years spent at West Point! Here are some pictures of what we saw and did during our visit there:

Our home away from home, the Pig Hill Inn, in Cold Spring NY:
  

On the front steps of the Pig Hill Inn:

  
The West Point Campus:




The beautiful chapel:

The barracks where 4000 cadets live:

 

Lunch Break!

Touring the campus and visiting Trophy Point:

 

 

After a day of seeing the campus we had some time to enjoy Cold Spring, where we were staying and then had a delicious dinner in a local french restaurant:

There was still a lot more for us to see on campus so the next day we continued our tour with Honey as our guide. There was just so much to see and we enjoyed taking it all in! We all found the cemetery very interesting. We were very surprised to find an ancestor there! (Would love to do more research on that one...)

 

Watching the parachute team practice for their jumps on GAME DAY!

That night Honey and I attended a reunion-related social event. It was *so fun* to catch up with his classmates. Some we had seen at our wedding a year and a half ago, and others Honey had not seen in many years. We both had such a great time! 

 

We knew that Baby Parker was having a *super fun* time with Twinkle and Bing back at the Pig Hill Inn. We even found out that he spent some time with them by the fireplace in the lobby entertaining all the guests! By the time we came back he was fast asleep!

 Saturday was GAME DAY!! And we were in for *quite a treat*!

Parker Bear was ready for his first college football game!

On game day, Every. Single. Cadet. (that's 4000 for those keeping count) all put on their full dress uniform and march in *perfect formation* through the parade field for a "pass and review" in front of the superintendent. (They call this a "parade".) Wow. Talk about perfection! It was incredible to see them marching in such perfect step with each other. This experience is so different from what many other college students are doing on *game day*. It was amazing for me to watch this and think about my very Honey doing this as a young cadet just 10 years before!

Mommy and Baby Parker watching the "parade" (Daddy stood with his classmates on the edge of the parade field to cheer on the cadets):

This is what the full dress uniform looks like. Isn't it handsome?! (These two were essentially the head of their class. One was studying Law like Honey did and the other was studying Chinese.)

On the parade field:

After the parade we headed to the mess hall where normally all 4000 cadets eat breakfast, lunch and dinner together. The mess hall was HUGE! I know Honey enjoyed eating there with his family and telling all about being a cadet there!

After lunch we headed to the game. The game was SO much fun! Every time Army scored, they fired the cannon! And the game starts when the jumpers *parachute in* with the game ball!

 

But one of the best parts was the two *mules* hanging out on the sidelines for everyone to pet!

I didn't realize these were MULES at first and when I walked up to this nice, young cowboy from Montana I said:

"I can't believe you're riding a donkey!"

"It's a mule, ma'am", he replied.

"Oh", I said. "I guess I don't really know the difference".

"It's a cross between a horse and a donkey, ma'am", he explained.

"Oh, so it's a lot smarter than a donkey then isn't it" I asked. 

"Yes, ma'am, it is", he said.

We then proceeded to have a long conversation about where he was from (Montana) the working farm his family keeps out there, his brothers (three) that are still in Montana helping his dad run the farm and that he was the only one who went to West Point. 

I hope I made up for my *grave mistake*!

Honey who wasn't there when I called the mule a donkey couldn't believe I had said that! Apparently it's a big no-no to call their mules "donkey's". Oops!

Even though Army lost, we had a great time at the game and had a lovely walk around campus afterwards.

The next morning we took our time at breakfast, then spent some more time enjoying the quaint town of Cold Spring and then headed to the airport.

In the sunny breakfast room at the Pig Hill Inn:

One last pic of the beautiful leaves and my handsome Honey! Happy 10-year-reunion sweetheart!!

What a FABULOUS trip to a beautiful and historical place! I already can't wait to go back for the 20-year reunion!