Beautiful Hudson River Valley

Greetings from Rhinebeck,

We are in the middle of the Hudson River Valley just outside of an quaint old town, Rhinebeck, founded in 1686 by Dutch immigrants. In the center of town is the Beekman Arms.

 

Built in 1766, it is the oldest inn in continuous operation in the US. Everyone from George Washington and Aaron Burr to FDR  slept or ate here. So, of course, Dad had to go into the old tavern for a beer.

Then we walked around looking at the old buildings and churches. We came here to visit the FDR Library and house, and fell in love with this beautiful area and the mighty Hudson River.

 Mom and Dad spent a day visiting Springwood,the home where FDR grew up and spent most of his life

and where he is buried.

Mom and Dad got to tour the entire house, furnished just as it was when he died. After he was stricken with polio when he was 39, it put a halt to his rising political career and he came home to Springwood. He was determined to walk again and he said that when he could walk down the driveway to the highway, then he would get back in politics.

Seven years later he made it to the end of the driveway on his crutches and soon after he became governor of New York.


He spent so much time here during his presidency that he built the first Presidential Library in 1941 on the grounds next to his home and at the time it was called the second White House.

 The library was very interesting and had a large collection of his artifacts from his birth through his presidency. The next stop was to Val-Kill, the small cottage

where Eleanor Roosevelt established a separate residence after she found out about her husband's numerous affairs.  She remained there after his death. Eleanor improved the lives of millions as a reformer, journalist, political activist, advocate for the underprivileged and as delegate to the United Nations, champion for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Quite a woman!


 The best part of the trip for me was getting to go over the Walkway, a pedestrian bridge that crosses over the Hudson River.

I was feeling my oats on the way over, barking at all the dogs and tugging on my leash, and kissing up to the young girls.   

I looked at all the beautiful scenery,

 


watched a sculling race and sailing boat

and saw a train right on the side of the river.

But I have to admit, I got a bit tired when we got to the end only to turn around and walk back over the bridge again to get back to our car.  Here I am later in the day, knocked out on the sofa, how embarrassing, showing my privates and  my Einstein hairdo.

We are now on our way to visit Mom's cousin, Becky who lives in Webster, just outside of Rochester, NY.

Adios,
Yuki

Easton, Pa

Hi,

Our next stop was to mom's Uncle Skip and Aunt Putt who live in Easton, PA. We were able to park our RV in their driveway. Again, I was on my best behavior and they loved me!

Uncle Skip took us on a tour of Bethlehem, home of  the old Bethlehem Steel, plant that clsoed down over 10 years ago.

 Our next stop was to tour the beautiful Lehigh University

and the old historic Moravian  area, including the oldest operating bookstore in the world(1745) - or at least that is what they told us.

We went back to Easton, the home of Crayola crayons and visited the store.

 Then we  walked down to the Lehigh River Canal,

where mules used to pull the canal boats filled with coal up the river.

I liked this picture of Mom and Uncle skip. We sure had a great visit in Easton!
 



Adios,
Yuki

On to Philadelphia & Valley Forge

Greetings,

Mom and Dad spent a day in Philadelphia, in  the historic Independence Hall area, I had to spend the day in the car in a noisy underground garage. I sure hope they enjoyed the sights!

The Liberty Bell

Independence Hall

Inside Independence Hall

Old City Hall where the Supreme Court met from 1791-1800 when the US Capital was moved from Philadelphia to Washington

 and here is the original US Capital building, Congress Hall. The House of Representatives met on the main floor and the Senate upstairs, hence the Senate thus came to be referred to as the "upper chamber".

l

Merchant's Exchange - the oldest stock exchange  in the US.

Mom remembered Bookbinders restaurant from when she was a child, its closed now so they went for a traditional lunch of hoagies and cheesesteak sandwiches.

Here is the First Bank of the US -a fine example of classical monumental design, built in 1797

The next day we went to Valley Forge, and I got to take the car tour with mom and dad. We saw where George Washington and his troops encamped for the winter in December 1777. Although it was a very rough winter, we learned it was disease, not cold or starvation that was the true cause of  most of the 2,000 deaths.

This is George Washington's headquarters where he lived with his wife and aides.

That all for now!,

Yuki

Brandywine Valley

Hi,

We spent five more days in the Brandywine Valley area. We visited the Hagley Museum, the site of the gunpowder works founded by E.I. du Pont on the banks of the Brandywine River in 1802. Mom and Dad left me in the car while they toured the first du Pont family home overlooking the gunpowder yards.

Then they walked along the river admiring the beautiful old mills.Again, mom had been here several times as a child and it brought back many memories.

Then we left to go to lunch with one of mom's good childhood friends, Daria Gallagher (Maciey). It was so good to see her again!

Later that day we went to mom's old neighborhood and visited with Marilyn Hetrick, the neighbor across the street. The Holt's and the Hetrick's did not have family close by so they spent each Thanksgiving and Christmas together. Mom was able to catch up on all the news on the Hetrick  "kids", Tom, Mindy and Laurie as well as other neighbors.

The next day we went to University of Delaware, where mom did her undergraduate work  before moving to California. I was able to walk around the university admiring all the beautiful old buildings.

We stopped for a photo op in front of mom's dormitory, Sussex Hall, built in 1917. When she was there is was an all girls dorm and the rooms were as they were originally in 1917. Now the inside has been totally renovated and it is coed by floors.

After U of D we visited the historic town of New Castle, on the Delaware river. Lots of  old buildings from the early 1700's.

Had lunch at an old tavern

 
Mom keeps saying she picked the wrong time to let her hair grow!

Took a picture for Jeff of the Delaware Memorial bridge, in memory of our many trips to the Jersey shore, we didn't have time to get to the beach on this trip.

Adios,
Yuki