The Boomer's Guide to the Roosevelt Homes: Val-Kil

Located about two miles from the Roosevelt estate, Springwood, is the fieldstone retreat of Eleanor Roosevelt, Val-Kil.  Loosely translated, Val-Kil means waterfall stream. FDR had the cottage built in 1924 for Eleanor and her two friends, Nancy Cook and Marion Dickerman.  Val-Kil is a National Historic Site run by the National Park Service. Unlike FDR's retreat, Top Cottage, Val-Kil is accessible by private automobile or the Roosevelt Ride shuttle. As a National Historic Site, you may use your Senior Pass.

Tours of Val-Kil are offered on the hour.  Before the tour begins, be sure to see the short, 15 minute video shown in one of the adjacent buildings. It provides an interesting and informative background for the woman known as the "First Lady of the World."

Although it was a retreat for Mrs. Roosevelt and her female friends, FDR frequently visited as well. Often he would drive his specially outfitted Ford convertible up the dirt road known as the Roosevelt Farm Lane to Val-Kil. 

In addition to being a restful retreat for Mrs. Roosevelt, Val-Kil was also the site of a business operated by Mrs. Roosevelt and her friends known as Val-Kil Industries.  Craftsmen were hired to make small furniture and other decorative items. Today, some of them are reputed to be quite valuable.

Val-Kil was simply decorated and much of the original furniture is in place, particularly in the modest dining room.

If you are interested in more information about Val-Kil, Springwood, Top Cottage or Hyde Park, visit www.HistoricHydePark.org or phone 1-800-FDR-VISIT.

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The Boomer's Guide to the Roosevelt Homes: Top Cottage

In addition to his Springwood estate in Hyde Park, just a few short miles away, was Franklin Roosevelt's retreat known as Top Cottage. FDR spent many days in this idyllic spot on a hill with the Hudson River Valley visible through the trees in the distance from his back porch. He had intended to use it as a place to write and think after his presidency but made many visits to it between 1939 and his death in 1945. It was specially designed to accommodate his wheelchair long before the Americans with Disabilities Act. Although he never spent the night there, he would often entertain guests including King George VI and his wife Queen Elizabeth (the "Queen Mum") in a famous visit that included a picnic lunch on the back porch which included hot dogs!

Top Cottage is now operated by the National Parks Service and is available for tours only three times a day via shuttle bus from the Henry Wallace center located at the Roosevelt Library and Museum near Springwood.  The tour guide we had the day we visited was named Charlotte and was quite knowledgeable and charming. She had us all sit on chairs on the back porch and contemplate the lovely environment.  It was a mindfulness moment,

The Boomer's Guide to the Roosevelt Homes in Hyde Park

Franklin D. Roosevelt,  or "FDR" as he was affectionately known, was born in Hyde Park, New York and spent a good part of his life there.  Stricken with polio when he was just 39, he went on to become the 32nd President of the United States of America. He led the nation out of the Great Depression in the 1930s and led the country to victory in World War II.  FDR was elected president four times before dying in the first year of his fourth term in 1945.Although he died before most boomers were born, he remains a fascinating figure for boomers as well as those who were alive during his presidency.  We are fortunate to be able to visit the home he grew up in and often returned to during his life, Springwood, the cottage he used as a retreat, Top Cottage and the house used by his wife, Eleanor, as her own separate retreat, Val-Kil. All are located within a few miles of each other in Hyde Park, New York.

FDR's boyhood home, Springwood, is located on a 1500 acre tract on Route 9 in Hyde Park. It has been designated as a National Historic Site and is operated by the National Park Service. Because of that, all of the Roosevelt sites, Springwood, Top Cottage and Val Kil, are free to those with a senior National Park Service Pass. Up to four guests are also free. There is a charge, however, for the Presidential Museum and Library (which was under renovation when we visited).  Free shuttle service is offered between Springwood and Top Cottage and Val-Kil on The Roosevelt Ride, which is available at the Henry Wallace Center.  Wallace had been FDR's vice president.

Springwood

Springwood is available for tours conducted by very knowledgeable volunteers who take you through the house. Photography is allowed inside the house. The house itself is a mixture of Victorian furniture (his mother, Sara Delano was a major figure in FDR's life and was of that era) and political accessories. One whole wall of the entrance way is covered with political cartoons. Springwood has basically been kept the way that it was when FDR was president. His den and bedroom are particularly interesting.

In addition to the house itself, there are stables which contain riding gear and which still smell of horses.  There is a large rose garden on the property that also contains FDR's tomb.

Our next post will discuss the presidential retreat, Top cottage and Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt's personal retreat and cottage industry located in Val-Kil a few miles away.

The Boomer's Guide to Vassar College

Vassar college is located in Poughkeepsie, New York in the beautiful Hudson Valley, 75 miles north of New York City.  It was founded in 1861 as a women's college. .  Vassar was the first of the Seven Sisters which were sister institutions to the Ivy League all male schools.  Vassar became co-educational in 1969 Before he became President, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who lived in nearby Hyde Park, was a trustee.
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The main campus is located on a beautiful 1000 acres off of Richmond Avenue, 3 miles from the city's center.  There are a number of historic  buildings located on campus including two which are National Historic landmarks, the main building (above) and the observatory.The Main Building had at one time housed the entire college.

The campus consists of a mixture of both old brick buildings and contemporary structures.  The student cooperative,Ferry House was designed by the famed architect, Marcel Breuer.  The Finnish-American architect, Eero Saarinen, designed Noyes House.  The Lehman Loeb Art Center was designed by American architect César Pelli.

