Today Mike and I went from Albany NY to Hyde Park NY to tour Franklin Delano Roosevelt's museum. FDR was the 32nd President of the United States and the only President ever elected to a 4th term of office. As we traveled down the hwys to Hyde Park, we got caught in the awful traffic in New York...early in the morning! It was an overcast all day while we rode but very comfortable. We went through a town called Rhinebeck NY that houses the America's Oldest operating Hotel and tavern, The Beekman Inn. It opened as a tavern in 1766 and it has never closed its doors since! It was a beautiful piece of American history that we just happened to ride up on, so we stopped and took some pictures and got some information about the Beekman. Then we continued on for about another 12 miles and entered Hyde Park, NY. On our way into Hyde Park, we passed the Vanderbilt Mansion and decided that we would go and visit it after we left FDR's site.
As we arrived at the Roosevelt Estates, we were amazed by the beauty of this historic place! The National Parks Service owns the Roosevelt Estates now and they have a welcome center, the President's Library and Museum, the Roosevelt home, the final resting place and several hundred acres of beautiful farm land. We parked our motors and went into the welcome center and purchased our tour tickets. The tour of the Roosevelt Home was a guided tour and the remainder was self-guided. We had a very knowledgeable tour guide who was a park ranger named Cooper Leatherwood. He was rather comical in appearance and recitation of information about FDR. He took a group of us on a tour to the home which was about a quarter of a mile away from the welcome center. The home was just as it was when FDR passed away in 1945. His wife and 5th cousin, once-removed, Eleanor deeded the home and land to the National Park Services exactly a year to the date of death of the late President, April 1946. She gave the first guided tour of the home on that April day in 1946 to some 5000 people! FDR noted in his will that he was leaving the home to the NPS so that all came come and enjoy Springwood, which is the what his dad called the 1520 acre farm. His father purchased the land and a little farm house there in 1866 for $40K and 3 major updates took place between then and 1916. So the last major renovation was done in 1916, by FDR's mother, Sara, upon his advice.
We were actually able to walk through the home (no pictures policy,unfortunately)and see how he lived in the home from the time he was born to his death. We saw some pictures of his family from the 17th and 18th centuries; and the furniture in the home, you can tell, was dated back to the late 19th to early 20th centuries. It was very humbling to see this historic American home.
We then exited the home to go the Roosevelt Garden where the late President and First Lady now eternally rest. It was a beautiful garden and well manicured. We then toured the museum: seeing his 1936 Ford Car with all hand controls that allowed him to drive even though he was paralyzed in his legs from Polio Myelitis. We saw his replicated oval office and his presidential study. This was something interesting that many people don't know, but FDR was the only sitting President to have a library built and actually utilized by him while serving in the White House.
FDR was a great American President, as it was proven by him serving a 4th term in office, although he never completed his presidency. From WWII to The New Deal to Social Security, FDR accomplished a great deal during his administration that is very prevalent today!
After we left FDR's Site, we went to the Vanderbilt Mansion to take some photos. We didn't tour the home but we took some really nice pictures of the motors with the mansion in the background! Frederick William Vanderbilt (1856-1938) built "Hyde Park" in Hyde Park, New York. Designed by McKim, Mead and White and built in 1896-99, it is now the Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site. It was raining on us a little but not a torrential storm, just misting, as we left Hyde Park. We decided to go ahead and make our way toward Philadelphia since we spend a good bit of the day with the Roosevelts! JFK...we will have to catch you on the rebound!
AS we traveled on the the interstate, the traffic was just horrible! We had to sit at the New Jersey Turnpike in traffic for at least an hour! But once we got through the garble, we rocked the throttles and arrived in Philadephia, the birthplace of America! Tomorrow we will tour the Independence National Historical Park and partake in eating a traditionally famous Philly Cheese Steak sandwich!
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