New England, 2022

Post #3: Catskills Area of New York, August 11 to 14

On Thursday, we moved a little bit farther east to Plattekill, NY, about 75 miles north of New York City. While we would like to visit NYC at some point, it’s not on our agenda for this trip. We stayed in another KOA, but this one is not like most. It’s more like a state park and our site is surrounded by trees and space between us and our nearest neighbor. We were pleasantly surprised.

Our first day started with a trip down to West Point, NY for a visit to the United States Military Academy. The Military Academy is not only a university for the training of Army officers but is also an active military base. The visitor center was very interesting and covered the history of the Academy and what it means to be a Cadet. The West Point Museum was very interesting, not only covering more history of the Academy, but the Army’s roll in all of the major conflict and the weaponry of warfighting from ancient times up to the present, from small arms to artillery. The museum contained four full floors of exhibits. After touring both of these, we took a 50-minute guided bus tour of the facilities with several stops along the way. They included the chapel, a beautiful view of the Hudson River, and a memorial to the Civil War. The chapel reminded me of the National Cathedral in Washington, DC, only much smaller. Lots of stone and stained glass. It’s also a good bit smaller and not as “modern” architecturally as the chapel at the Air Force Academy.

View up the Hudson River from West Point.

Civil War Memorial on the campus of West Point.

After spending a good part of the day at the Military Academy, we took a drive up to Poughkeepsie, NY to walk the Walkway Over the Hudson. The original, “new’ mild steel and iron railroad bridge opened in 1889 and remained in service until it was damaged by fire in 1974. It was part of the most direct route from the industrial northeast to the more rural Midwest. In 2009, the bridge was reopened to bikers and hikers and held the title of the world’s longest footbridge until 2016, at almost a mile and a third long and the walkway is 212 feet above the Hudson River.

View of Poughkeepsie, NY from the Walkway.

The next day, we returned to Hyde Park, NY, just on the northern edges of Poughkeepsie. There we visited the Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site, the home of Frederick Vanderbilt, one of the children of William Henry Vanderbilt who was at one time the richest man in the US. Although the house was not as opulent (gawdy?) as some of the homes of his relatives, it was still quite opulent. The 50,000 square foot “cottage” was built right at the end of the 1800’s for a total cost, including furnishings, of $660,000. The house, surrounding 200 acres, and all of the original furnishings were given to the National Park Service in 1938.

Entry/Reception Room of the Vanderbilt Mansion.

From the Vanderbilt House, we went to the neighboring Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site. This is the house that FDR was born in and where the family lived up until his death. The grounds around the house are also home to the FDR Presidential Library and Museum. Following a guided tour of the house, we drove over to Val-Kill, the name of the Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site and where Eleanor lived from the time of FDR’s death in 1945 until her death in the 1960’s. Her home was really very small, especially in comparison to the Vanderbilt and FDR’s homes along the Hudson. I think it might have fit in the entry hall of the Vanderbilt’s “cottage”.