West Point offers a welcome alternative to Woodbury Common
By: The Yank | Published Wednesday, April 28, 2010, 1:45 AM | Updated Friday, September 9, 2011, 9:36 PM
Woodbury Common, Woodbury Common, Woodbury Common. I've come across that name so many times here in
Ireland. Read it in the papers, heard it on the radio, even heard it from my children who heard it from friends of theirs. Woodbury Common is so well known that it often seems as if a visit there is the primary motivation for most Irish people's trips to America.
If you don't know,
Woodbury Common is a huge discount retail park, full of brand name outlets, near
New York City. Over the past few years the combination of the Celtic Tiger's inflated prices and the favorable euro-
dollar exchange rate has turned an American vacation into a shopping bonanza for Irish people. The prices are too good to pass up.
At first Irish shoppers were happy with the prices in
Manhattan at
Macy's and Bloomingdale's, but gradually the more canny among them learned that a trip to
New Jersey or further afield could net even greater benefits. Woodbury Common was one of the 'outside the city' locations that Irish people discovered.
Woodbury Common became so well known that it seemed like people talked about it as if it was just on the outskirts of
Dublin. Everybody here seemed to know about it. Everybody but me.
I didn't know where it was, although gradually I came to understand it was somewhere near Newburgh, NY. A few times I've met people here and when the inevitable "Where do you come from?" question elicited my answer "upstate New York" there was an instant follow up of "Near Woodbury Common?" Sometimes they seem deflated when I responded, "No, and in fact, I've never been there and I'm not really that sure where it is."
Well no more. I was over in
America with the family last week and we stopped off at Woodbury Common (exit 16 on the Thruway if you're interested). Now I know where it is and what it looks like. Sort of.
I drove to Woodbury Common, but I never got out of the car. Everything I now know about Woodbury Common I know thanks to my wife and daughters.
It's very crowded; there are loads of British & Irish people there (some wearing pajamas – Uggh!); the stores have chip & pin devices; it's really nothing special; it's really way too crowded.
That's right. I didn't go to Woodbury Common. Thanks to some excellent planning and a few wise words in my 9-year-old son's ear - he's never a happy shopper - I found somewhere else we could go to spend some time while the women folk shopped.
West Point.
It takes about 25 minutes to drive to West Point from Woodbury Common. That's 25 minutes each way to avoid the fate of walking around crowded stores, waiting for people to try on clothes, etc. I'd have driven 3 hours if I had to.
And West Point's worth seeing. I'd been there back in 1990 and things have changed. You can no longer just drive onto the campus, park the car, hop out and walk around as you could then. September 11 put paid to that. Security today requires you to park and buy tickets for a
bus tour.
The two tickets cost me $21 and truthfully I felt a bit rushed on the tour. I really wanted to walk around more. On the up-side, the woman who was our tour guide was very knowledgeable and enthusiastic about West Point. My son really enjoyed it. He wants to go there when he finishes school.
Would I recommend it? In a heartbeat. Anything beats shopping. I even mentioned to our tour guide that they should offer a longer tour starting at Woodbury Common.
I bet there are many Irish men (and British and others) who would like nothing better than to escape the hellish shopping experience for a bit of military history and beautiful scenery. West Point is your refuge.
Woodbury Common, Woodbury Common, Woodbury Common. I've come across that name so many times here in Ireland. Read it in the papers, heard it on the radio, even heard it from my children who heard it from friends of theirs. Woodbury Common is so well known that it often seems as if a visit there is the primary motivation for most Irish people's trips to America.
That's right. I didn't go to Woodbury Common. Thanks to some excellent planning and a few wise words in my 9-year-old son's ear - he's never a happy shopper - I found somewhere else we could go to spend some time while the women folk shopped. West Point.
Would I recommend it? In a heartbeat. Anything beats shopping. I even mentioned to our tour guide that they should offer a longer tour starting at Woodbury Common.
