Spent a five day "weekend" in the Hudson River Valley, exploring and enjoying the natural beauty of the region and the art and culture that was inspired by that beauty. The Hudson River flows for about 300 miles / 500 km from northern New York state south through Albany and then on to the mouth at New York City. In the early 1800's, while the American northeast was rapidly becoming industrialized and polluted, a group of artists was captivated by the river valley and the low mountains around it (the Catskills and the Adirondacks). Led especially by Thomas Cole and Frederic Church, these painters tried to capture the magnificence of the area in their art. They hoped to share the beauty with people who couldn't see this area themselves, and they hoped to inspire a movement to preserve and protect wild areas like this. For the better part of a century, they enjoyed considerable success and influence, forming the first real school of American Art, now referred ...