We've had a fabulous time in the Hudson River valley...Kingston was a great stop; very central to many of the places we wanted to see so we rented a car for a couple of days and found our way around...up one side of the river then down the other. Although we did spend Sunday on a nice, leisurely cruise (imagine how relaxing not having to worry about charts) with Denise & Frank (parents of the groom), Seana (their granddaughter) and Denise's sister Carrie with husband Jim (new boaters).
On Monday we drove to West Point and took the tour of the grounds with a wonderful guide...her son just finished his first year as a cadet and her husband is in Iraq. Her love of our country and pride in its army was obvious. She was a wealth of knowledge...West Point's role in our nation's history dates back to the Revolutionary war- both sides realizing the strategic importance of controlling its position. The Hudson River was the main north to south corridor for all ships. In 1779 Washington even transferred his headquarters there...It is the oldest, continuously active military post in America. The list of graduates is impressive: Eisenhower, MacArthur, Bradley, Patton, Stilwell, Swartzkopf. A visit to the museum on site is also a must. I especially enjoyed the "History of Warfare" gallery. The new cadets who had only arrived last week were marching on the parade ground...we watched them for awhile; these children becoming men and women right before our eyes.
Yesterday we went to see the "gilded" Vanderbilt Estate, the gardens are spectacular...lily ponds and landscaped hills rolling right down to the Hudson. Then right "next door" we went to FDR's home and Presidential library...it was America's first Presidential library-and the only one actually used by a sitting president; he designed it himself. It was an amazing collection of his papers, letters, personal treasures, even his car! A replica of the "secret map room" in the White House basement where evidence found 50+ years later allowed those who put the room together for display using old photographs and documents. In his home, which his mother named Springwood, we were allowed to walk through and actually see the room where Roosevelt was born, the room where he lived as a child...the room where he lived as an adult...the cloak he wore in Yalta and the top hat still in the closet which he wore at each of his 4 inaugurations, the hand-pulled elevator he used to hoist himself to the second floor. We went to the stables...and the rose garden where he and Eleanor are buried...a simple quiet place.
Lunch in Rhinebeck at Beekman Arms, America's oldest Inn, open since 1766! Yes, George Washington slept there.
We then went, on what Chip likes to call, a "Michele Deek"...Opus 40 is an environmental sculpture built in a bluestone quarry by artist Harvey Fite who spent 37 years creating the unusual 6 acre landscape using traditional quarryman's tools...I can't help it, I love finding these secret places that people who live 30 minutes away don't even know about. He single handedly moved stones (some as large as nine tons using ancient Egyptian methods of leverage) all toll there are over 34 thousand tons of bluestone in his sculpture (see inset photo). He died in 1976 while working on his masterpiece. He thought it would take him 40 years to complete. I'm glad we went off the beaten path to find it.
On Monday we drove to West Point and took the tour of the grounds with a wonderful guide...her son just finished his first year as a cadet and her husband is in Iraq. Her love of our country and pride in its army was obvious. She was a wealth of knowledge...West Point's role in our nation's history dates back to the Revolutionary war- both sides realizing the strategic importance of controlling its position. The Hudson River was the main north to south corridor for all ships. In 1779 Washington even transferred his headquarters there...It is the oldest, continuously active military post in America. The list of graduates is impressive: Eisenhower, MacArthur, Bradley, Patton, Stilwell, Swartzkopf. A visit to the museum on site is also a must. I especially enjoyed the "History of Warfare" gallery. The new cadets who had only arrived last week were marching on the parade ground...we watched them for awhile; these children becoming men and women right before our eyes.
Yesterday we went to see the "gilded" Vanderbilt Estate, the gardens are spectacular...lily ponds and landscaped hills rolling right down to the Hudson. Then right "next door" we went to FDR's home and Presidential library...it was America's first Presidential library-and the only one actually used by a sitting president; he designed it himself. It was an amazing collection of his papers, letters, personal treasures, even his car! A replica of the "secret map room" in the White House basement where evidence found 50+ years later allowed those who put the room together for display using old photographs and documents. In his home, which his mother named Springwood, we were allowed to walk through and actually see the room where Roosevelt was born, the room where he lived as a child...the room where he lived as an adult...the cloak he wore in Yalta and the top hat still in the closet which he wore at each of his 4 inaugurations, the hand-pulled elevator he used to hoist himself to the second floor. We went to the stables...and the rose garden where he and Eleanor are buried...a simple quiet place.
Lunch in Rhinebeck at Beekman Arms, America's oldest Inn, open since 1766! Yes, George Washington slept there.
We then went, on what Chip likes to call, a "Michele Deek"...Opus 40 is an environmental sculpture built in a bluestone quarry by artist Harvey Fite who spent 37 years creating the unusual 6 acre landscape using traditional quarryman's tools...I can't help it, I love finding these secret places that people who live 30 minutes away don't even know about. He single handedly moved stones (some as large as nine tons using ancient Egyptian methods of leverage) all toll there are over 34 thousand tons of bluestone in his sculpture (see inset photo). He died in 1976 while working on his masterpiece. He thought it would take him 40 years to complete. I'm glad we went off the beaten path to find it.
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