11 Comments
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.TheYank | Feb 23, 2011, 02:58 PM EST
jaimefarrelly
I feel for you living so near Woodbury Common and envy you living so near to West Point. I know it's a shame we only had time for the bus tour, but that bus tour was better than any other use I could have found for that time.
jaimefarrelly | Nov 08, 2010, 10:10 PM EST
I live about 10 minutes away from Woodbury Commons and I've worked there for 6 years. Let me tell you what a nightmare it actually is, well maybe just for us local folk. The traffic is a nightmare, and I guess it's a great deal (I always noticed more Asian people but Irish/British were a big factor as well) for people abroad but West Point is by far my favorite part of New York. It really is such a breath of fresh air, it's a shame that you were only able to do a bus tour. Their sports programs, and concerts they host are simply amazing. I know for security reasons they are unable to just open it to the public, but I have never been in a more beautiful breathtaking place in all my life. Would TOTALLY pick West Point over Woodbury.
pkeoughan | Apr 14, 2010, 07:40 PM EDT
Oh, No! You have to take a bus tour? I lived near West Point for 35 years before I moved to Mass. As a 4th grade teacher, I would take my students on class trips there - we walked all over. I've been there for concerts, plays and a wedding and always brought out-of-state guests there. The place is so beautiful with the Hudson River and the foothills to the Catskills surrounding it. The buildings are majestic and there is history everywhere you turn.
borefield | Apr 14, 2010, 04:45 PM EDT
West Point is indeed a truly wonderful place to visit. My late husband and I went there at least once a month, to eat, just walk around and feel the history of this wonderful place. Yes, 911 changed things. You can no longer enjoy the free spirit of the place because there are many people that want to hurt us. What a shame.
TheYank | Apr 14, 2010, 03:54 PM EDT
Ms.Gail Never heard of Flemington. You make it sound like a place I'd like. Will have to investigate.
Ms.Gail | Apr 14, 2010, 01:13 PM EDT
The shoppers should try the Flemington NJ outlets, there are bus trips going there. You can walk to lovely historic downtown Flemington from the outlet center or a short ride to Pittstown, a small nearby village that was almost the state capitol or the artsy Clinton. About 45-55 minutes from Manhattan.
eyps007 | Apr 14, 2010, 10:17 AM EDT
Spend the day in New Paltz instead.
TheYank | Apr 13, 2010, 06:16 PM EDT
fuzzyone49,
You know, I never thought about it before, but you're right. West Point - bad idea.
First of all it was Jefferson's idea and he was a well known war-monger. All that rights of man and life, liberty & the pursuit of happiness drivel. Uggh.
Then there is the CSA. If not for West Point and the leaders it churned out maybe the Confederacy might still exist. Maybe the slaves would still be in chains. Those wistful 'might have beens'.
Oh, and Europe too. Twice in the 20th century West Point grads led Americans in battle to help defeat authoritarianism, Nazism, fascism. Who needs that? I mean, really German should be the lingua franca from Marseilles to Murmansk, right?
fuzzyone49 | Apr 12, 2010, 08:17 PM EDT
Don't bother,it's just one old bastion of the American military-industrial complex, specializes in teaching how to kill friend and foe alike. I hate shopping but I would prefer the Commons to West Point anyday!
Ruaidri | Apr 12, 2010, 02:16 PM EDT
I took my Irish relatives to the nice quiet Century-21 Store in Morristown,NJ. 3 floors of marked down designer labels and no crowds. It took them 2 days to get through every department before we headed over to the Mall nearby.
cmthornton | Apr 12, 2010, 01:57 PM EDT
Funny, I'm from NYC and I have never been to Woodbury Commons either. I have always been partial to the outlets in NJ (no sales tax). First time I heard of the Commons was while I was in Ireland a few years ago, ironic. My friends here in NYC were just saying the other day we should go check it out. Maybe we'll stop at West Point while we are at it. ;)