After a short drive from Danbury CY, we're
back in New York (west side of the Hudson River) to attend a North East Network (NEN)
Chapter outing of RVW. This is one of three reservations we had before we left
home over two months ago. It was held at a KOA near Saugerties, on the west
side of the Hudson River and north of Kingston.
Driving and navigating with a RV off the Interstates can be interesting, but doable. Kingston, a Dutch trading post, was established in 1614 so as we drove through looking for the Camping World the GPS and Mary Sue had moments of confusion. Fortunately we were warned to beware of
"parkways" in NY State as RV's are not allowed due to low
bridges. We drove on US 9 and 9W and
were told there were over 20 NY 9 highways (9A, 9G, etc.) Also with the Hudson River, and bridges, we found the tolls were
expensive since the RV with a tow car was deemed a commercial vehicle. We were glad when we arrived at the KOA.
Saugerties is near the town of Woodstock,
and for those of you our age, you know what happened here back in 1969, so
Irene thought it would be fun to see. Turns out the town of Woodstock, which
was home to Bob Dylan, would not allow the music festival because of concerns
"the Hippies" would get wild on drugs and that the numbers would
overwhelm the little village. The event actually took place about 50 miles away
out in a cow pasture where things indeed did get wild!
The town
of Woodstock draws musicians and artists to this
day, which means tourists too, because it's positioned in the beautiful Catskill Mountains.
We did a day drive along the legendary Rip Van Winkle trail for "leaf
peeping" and check out some of the little stops in the road sporting
interesting country stores and
restaurants. We had heard that the restaurants in the area were exceptional
because their chefs were often graduates of the Culinary Institute located
close by in Hyde Park.
The NEN
Chapter outing was very similar to what we're used to at home with our
FreeWheelers Chapter. Pat and Rita, who hosted us, had outdone themselves with
providing food for Friday night and each of the mornings which turns out to be
stressful when you're planning for 50 women and not sure how many will actually
show up. We did tie dyed T-shirts, some went zip lining, there was a drumming
circle at night, and lots of hanging out to see old friends and make new ones.
Many of us took a river cruise, leaving from Kingston, down the Hudson River which is used for recreation as well as barge traffic. We
saw the beginning of fall colors, cute little lighthouses and many huge summer
homes of families who had prospered from successful businesses.
On the last
evening our hostesses organized a group dinner in Woodstock.
We ate at Joshua's, a Middle Eastern restaurant, with delicious food
beautifully presented and prepared by the chef (a young woman) who had
graduated from the Culinary Institute.
We were
always planning to go across the Hudson (crossed via the FDR Mid-Hudson Bridge) to Hyde
Park and visit the Roosevelt
Museum and homes, so we
were very lucky to catch the last three episodes of the PBS series on Franklin
and Eleanor Roosevelt while staying at the KOA.
We started with Eleanor
Roosevelt's home, Val-Kill. Franklin had bought this property for her to build Val-Kill Industries which was an experiment on training out-of-work rural folk in
traditional crafts; it turned out to be a prototype for the national New Deal
projects. When that was no longer its
primary function it was turned into a place for her to live, write, hold
meetings and get away from the entire goings on down the road at the Main
House, Springwood, which was ruled by her mother-in-law.
Eleanor's legacy in human rights and world
peace emerged from this simple place. Val-Kill, her main home from 1945 until
she died in 1962, nourished her personal freedom and political independence.
She described it as the place "where I used to find myself and grow."
We learned that Eleanor was very active in FDR's campaigns as well as being
"the face" with the public because he couldn't be as physically
active due to paralysis as a result of polio at the age of 39. They were a
formidable team during his four terms as president until his death in 1945.
We needed
a break from history and moved to an Elks parking lot in Poughkeepsie,
on the east side of the Hudson,
which is also the location of Vassar. Had a wonderful lunch, and Goose Island draft beer
called Honkers Ale.
Being fortified we
are ready to go back up to Hyde Park and the
FDR Historic Site.
President Roosevelt donated his home, Springwood, and 33
acres to the American people; both FDR and Eleanor are buried here. Inside the home we were struck by how modest it was with furnishings and the overall feel. There was an elevator with ropes which FDR used to pull himself up to the second floor following his paralysis from polio.
In the FDR
Museum, which FDR planned as part of
his presidential library, visitors can explore exhibits about the lives of the Roosevelts, the Great Depression, the New Deal, and World
War II. The Presidential Library, the first and only one used by a sitting
president, became the model for the nation's presidential library system, now
part of the National Archives. With more than 17 million pages of documents, it
is the world's premier research center for the study of the Roosevelt
era. In his speech to dedicate it he said, "The dedication of this library
is in itself an act of faith…a Nation must believe…in the capacity of its own
people to learn from the past that they can gain in judgment in creating their
own future." These are sentiments that ring true today.
"FDR
was a complex man with contradictory qualities; an aristocrat with the common
touch, a traditionalist who would try anything, a jovial charmer who deeply
serious about his beliefs and the consequences of his actions. He was also a
skilled political tactician with a fine sense of timing." He got our country through the Great
Depression with New Deal programs based on these beliefs such as the Civilian
Conservation Corps, Social Security, TVA, National Labor Board, etc. FDR's 1941 State of the Union
laid out 4 goals which became known as "Four Freedoms" and were
Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Worship, Freedom from Want, and Freedom from
Fear. The photo below shows an interpretive work of art made from pieces of the Berlin Wall.
It's easy to see why so many of
our past presidents have studied FDR in their own presidencies. There was
partisanship way back then, but not as bad as we have now, and even so he
negotiated so much for so many. This has become one of our favorite
Presidential Libraries and Museums!
For our last
day of sightseeing in the area, our hostesses from the NEN chapter outing took
us to West Point Military Academy.
Pat, being retired from the Army National Guard, was more than willing to take
Irene, the Army Brat, to see the sights.
West Point was founded in 1802. Captain S. Thayer was appointed superintendent in 1817 with the mission to make it the nation's leading institution of military education. It all looked ominous in size and
structure, and all of the young men and women outside exercising made us all
recommit to doing better along those lines ourselves.
The Cadet Chapel was completed in 1910 using granite quarried at West Point.
To finish the day we went
to the most authentic German food restaurant Irene has found in this country,
Mountain Brauhaus located out in the country, past New Paltz and close to Gardiner, NY.
The rouladen (thin slices of beef rolled around mustard, pickles, onions and
bacon in a brown wine sauce) and spaetzle (a German homemade noodle) were
almost as good as Mutti made! The German draft beers were pretty good too!
Time to move down the state, about 40 miles,
to put ourselves into position to go into NYC!
No comments:
Post a Comment