Hudson Valley Homes of the Rich and Famous

     Extending 150 miles from New York City, the Hudson Valley is an area where Manhattan's wealthiest citizens built summer retreats for their families.  Many of the old mansions have been restored and are open for tours.  We decided to visit the Vanderbilt estate and the Roosevelt family home.
 

 A view of the Vanderbilt estate from the water.

And from the land.

     No photography was allowed in the mansion, but suffice it to say that the entire place was a shrine to all the bad taste money could buy.  Everything was very ornate, gilded and just plain expensive ugly (with an Italian influence).  These next two photos, taken from the internet, show it all:

     Our next stop was the Roosevelt family home and it was the complete opposite of the Vanderbilt's.  It was equally grand, but furnished very tastefully.

The Roosevelt family home.

     Again, photos were not allowed inside, so these are also taken from the internet:

Upstairs bedroom.

The parlor, which looks a bit cluttered, but was quite nice.

     Both Franklin and Eleanor are buried in the Rose Garden here on the property:

You can see the outline of their two graves with the headstone behind.  The flag sits on FDR's grave.

The Roosevelt Rose Garden really was impressive.

     Eleanor Roosevelt had her own home on the estate. It was built after she and some friends had to return to New York after the estate was closed up for the winter.  Franklin had suggested she build a cottage so that she and her friends could visit year round.  Her home is called Val-Kill and is also open for tours, but we ran out of time before we could get there--next visit.

     We had a fun day touring these homes, although the weather was rainy and overcast all day.  We returned to the boat thinking the decor in our little boat was definitely preferable to anything we had seen in these two homes!
     One last note, on our way to and from West Point and these homes, we passed through Catskill, NY which is the gateway to the recreational areas of the Catskill Mountains.  We found wonderful restaurants along Main Street (must be those CIA chefs again), but also enjoyed the painted cats they had lining the streets.  I've seen lots of cow statues, some moose and a few other animals, but this is the first time I ever saw cats.  Check it out:

    When we were done playing tourists, we parked the boat in New Baltimore, NY and I went to Tucson while Art went  to Iowa.  While we were gone, we had the boat pulled out of the water so the bottom could get a new coat of paint, and we also had it waxed.  Here's our poor baby sitting up on dry land:

       Now it is time to get back on the water and continue our journey, and that is exactly what we did.