FDR

Friday, May 26… 

I did NOT want to get up this morning. Much as I’m looking forward to visiting the FDR sites, I was still in what I call “dream-recovery mode” and feeling very secure in my warm little cave. And when I finally rolled onto Greg’s side, where the sheets had cooled, those felt really good too. But time was marching on, so a shower was taken, a banana and a muffin consumed, a list of other stops compiled, rain gear gathered (it’s still drizzly), and eventually we’re out the door.  

Springwood is unique in that Roosevelt was born and raised there, raised his own family there, visited the property as often as possible during his presidencies, and is buried there. It was truly his home in every sense of the word. It’s a big house, but not a show house. 

Roosevelt's (home) library - some fireside chats given here.

Parcheesi game in "family side" of the library.

Only bloom in the rose garden.
(Double Delight)

We also toured the Presidential Library (the first such library I’ve been to), which includes over 34,000 items – not all of which are on display. (Thank goodness! I was exhausted just trying to take in everything specifically related to his presidential years.) After lunch we visited Val-Kill, originally Val-Kill Industries, a project of Eleanor & her friends that employed local farming families making handcrafted furniture and fabrics. That enterprise closed during the depression, and the building was then used as a casual gathering place for the Roosevelts and their friends and visiting dignitaries (King George VI and Elizabeth enjoyed hot dogs there). After Roosevelt’s death, Eleanor made Val-Kill her private residence.

Eleanor's bedroom at Val-Kill. Nothing fancy here.
(and until last summer, I had hand towels just
like those on the bed in my own linen closet)

On the way home, we sidetracked to try out the Walkway over the Hudson, an old railroad bridge repaved for pedestrians. Cool idea.

Upriver...

This caught my eye as we were
heading out this morning.

...and westward toward Poughkeepsie City/Town (only the politicians care)

BlogThoughts… I read Doris Kearns Goodwin's No Ordinary Time a few years back, and I need to read it again. Folks may not agree with all of FDR's politics or choices in his personal life, but he and Eleanor certainly were 2 amazing individuals (and a team until the end). What impressed me most today was the story of how he dealt with his polio. He was 39 when it hit (and it hit hard), and he spent the rest of his life actively battling to maintain an appearance of normalcy. I'm not talking about forbidding photos of himself in a wheelchair. I'm talking about discipline and determination - treatments and therapy (he originally had upper body paralysis as well) for the next 45 years, and finding a way to appear to walk by leaning his upper body forward and then letting each leg swing forward (separately) while resting on the other leg (brace) and gripping someone's arm. At Springwood, he had an elevator (actually an over-sized dumbwaiter) installed, but he had a rope pulley & counterweight to pull it up himself rather than use electricity. 

Princeton to Poughkeepsie

Thursday, May 25… 

Poughkeepsie Boys

RAIN. Wipers slosh across our big windshield as we wend our way north to Princeton – lovely town, but we’re passing through simply b/c there’s a Trader Joe’s here and Greg’s almost out of 2-buck Chuck. We all have our priorities. (TJ's has chocolate too.)  Local roads have some interesting idiosyncracies. In NJ, several divided highways require “all turns from the right lane.” (To make a left turn, you first exit to the right and then turn left onto the cross street. It’s safer and probably quicker, but if you miss the sign or take too long figuring out what it means, you’ve also missed your turn. Exiting can also be tricky/frustrating/exasperating for lots of reasons, and we seemed to have an awful lot of road changes during the first 20 miles or so. Once we hit 87N, though, it was smooth sailing to Poughkeepsie (home to Vassar College and Culinary Institute of America’s main campus). Settled in at the local Elks Club, enjoyed a lovely dinner prepared by our in-house chef and did nothing in particular. (Sort of... I blogged until 1am.)

lamb chops w/ salad & little reds

(raindrop on windshield)

Resident Chef

BlogThoughts... The geography of Poughkeepsie is confusing - i.e. the City of Poughkeepsie is surrounded by the Town of Poughkeepsie. I'm sure that made sense to somebody at some point.

City of Brotherly Love

and now.

Wednesday, May 24…

Then...

We’re doing the RD condensed version of Philly. Both sets of my grandparents lived here. Our family also made an annual pilgrimage to Wanamaker's (dept store) the day after Thanksgiving. My brother & I shared our Christmas wishes with Santa, and my parents somehow managed to buy those presents w/o us realizing what was going on. It was a very long day - we'd drive to Wilmington, take the train to Philly, shop, and then reverse the travel. I remember eating at "the automat," which was like a huge vending machine built into the wall and delivering fresh food. But... the last time I visited the city I was probably 12, so it's not like I know it. 
I took 2 pics of the skyline as we drove in, then cropped out all the clutter. The old bldg is the Willow Steam Plant (1927), and the new ones are Liberty Place 1 & 2 (1990), which were the tallest bldgs in the city until 2007.

