A busy day

Today (Wednesday), we planned a very agressive day with a drive back to Hyde Park to visit Franklin Delano Roosevelt's bithplace (Springwood), the FDR Presidential Library and Eleanor Roosevelt's Val-Kill home followed by a 40 mile cruise on the Hudson from Poughkeepsie to Catskill.

Immediately, I discovered a problem.  I had lost my Maui Jim prescription sunglasses ($1,000).  I had a sense that they were lost during our visit to the Vanderbilt estate yesterday but at 7:00 AM there was no way to check with the Visitor Center.

The next event was an early morning walk with Kodi toward downtown Poughkeepsie.  The plan was to leave her on the boat. 

At precisely 9:00 AM we called the Vistor Center and got some great news.  My glasses had been found ... HURRAH.  So off we went at 9:00 AM to retreive the glasses.  More good news.  The Vanderbilt Estate is only two mile up the road from FDRs home.

After retreiving the glasses (undamaged), we drove over to Springwood and took the 10:00 AM tour.  Again, the National Park Service guide did an excellent job of describing the property and the Roosevelt history.

Springwood, FDR birthplace and home

An interesting fact is that Franklin and Eleanor lived with Franklin's mother, Sara, who was a very powerful influence throughout his life.  Note: She made the cover of News Week (as it was called then) two times.  The house itself was very nice but modest in comparison to the Vanderbilt estate.  The guide explained it as old money versus noveau rich.

Springwood Foyer

Sprinwood living room

FDR was born in this room

FDR faced two major challenges in his presidency, the great depression and WWII.  The former produced a series of accomplishments in the first 100 days that forever changed the vrole of the Federal Government.  The latter forever changed the role of the US as a world leader.  What comes across in the tour is that Eleanor was a big factor in the success of his presidency,  What also come across is Eleanor's role as a political leader after his death. 

Unfortunately, the Presidential Library was closed for renovations, so we drove 2 miles east to Eleanor Roosevelt's Val-Kill home and caught the 12:30 PM tour.  Again, an hour tour and again an excellent guide.  Val-Kill was given to Eleanor Roosevelt as part of a deal to avoid a divorse due to FDR's infidelity.  Part of the deal was that when FDR was in residence, Eleanore stayed at Springwood.  Otherwise, she lived at Val-Kill.

Modest entrance to Eleanor Roosevelt's modest home

Val-Kill from the back where you can see that it was once a factory

Val-Kill was originally a factory that the Roosevelts converted into a home.  What strikes you is that how modest the home, especially given the fact that many US and world leaders were entertained in this home such as Prime Minister Nehru, The King & Queen of England and JFK (when he visited with Eleanor to get her endorsement.  Check out these photos:

Eleanor Roosevelt's study

Eleanor Roosevelt's dining room

Eleanor Roosevelt's living room

At 2:00 PM we returned our Avis rental car and the representative very generously drove us back to the boat.  Then had a GREAT lunch on the veranda of Shadows and at 3:45 PM we departed their marina for Catskill.  Perfect weather and another push from a rising tide got us into Catskill in under 3 and a half hours on 17.7 gallons (to cover 37.6 miles).

We arrived at Riverview Marine Services at 7:20 PM to end a very busy perfect day.

Guided Discovery at Riverview

Written by Les.