The Infamous Walking Bridge

Finally! A warm, sunny day in the Poughkeepsie, New York! You know what this means...time to get out on the bridge! The Walkway Over the Hudson has been one of the big name places to see when you come to Poughkeepsie for the last couple of years, and for good reason too. The walkway is the largest suspended walkway in the world...pretty impressive for such a small town.

The bridge, situated over the Hudson River is beautiful. It allows visitors to see the surrounding town (including Marist College), the amazing scenery, and of course the Hudson River. The bridge, 1.5 miles in each direction, is the perfect place for walkers, joggers, bike riders, scooter riders, dog walkers, everyone. When you get up there, you will see this collection of people enjoying the gorgeous scenery.

As you traverse across the Walkway Over the Hudson, there are plaques to read about the wildlife in the area, historic Poughkeepsie, its original use as a train bridge, etc. There is also a food truck at the beginning of the bridge so you can get food and drinks for your walk or after you finish your run. If, as a Poughkeepsie resident, you haven't been to the bridge, I highly encourage everyone to go. And since it's free, there's no reason not to make time to visit.

Here are some additional fun facts about the Walkway from their brochure:

• At 6,767 feet Walkway Over the Hudson State Historic Park is the world's longest, elevated pedestrian bridge. 
• The Walkway soars 212 feet above the Hudson River and continues 130 feet below the river's surface to compacted gravel. 
• Walkway State Park's deck is comprised of 973 prefabricated concrete panels, each weighing up to 15 tons.
• A series of LED-filled tubes provide lighting for occasional night-time use. More than 81,000 light-emitting diodes use less than $1.80 an hour of electricity. 
• It's estimated that nearly 1 million rivets are used to hold the 20,000 tons of steel together. Each of the 4 river piers contains 40,000 tons of timber, stone and concrete. 

The Red Fox Eatery

As many Marist students have noticed, the corner restaurant of the strip mall by campus deli doesn't stay occupied for long. Every few months the current eatery gets shut down: Casablanca Cafe, some wrap place, and now...The Red Fox Eatery. Trust me, I was as skeptical about it as the next person. Some would even say that the place was cursed the business was so bad. However, I decided that if the new owners were considerate enough to name it after our school, I at least owed it to them to try their new place. Let me tell you, one of the best food decisions I have made this year.

The Red Fox Eatery is one of the high scale deli's that everyone searches New York City high and low for. The only difference...you aren't paying NYC prices, you're paying perfect college prices (about $6.00 for a high quality sandwich/wrap). There is also an extremely extensive menu that allows everyone to find something that they like.

The menu offers hot sandwich options, deli meat sandwiches, specialty sandwiches, salads, and a wide selection of drinks, including hot chocolate and coffee. They also offer dessert for customers with a sweet tooth. Some options include various fruit smoothies, candy and chip options, and--the creme de la creme--Cheesecake Factory cheesecake. Yes, you read that right...Cheesecake Factory cheesecake.

The service is fantastic with friendly people taking your order and bringing the food directly to your table. Throughout the course of your time there, they will ask you how things are going and if the food you have ordered is good. I have been there multiple times this semester and every time I go, they know my face and remember me. I think that this has a lot to say about a company and their interest in customer satisfaction.

It is evident upon walking into the restaurant that it is clean and a place for the college students to gather. On each table there is a stack of Marist's magazine, The Circle, for students to read as they eat their lunch or have a smoothie. The food is also available for take-out if you're a college student on the run or, conveniently, they deliver as long as the order is higher than $20. If you haven't checked this place out, I HIGHLY suggest getting over there and having a great meal!

The Roosevelt Theater

Up Route 9, North of Marist College, there is a small movie theater: The Roosevelt.  If you don't know that it's there, the chances of driving right by it are pretty high. It's set back into the landscape a bit, there is no big flashy sign with neon lights, and it's pretty mundane. The building itself is old and nothing remarkable...quite different from the way modern movie theaters look. However, as many Marist students may know, if you are looking for a reasonably priced movie, this is definitely the place to go!

Today, general movie tickets at my hometown movie theater are usually around $10.50 (upwards of $13.00 for 3D)...almost as much as I'm going to wind up paying to buy and own the movie when it comes out on DVD. This makes me pretty upset, and from what I've heard from friends, there isn't anyone who is really pleased with the price of movies these days. But honestly, what's our other option? There isn't one. Or so people who don't know about The Roosevelt think.

This theater offers prices that actually keep the joy in seeing a movie. Adults pay $7.50, children pay $5.00 (as do seniors). If you are a student with a valid college ID (hint hint Marist community) the tickets are dropped $6.00. This has just saved you $4.50...which as a college student can get you pretty far, it's two cab rides or a meal. You can't beat that.

 

However, these low prices do mean that your viewing experience may be a bit diminished from what you are used to. The tickets that you receive look like someone printed them off of a computer at home...not really the most up-to-date tickets. The theater is, as I said, old which shows as soon as you walk in; the lobby and theaters are a little out-dated. The seats and walls of the theater are definitely old but, luckily, really comfortable still. And if you are worried about annoying pre-show commercials, ads, or previews...worry no longer! The Roosevelt has silent advertisements while you wait for movie to come on (most of them look like photographs of business cards) and they only show one movie preview before the movie starts. This is an added benefit to only paying $6.00 for a ticket. However, it does mean that the common, "It's okay if we're late! They still need to show the previews!" is no longer applicable...trust me...I've made this mistake before.

The Roosevelt also offers a movie theater that is not likely to be packed wall to wall. Although the theater space is small, in my four years of seeing movies there, I have never once experienced a packed movie theater. I think the closest it ever got was half full, still leaving plenty of seats to pick from.

So, if you can get over the outdated visuals of the theater, you are guaranteed to have a quiet, pleasant movie viewing experience for a fantastic price. I would strongly recommend this to anyone who, like myself, has had enough of overpaying to see a movie.

For a list of their movie times you can visit their website: http://www.fandango.com/rooseveltcinemas_aajtl/theaterpage