The beautiful chapel (above) is Gothic in style.

One of the most impressive of the buildings on campus is the library.

If you are in Poughkeepsie, the Vassar campus is well worth a stop.

The Boomer's Guide to Travel Sites in Hyde Park

Evver since I was young I have been fascinated by two places that I wanted to see. First, was the home of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the longest serving President of the United States, in Hyde Park, New York.  Second, waas The United States Military Academy or as it is more commonly refered to, West Point.  This summer, we were privileged to have the opportunity to tour both places.

Hyde Park, New York, is located about  an hour and a half from New York City. and three hours from Philadelphia  Train service is available on Amtrak and the Metro-North Railroad with stops in nearby Poughkeepsie. That is where our touring began.

We arrived at our hotel in the middle of a Sunday afternoon. Not  knowing what to expect in Poughkeepsie, my wife grabbed a stack of brochures from the hotel's front desk. We studied them in our room and saw that there were at least two places in Poughkeepsie we should see, Vassar College and Locust Grove, the former home of Samuel F.B. Morse, the inventor of the telegraph and a well-known portrait and landscape painter of the Hudson River Valley School.

Locust Grove is located at 2683 South Road on Route 9 or the Albany-Post Road as it has been called for hundreds of years. It is a 40 room Italianate mansion which is available for guided tours only. Because the Morse family had sold it near the turn of the last century, most of the furniture and paintings in the house are from the subsequent owners, the Youngs. It is an interesting mix of Victorian and older antiques and paintings. The views from the estate's gardens are of the Hudson River Valley and are fantastic..

There is a small museum on the grounds which houses some of the artwork of Samuel Morse as well as some of his telegraphic inventions.  It is well worth a visit.  There is also a small gift shop. One of the staff members recommended we try the Shadows on the Hudson for dinner that night.

Just a few short blocks away, Shadows on the Hudson has magnificent views of the Hudson River Valley. The food matches the view.  I had the Lobster bake and it was excellent, with a one and a quarter pound lobster, andoiuille sausage, redskin potatoes and corn on the cob. You felt like you were right on the beach. www.shdadowsonthehudson.com, 176 Rinaldi Blvd., Poughkeepsie, NY.

The next day we visited Vassar College in Poughkeepsie.  More about that in our next post.

The Baby Boomer's Guide to the Best Places to Visit and Things to Do in America

I have not written in a while because---what else---we were traveling. This time we were visiting Hyde Park, New York and Spring Lake, New Jersey.  Before I discuss those trips in later posts, I just wanted to acknowledge my gratitude to Patricia Schultz, the author of 1,000 Places to See Before You Die.. The book is a rich source of information concerning places to visit not only in the United States but also throughout the world.  In reading the book, it occurred to me that my wife and I had already visited a number of the places she has written about.  As an example, my most recent post dealt with Shipshewana, the Amish community in Northern Indiana. Although we had been there many times over the last decade, it was interesting to see it listed in the 1,000 Places book.

This got me thinking:  why not see how many of the 1000 places can we visit and also write about. So, that we are going to try to do.  We may not cover them all and we will write about some places not on her list, but we will try to give you baby boomers a guide to what we think are the best and most fun places to visit and things to do.  While the book is a starting point in some instances, the opinions expressed are our own and the observations are ours also.

I hope you will enjoy our Baby Boomer's Guide to the Best Places to Visit and Things to Do!

Shipshewana: A Unique Visit for the Boomer

If you, like me, are a boomer looking for an other-worldly place to visit, I have just the place for you.  It is Shipshewana, Indiana in Northern Indiana.  You probably never heard of it. Neither did we until we stumbled upon it one Friday afternoon as we were on our way to South Bend, Indiana for a Notre Dame football game. We have visited Shipshewana on several occasions since our first visit some 7 or 8 years ago. Each time we find something new that interests and enchants us. Shipshewana, which is named for a Potawatami native American chief, was listed in Patricia Schultz's "1,000 Places to See Before You Die."

Located off of the Indiana Toll Road, Interstates 80/ 90, at Exits 107 and 121, it is an Amish community that is quite unexpected in the middle of the cornfields which surround it. By the way, after leaving the Toll Road, you will pass the Howe School. If you have the time be sure to stop and see the school's chapel. The chapel was built in 1903 and is listed on the Register of Historic Places.  You will note the hand-carved pews and the collegiate style seating.

Amish, which is an offshoot of the Mennonite religion, is not just a religion but a way of life. The Amish reject many of today's modern conveniences, including automobiles. They prefer horse-drawn buggies, which march alongside the road.  Their life is simple, emphasizing the family and community. The Amish are friendly but ask that you respect their traditions and privacy. For example, they request that you not take their photograph.

Shipshewana is home to numerous shops where you can buy antiques, furniture, baked goods and quilts. There are also several dining options available. In addition, Shipshewana is host to the Midwest's largest flea market,  It is held every Tuesday and Wednesday from May 1 through the end of October. It is said to be a Hoosier tradition not to be missed.

If you are interested in furniture that will last a lifetime and beyond, we recommend you stop by the Riegsecker Marketplace Shops located at 105 E. Middlebury St.  We bought our kitchen table and chairs there and they are as solid as any you will find anywhere.

For dining,we recommend the Blue Gate Restaurant. The food consists of typical Amish fare and is available either from the menu or family style.  The homemade pies are delicious. Each meal is served with bread and homemade peanut butter.  Wonderful! The restaurant is located directly in front of the Riegsecker shops. www.BlueGateRestaurant.com.