On Friday, July 6, we drove south about 10 miles to Nyack, NY on the west side of the Hudson River to visit the home of the famous artist Edward Hopper.
Edward Hopper was an American realist painter and printmaker who achieved fame in the 1920s for his unique renderings of American Life. The link below contains photos of his works.
http://www.museumsyndicate.com/artist.php?artist=54
 |
| Edward Hoppers boyhood home |
Saturday we drove approximately 10 miles north to the US Military Academy at West Point, a place we have always wanted to visit. We took the two hours tour, which gave us a nice overview of the academy and its history. The tour included the sports facilities, the cemetary, the cadet barracks (photo below), the academic classrooms, Trophy Point and the West Point Museum.
 |
| West Point Military Museum - largest military museum in the US |
West Point dates back to Revolutionary War. West Point was chosen for its strategic location on the Hudson to block British use of the river to divide the colonies. Washington's generals build forts and fortifications including an 1,800 foot chain from the West Point to Constitution Island that effectively blocked British ships from moving north and south. Thirteen links of the chain have been preseved at Trophy Point along with other weapons captured during the wars in which America has fought.
 |
| 13 Links of the chain used to block the Hudson River |
There is so much history at West Point that it's hard to describe. Needless to say this place has been integral to the development of our country. Washington proposed the US Military academy in a letter that was delivered to Congress shortly after his death.
When you view the Cadet Barracks, as seen in the photo above, you see the statue of George Washington at the center right in front of the main barracks door and to the left in front of the library, the largest military library in the US - with one million plus volumes, is the statue of Grorge Patton. To the right of the barracks is the statue of Douglas MacArthur (whose tomb we visited in Norfolk, VA). Talk about inspiration.
 |
| Cadet Barracks and The Parade |
When we visited the Military Cemetary we saw the graves of Colonel Mickey Marcus and his wife. Marcus, a Class of 1924 graduate, assisted Isreal as a General officer during the 1948 Arab Isreali War after his retirement from the US Army. We visited many of the Isreali battle sights during our visit several years ago.
 |
| Graves of Colonel Mickey Marcus and his wife |
Sunday took us to Tarrytown to visit the the railroad baron Jay Gould's Lyndhurst mansion and to Sleepy Hollow to visit Rockefeller's Kykuit mansion. Both these tours took us back to a time in America of fabulous wealth (20 plus servants in each of the houses - just for starters).
 |
| Lyndhurst, the Gould Estate |
 |
| Lyndhurst dining room |
Kykuit was built by John D. Rockefeller and was occupied by his family including Governor and later Vice President Nelson Rockefeller. It was given to the National Trust circa 1979. The house is lovely and in many ways modest in relationship to Rockefeller's immence wealth. (The nansions of Newport, RI were much more elaborate,)
 |
| Kykuit, The Rockefeller Estate |
The National Trust does not allow photos inside the home. However, they do allow you to photo the gardens. What is particulary unique about Kykuit is the value of the art and sculpture including Chineese pocelain dating to the 7th century AD. This is truly a beautiful museum. All of the Rockefellers were art collectors. Nelson, in particular, was a great collector of sculpture and took great pains to place the many sculptures in the most "perfect" locations on the property.
 |
| Looking out toward the Hudson |
Written by Les.
No comments:
Post a Comment