Innovative Design

 Anyway... our lawyer daughter Amy spent a couple days here a few years back so we asked for her two must-dos. The first was Eastern State Penitentiary (certainly a surprise – I’d never even heard of it) and Freedom Rising, a live, multi-media presentation at the Constitution Center. When it opened in 1929, the penitentiary was the largest and most expensive public structure ever erected, and it quickly became a model for more than 300 prisons worldwide. Each prisoner was confined to a small cell with a bed, basic toilet flushed once a day w/ a bucket of water, a work table (every prisoner had some type of assigned work), tiny skylight and a small, walled exercise yard. Three meals were handed through a small portal (no cell door – prisoners entered from the exercise yard). Total isolation. No mistreatment, but also absolutely no contact. The theory was that this provided time to ponder your misdeeds and become truly penitent. (More on that later.)  Later on, the need for more space meant adding upper floors and more "spokes" and forgoing isolation in order to improve efficiency.

Artist's rendition... from the outside, a medieval fortress or castle.

Long, lonely corridors.

Doors added much later.

A touch of color in the hallway.

Remembering the old days. 

After becoming more socially conscious, we drive into Central Philly for lunch at the rather upscale Oyster House. Not being a seafood fanatic, this isn't a place I normally would have chosen, but - of course - there's a history behind it. On those trips to visit grandparents, my parents would usually have dinner at Kelly's, a popular neighborhood restaurant. I would get the cherry from my mom's cocktail (an old fashioned), and I always ordered lamb chops (which, ironically, Greg & I had for dinner tonight). Kelly's is long gone, but the owner's family now runs Oyster House in a more central location. My salad of greens, black quinoa (who knew I liked blk quinoa???), strawberries, pistachios, peas & goat cheese topped with a perfectly grilled piece of salmon was beyond fabulous. Greg had longneck clams (which I would not have enjoyed), but the skinny fries that came with them were to die for. And, when I finally mentioned why we were there, our server immediately brought out photos of Kelly's and told me how much they love to hear stories from former Kelly customers. So glad we went!


The afternoon, in brief: Freedom Rising was an extremely well done reminder that the 3-pronged, checks-and-balances system of government our founding fathers crafted was radical and revolutionary - so much so that 3 delegates actually did not sign the Constitution. (And the Rhode Island delegate refused to even attend - he wanted things just the way they'd always been.) The Signers Hall exhibit (life-size bronze statues of the delegates as they might have stood in Independence Hall) was also quite impressive. We finished the afternoon with a look at the Liberty Bell.

Two Marylanders flank a Virginia delegate.
(some of these guys were short!)

Not too pretty, but pretty symbolic.

BlogThoughts...  Several - all tied to my acute awareness of how much I'm learning from this trip in general and especially from writing the blog b/c I'm always fact checking or curious to clarify or expand what I've seen, heard or read. Today's gleanings:

1. The full story behind Philadelphia's nickname is pretty interesting. Check out http://www.ushistory.org/us/4c.asp. 

2. I loved the trips to Wanamaker's, but I never knew until tonight how significant a place it was. Philadelphia's first department store, and one of the earliest in the entire U.S. -  its beginnings remind me a bit of Selfridges. The Crystal Tea Room seated 1000; the bldg is now a National Historic Landmark; and the organ (28,000 pipes - more than twice the one at Longwood) is still played on a regular basis. And John Wanamaker was 33 years ahead of Selfridge! 

3. Not until today's tour of ESP did I ever think seriously about the terms penitentiary and prison. The intent of a penitentiary was to reform, whereas a prison intended to punish. It's not that simplistic, of course, but it is pause for thought - especially when we consider how ridiculously high the American rate of imprisonment is in comparison to all other nations. 

Hagley

Tuesday, May 23…

Brandywine Creek

On to New Jersey. But on the way we’ll visit one more duPont site. The Hagley Museum, Library and Powder Works is where the family story begins. During the French Rev, Éleuthère (E. I.) duPont fled to America with his father and brother. Like many duPonts after him, E.I. had a penchant for chemistry (explosives, in his case), and in 1802 he started what would become a highly regarded (and highly lucrative) gunpowder works along Brandywine Creek near Wilmington, Delaware. The location is beautiful in its own right, and the “factory” was ahead of its time in technique and concern for safety. We enjoyed beautifully detailed dioramas of each step of the powder-making process and saw machines run by water wheel, water turbine, and steam.

Sluice gate opened, reservoir full...

and overflowing. Now the rope
drive is turning the line shaft
in the machine shop, & tools work!

2 steel cones + leather belt +
shift lever (out of sight) =
first variable-speed drive!

Two 8-ton cast iron rollers do final pulverizing.

After a good lunch on the premises, we said good-bye to PA/DEL and set the GPS for Marlton NJ, which will give us access to Philadelphia.  We've tried to contact this Elks Club but had no response. Fingers crossed that there's a spot for us. 

Gray Day

Monday, May 22…

Gray and drizzly all day.  I caught up on laundry, Greg did some general RV maintenance, and we lined up a couple Elks Lodges to host us until the weekend. Heading to NJ tomorrow (to visit Philadelphia), then to Poughkeepsie NY to visit Hyde Park. We’ll be close enough to my sister by then that we’ll just crash there rather than paying holiday rates for a campsite (which probably isn’t available anyway). In my spare time the last few days I’ve been busy editing another appraisal, so I’m glad for down time today. 

