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"There is no life I know to compare with pure imagination. Living there, you'll be free if you truly wish to be." - Willy Wonka, "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory"

da21The second half of the New England road trip began on Wednesday, July 11, 2012. Bob and I had seen and experienced a great deal and it seemed like it had been forever since we began the road trip. But even though there was as much time on the road ahead of us as there was behind it, I could feel the pressure that time was pushing on us, knowing how much we still had left to see as we began the descent toward the end. Nevertheless, it was nothing worth stewing about so we pressed on as best as we could, beginning with the sights in Hyde Park, where we had just spent the night.

Hyde Park was an extremely charming little town, with about half the population of my home town of Beavercreek. It seemed off the beaten path with our motel and the restaurant we had eaten at the night before just a few doors down on a rural highway. Just another few minutes away from us was the Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site, which was based around his Springwood home (where he was both born and lived much of his adult life).

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Entering the Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site

Bob and I arrived at the location at around 8:30am and then had to wait until 9am for the first house tour to begin. We made an executive decision to skip Top Cottage and Eleanor Roosevelt’s Val-Kill cottage, in order to make sure that we could hit the State Capitol in Albany before it closed for the day. Actually I made it, and Bob reluctantly agreed knowing we’d have to come back anyway since the Presidential Library was mostly closed for construction. We took a little over two and a half hours to tour the house, grounds, grave, and what was open of the library and museum. You can check out the in-depth details of the site here.

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Bob and a metal reproduction of Fala, the Roosevelt family dog

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With our Roosevelt tour guide Wayne

Even though we were in somewhat of a hurry, grabbing a chili dog in Mrs. Nesbitt’s Cafe in the Roosevelt visitor center was a no-brainer. The little eatery had been named after Roosevelt’s cook and housekeeper. As his servant during his 13 years at the White House, she had been nicknamed “the first housekeeper of the land.”

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Enjoying some hot doggies before pressing on

We departed Hyde Park at around 11:30 and headed an hour north to our second major presidential location of the day: Lindenwald, the home of President Martin Van Buren. This was located about 20 miles south of Albany, New York, in a small village known as Kinderhook. The homestead was known officially as the Martin Van Buren National Historic Site. We had a knowledgeable and enthusiastic docent named Dawn and shared our tour with a very odd family, the father of whom appeared to be eating his own face throughout the tour.

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Lindenwald, home of Martin Van Buren

After touring the home, Bob and I headed to his birthplace location, which was a mere five minutes away. The original house no longer stands, but a sign marks the location. And just about five miles away from that is the Kinderhook Cemetery where Van Buren and his wife Hannah are buried. You can check out all of the Martin Van Buren locations here.

We left Kinderhook around 2:30 and headed directly to the New York State Capitol in Albany, arriving a little bit after 3pm – which was the time of the last tour of the day. Bob dropped me off and I ran in and was able to catch up with the tour group (after several minutes of awkward, fruitless searching). Bob found a parking spot and then found us after we had departed the Senate Gallery.

When the New York Capitol building had been erected in 1899, it was the most expensive state capitol building to date. It was technically the fourth state capitol location, counting two houses that were considered capitols in the latter part of the 1700’s.

This building took second place for being most ornate as far as I was concerned (considering this was my 25th State Capitol visit, bringing me exactly to the halfway point), second only to the Capitol building in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Over the course of an hour, we were able to see the Senate Gallery, the House of Representatives Chambers, and the Hall of Governors gallery. Bob and I had to ask where the Governor’s Office is located. We were pretty sure that we knew, considering there was an armed guard seemingly randomly placed near the Hall of Governors gallery. It was unmarked, so we got a picture with the all-too-crucial door. Our guide was pretty good and it was certainly the first State Capitol tour I had been on during which the guide mentioned ghosts haunting the building.

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The New York State Capitol in Albany, my fourth Capitol building of the year, 25th total. This brings me to the half-way point.

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Overlooking the Senate seats

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A stone from the original Capitol building in Albany – originally erected in 1807

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Presidential heads carved into the Capitol building’s pillars: can you spot Grant and Lincoln?

