Tuesday, 21st April 2009 – A Memorable Four Hours in Albany

At South Station, the station announcer asked us to assemble at the information desk, and from there we were led out to a bus: yes, a bus; the grandly-named 'Lake Shore Limited' is a bus on Tuesdays; sic transit gloria mundi (I usually just say 'stgm'). There are redeeming virtues, however: the bus is modern, gets there in half the time (Amtrak has to use the freight lines, so operates at very restricted speeds), and has on-board WiFi. I'm checking my emails out on the Massachusetts Turnpike when I get a phone call from London: I feel like a true international jet-setter. And I am somewhat mollified by the presence of a genuine American train conductor in a genuine American train conductor's hat. The bus is taking us to Albany, the capital of New York, where the real 'Lake Shore Limited' will start today. I guess it's called the 'Lake Shore Limited' because it runs along the banks of Lake Eyrie, through New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio before turning north through Illinois to Chicago; and because it doesn't stop very often.

Actually, it turns out, it's not taking us to Albany at all, it's taking us to a place just across the Hudson River, called Rensselaer. Because it's so fast, we have a lot of time to sit in Rensselaer station. The slim grey-haired lady who sat opposite me on the bus sits opposite me in the coffee shop. I decide I am either going to get my face slapped or take a walk. Since I have already deduced, from a sneak-peak at her reading material, that she is a nun in mufti, I check my bags and opt for the walk.

The Albany skyline is quite attractive, so I walk towards the river for a better look. I spot a big navy ship moored on the other side, and head towards that.

And then the most magic thing happens. I spot a sailing boat moored on this side of the river, and, as I get closer, I notice its name: it's the 'Clearwater'. Could it possibly be …

I had this friend in New York thirty-odd years ago; more of a colleague, really. We got on famously. She even visited us in London from time-to-time. She lived on the Upper-Westside of Manhattan, and one weekend she insisted on taking me off to save the planet (it may actually have been one of the very first trendy, middle-class planet-saving events in history, or at least my history). By way of compensation, she promised I would meet Pete Seeger, one of my heroes. We were to go on board his sailing boat, by name the 'Clearwater', moored on the Hudson, near where she lived, and sign up to join the 'Clearwater crew', tasked with saving, if not the planet, at least the little bit of water on it which flowed down the Hudson. And we did, and I, briefly, got to shake hands with the great man.

Could it possibly be … ? Amazingly, yes it was. A boat I had actually been on, with a great friend, half-a-life ago. The crew member I spoke to told me it now mostly did educational work with middle school children. He also told me that this May is not only its fortieth anniversary, it's Pete Seegar's nintieth birthday. I wonder if, when this is publicised, anyone in New York will pause and think of me.

The other ship was a destroyer, DE766, the USS Slater. It appears to be a museum.

When I got back to the station, I just had to share my excitement with someone, so I did a bit of eye-contact stuff and got into conversation with a couple of brothers from Chicago, who had come to Boston for the Marathon (their modesty forced me to drag it out of them, but they did a creditable 3:37). I told them I had joined in at Heartbreak Hill; just to keep my end up. They helped me quite a bit with Chicago. The coffee shop also had free WiFi, so I brought up Google maps of Chicago, and they showed me the sort of places I would enjoy. There is a place with a genuine U-boat on display. I hope I can find it.