Not a day for pictures. Here are a couple more from Saturday. 

I'd title the pair FALLINGWATER, PIERRE S. DUPONT

Rustic

...and Refined

Lunch with Cousin Joe

Sunday, May 21…

My dad had 4 siblings. Three lived on the East Coast, and w of those provided me w/ 3 cousins, one of whom died a year or so ago. Daddy’s older sister lived in California and had kids who I never met or knew anything about. Today we’re going north to take my cousin Joe out for lunch. He’s 75, made his living as a butcher (like his father) and then some higher up management jobs relevant to meat. (He must’ve had a pretty high up position b/c there was a photo of him & his wife at the White House w/ then President Clinton & Hilary.) We ate at “The Coop” (Coopersburg Diner), a local fave that serves breakfast all day plus about 10 pages of just about anything you could dream up – wraps, sandwiches, hoagies, gyros, burgers, platters (chicken, veal, fish), desserts…

We had a nice visit. The usual catching-up (very generally – it’s been at least 40 years since the last time we were together), but no aha moments. I hope to see my other cousin when we go through Maine in late June. 

Zero pictures today, but I'm still hooked on...

trees, so I'll share these 2 Siamese trunks. 😃

BlogThought…  We’ve been in this general area for 3 days, and I just love the feel of it. Very peaceful. The Amish (and Mennonites) may be “different” in their lifestyles, but they're certainly also “equal” (respected) and integrated into regular society – their specialized skills are both appreciated and requested by the greater community. (In a couple days we'll be visiting a 19th gunpowder factory. When the old steam engine that ran the mills needs repair, they always call on one of the Amish brethren.)

duPont Day

Saturday, May 20

Today's a big tourist day. Logistics are complicated by the fact that we have to leave our current campground early, we can’t check into the new place until 3pm, and we don’t want to haul the MH+toad around all day. So we drive to a reasonably close shopping center, where we find several signs reading No Truck Parking. No Overnight Parking. Violators will be towed. We park at the farthest edge, unhook the M3, tape a 3x5 note to the front windshield, cross our fingers and head to Longwood Gardens.

Ten or 12 years ago I finally visited Butchart Gardens in Victoria, BC. They were lovely, but I kept comparing Butchart to these gardens that I'd visited back when I was 10 or 12. I mentioned this to one of our traveling companions, adding that I figured I was romanticizing Longwood based on the impression it had made on a young girl. "Not at all," replied my friend. "I've been to Longwood too, and it is definitely grander." And grander was probably a really good adjective to choose. Butchart is lovely. But it's 55 acres, and Longwood is almost 1100, including a conservatory with over 4000 different plants and an entire fountain garden offering beautifully designed spectacles of water, light, music, & fireworks (in July). The 2 gardens do, however, have several significant similarities: 1... begun in the very early 1900s.  2... begun as labors of love.  3... have an Italianate Garden.  4... offer cultural arts programs as well as gardens.  5... and, surprising to me, both have Aeolian organs (the Longwood organ has 1010 pipes - like I said, grander 😃). My pics aren't very grand (and we visited as spring displays were being replaced by summer ones), but you'll get the general idea.

Central area of the Conservatory

Wild Iris  (I love iris.)

One of the last azaleas.

Just a few of those 1010 pipes (one is 30' high)

Italianate Garden (not the fountain garden)

From Longwood Gardens (created by Pierre S. duPont, 1870-1954 - he originally purchased the property to save rare trees that had been imported from around the world), we drove to Winterthur Museum (former home of Henry F. duPont, a cousin of Pierre). My maternal grandmother worked for this duPont family at Winterthur. Unfortunately, that's about all I know - no idea what her job was or when/how long she worked for them. I have a box of shells that Grandma brought me after she'd wintered w/ the duPonts in Boca Grande, FL. That would have been in the 50s, but Gma emigrated from Scotland in 1929, so she could have been w/ duPonts for a long time. It was kind of weird knowing that I had this connection yet not knowing any details. 
Anyway, Harry duPont hated the Victorian decor his parents had, so when they passed on he began re-decorating rooms to reflect other periods and styles of American furnishings. In one of the rooms, I was surprised to find another personal connection: the furnishings had all come from a home in/near Chestertown, MD, which is where I was born. Honestly, I wasn't all that interested in the museum b/c I'd been expecting to see the house that my grandma had lived in. (I was in Winterthur once as a child - Grandma gave me a drink of water in the kitchen and showed me an elaborate dollhouse somewhere. The kitchens aren't even there anymore.) The grounds, however, were fabulous. Greg and I probably walked through them for close to an hour. 

White arrows (left) kept us on the path.

Stiff Wind

Cottage in Children's Garden

Fairy Ring 
(mist emanates from each toadstool)

What luck.... an antique car show!
(1931 Buick Station Wagon)

Greg playing in the Fringe Tree...

...aptly named. 

Just like him.

We passed this goose

...as we were leaving.

Long day. Good day. And we found the MH sitting safely in front of Home Depot - no nasty reply to Greg's note. I followed Greg to Hidden Acres, where we intend to do as little as possible for the rest of the day. Tomorrow we're going to see one of my cousins in Coopersburg.