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Presidential portrait of former New York Governor Grover Cleveland

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 The House of Representatives chambers

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 Speaking from the Speaker podium

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 The general ass as part of the General Assembly

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 Bob introduces the Hall of Governors

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Governor Daniel Tompkins would become the sixth Vice President of the United States

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Governor Martin Van Buren would become the sixth President of the United States

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Governor Grover Cleveland would become the 22nd and 24th President of the United States. In honor of his two terms, I offer the Peace sign.

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Governor Levi P. Morton would become the 22nd Vice President of the United States and grow some pretty impressive mutton chops

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Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt would become the 32nd President of the United States. Naturally since this is the most important portrait in the gallery, my picture came out blurry.

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Governor Theodore Roosevelt would become the 25th Vice President and 26th President of the United States

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Governor Nelson Rockefeller would become the 41st Vice President of the United States

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Governor George Clinton was not only the first governor of New York, he would become the 4th Vice President of the United States

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Knock knock knockin’ on the Governor’s (secret) door

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The spot in the Capitol where President Grant’s body laid in state on August 4, 1885, on the way to his final resting place in New York City

After the tour of the Capitol, Bob and I swung by the nearby New York State Executive Mansion (which I’d rather call the Governor’s Mansion), which had been inhabited by no less than three future United States Presidents (Grover Cleveland, Theodore Roosevelt, and Franklin Roosevelt), two future Vice-Presidents (Levi Morton and Nelson Rockefeller), and four Presidential nominees. The mansion wasn’t open to the public during the summer, so we had to be satisfied with pictures outside.

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Apparently the Neighbors wanted everyone to know that they lived by the Governor’s Executive Mansion

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Exterior of the Governor’s Mansion

This had thus far been a highly productive day on the Presidential front, but it was going to get even more so with a visit to the grave of Chester A. Arthur in the Albany Rural Cemetery, located on the outskirts of Albany in Menands, New York. (More details of his grave can be seen here).

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Bob and me at the gave of President Chester A. Arthur

Also buried in the same cemetery is William Paterson (1745-1860), who had been the second governor of New Jersey and had been a signer of the United States Constitution. We also paid our visit to three Medal of Honor recipients from the Civil War and Bob added his flags to their grave markers: Joseph Follett, Robert Henry King, and Stephen Potter Corliss.

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The grave of William Paterson, signer of the United States Constitution

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Bob lays another flag at the grave of a recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor

We left Albany around 5:30 and headed 20 miles north to Schenectady. Somehow just the name of this city has generated laughs in the past between my cousin Chris and me, so I made sure to text him with my location. The only thing we needed to see in this town was a statue of Chester A. Arthur located on the campus of Union College. Predictably, no one seemed to know where it was. After asking a half dozen denizens of the campus and spending a half-hour searching, we finally came upon one individual who directed us to it. So we got it. It was done.

Fortunately, we weren’t in any rush at that point as we only had to make it to Saratoga Springs, New York that evening, which was about 30 miles north of Schenectady. We had business there to attend in the morning, so we found a Hibachi Japanese Restaurant (where I had a delightful salmon dish prepared on the grill) and a rather quaint motel called the Roosevelt Inn & Suites.

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One of our traditional stops and photos with the chef at a Japanese Steakhouse

It was nice to settle in at a decent hour, enjoy looking at Bob’s caricature some more, and watching Robert Blake make a fool of himself during his interview that aired that night on Piers Morgan Tonight.

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Bob and his counterpart deliver a thumbs-up in Saratoga Springs, New York

We’d have quite a bit of driving to do as we reached outlying areas of New York, finished up the state, and head back into New England the next day. We were officially underway on the second half of our fabulous trip.

The New England road trip will continue

2 Responses to “Sauntering Up the Edge of New York”

  1. I hope my “counterpart” holds a place of honor at your house!

    bob

  2. Actually, my Schenectady humor started with Sarah. When she met Tom (you know, Tom from Schenectady) he seemed to have some kind of European accent. Sarah and her classmates were trying to figure out where he was from, so he informed them that he was from Schenectady. Apparently, his is not a typical Schenectady accent.

    Chris

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