Thursday, October 18 - Today Mom and Dad drove to Hyde Park, New York to see the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Presidential Library. It's located next to his home and they toured that, too.
FDR's home
His personal library inside his home with his wheel chair next to his desk.
Mom outside on the patio enjoying a conversation with FDR and Eleanor.
They learned that FDR planned and built his own Presidential Library, while he was still in office. It was the first in the Presidential Library system. Upon his death, he left his home, the library, and the surrounding grounds to the US Government.
It was the first time that Mom and Dad have visited a Presidential Library and found it very interesting, since it's also a museum devoted to the President and what he did while in office.
There was an interesting piece of art outside the library.
The statue on the left is FDR. The statue on the right is Winston Churchill.
The male and female figures in the middle were cut from sections of the Berlin Wall.
The rest of the wall sections create a companion piece at the Winston
Churchill Memorial. Pretty cool!
Inside the library was this picture, which shows shanties in Central Park
during the depression, around the time that FDR was first elected President. When
you think about all the tent cities, it seems we haven't really come that far.
The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those
who have much, it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.
- Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Extremely thought provoking that a man who was extremely wealthy would use his time and influence to fight for Social Security, Unemployment Compensation, and create programs to put people to work, rather than focus on huge tax cuts for his rich friends.
Friday, October 19 - There was so much to see and do in Hyde Park that Mom and Dad didn't see it all yesterday. They went back there today.
First they went to see the home where Eleanor Roosevelt lived after FDR's death. Yesterday they were reminded that Eleanor was a very influential part of FDR's presidency and did much for the country after FDR's death. Among other things, she was the United States' first delegate to the United Nations and chaired the UN Commission on Human Rights and oversaw the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It was said that you come to Hyde Park for FDR, but you stay for Eleanor and this is a true statement.
Dad said that Eleanor's house is much larger than his Aunt Alice's house, but the decorating style reminds him a lot of Aunt Alice's house. It's very "normal" and homey for such an influential person.
After visiting Eleanor's house, Mom and Dad went to see the Vanderbuilt Mansion in Hyde Park. It's 54 rooms and it is even more lavish inside than it is outside. It was certainly a contrast to Eleanor Roosevelt's home!
The Vanderbuilt Mansion, built from 1896-1899 and
now owned by the US National Park Service.
The Vanderbuilt's view of the Hudson River
Mom and Dad with one of the trees at the Vanderbuilt estate.
Saturday, October 20 - Mom and Dad decided that they needed another work and planning day, so we all just hung out at the motor home today.
Sunday, October 21 - Today Mom and Dad went to the US Military Academy at West Point for a tour. Unfortunately, they weren't able to see Mom's cousin Mason who is a Sophomore Cadet there. He was recruited to the Military Academy to be on the Hockey Team (he formerly played for the Corpus Christi Ice Rays and was Team Captain in his final year there). Between classes, hockey practice and a recent run of away games, he wasn't able to get away to see them. Still they enjoyed their visit to the Academy. Among other things, they learned that the Military Academy gets about 16,000 student applications each year. From those, 1,250 are accepted. So very proud that Mason is one of them!
Museum at West Point
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