I had the pleasure of visiting the United States Military Academy, West Point (originally under the command of Benedict Arnold), a few weeks ago. The Academy adjusts its entrance acceptance numbers each year to keep the total attendance at 4,000 students. The setting is the west bank of the Hudson about 50 miles north of New York City, and it covers about 16,000 acres. The occasion was my niece’s wedding, and she had picked the Thayer Hotel inside of West Point for their marriage ceremony. The family reserved a block of rooms and we stayed there for two nights. The Thayer is open to the public and anyone can stay there but you must have a picture ID to gain entrance to West Point.

An excerpt from the Thayer’s website:
“Set on a hilltop overlooking the majestic Hudson River, The Thayer Hotel at West Point is a national historic landmark located in the heart of the Hudson Valley NY. With beautiful vistas, 151 luxury guest rooms, 10 meetings rooms, and fine dining, The Thayer Hotel at West Point is an ideal destination for a vacation, business meeting, or elegant wedding.”

There’s plenty to see and do there, with guided tours, a visitor’s center, a museum, gift shops, the graveyard with many recognizable neams (Gen. George Custer for one), etc.

The first night we stayed there (the day of the Army/Air Force football game) I went out back after dinner to the area where the wedding would be held. It was a beautiful setting overlooking the Hudson. It was October and the leaves had turned and it was a gorgeous fall afternoon. (Click on the above hotel link and you can see the view for yourself.) As I was admiring the terrific view my brother walked out and struck up a conversation with a gentleman that was relaxing on a bench overlooking the river. The stranger was dressed in a suit, jacket unbuttoned, smoking a cigar and enjoying the scenery. My brother later reported that he was the hotel owner. The gent was also there the following day during my niece’s wedding, which was held outside. He sat off to the side at a distance and watched the wedding and again was enjoying one of his cigars. That night he approached my brother (the father of the bride) and congratulated him and expressed his hopes that my brother was pleased with the arrangements.

How nice to know that in this day and age there are still people who take the time to relax and to express some simple good wishes. It might have just been good PR, but then again it wasn’t required. I prefer to think that it was an extension of the man’s general attitude. His success was apparent, but was probably at least partially the result of his positive and amiable Attitude.

Now I’m not going to recommend that anyone take up cigar smoking; far from it. But I will say that if you relax, stop and smell a rose or two, have a little quiet time to yourself, and enjoy some beautiful scenery that most of us have at least occasional access to - then I’m guessing your life will be better off for it.

I can’t offer you a flower to smell, but I can offer a view of ‘Blossom #1‘.