Saturday, September 26th – Upsate New York, Vermont and New Hampshire

I woke up around 6:00am after what felt like a very good night’s sleep.  Rested and raring to go, I was on the road by 6:30.  The area was total socked in with very dense fog; so dense that at times I thought about whether I should stop and wait for it to clear.  Amazingly, it cleared before the New York border, so I was happy that I kept going.

Before the border the local Pennsylvania retailers were taking full advantage of the high consumer taxes on booze and cigarettes in New York.  There must have been half a dozen little “smoke shops” enticing folks to make their purchases before heading into the Empire State.  For me, just a gas stop and I was on my way.  Surprisingly, gas prices in New York were about the same as in PA. 

 

My primary reason for wanting to get to Hyde Park, NY first thing on Saturday morning was the FDR National Historic Site.  Our 31^st US President, Franklin D. Roosevelt was born & raised in Hyde Park.  His family home was also his adult home with wife Eleanor.  It is also their final resting place, right on the grounds that also houses his Presidential Library, the first in the nation.

This was also one of the US National Park Service’s “Free Park Days” when there would be no admission charges for visitors.  Because visitors may only tour FDR’s Home on a guided tour, folks are encouraged to buy tickets online in advance of arrival.  But with the free pass day, tickets were only available upon arrival so I wanted to be sure to be there first thing when the opened at 9:00am.  Timing worked out perfectly, as I was the first person in the parking lot at 8:30am and able to schedule into the 9:30am tour (the first of what was expected to be a busy day).

Prior to the walking tour, there was a short video presentation about FDR and growing up in the area, to include how he would meet and marry Eleanor, his fifth cousin, once removed.  It was clear from the video Eleanor Roosevelt was a strong and compelling figure in FDR’s life, his personal, public and political life.  Once on the tour of the family home, we learned more about FDR’s mom, who was the actual owner of the house until the time of her death.  FDR and Eleanor lived there with her, expanding the mansion to accommodate their growing family.

I knew that FDR had been stricken with polio as a young adult.  What I didn’t realize was the lengths to which he went to keep the American public from recognizing his physical limitations.  A rather proud man, FDR never wanted to appear weak or immobile.  There were special features built into the home that allowed him to ascend to the upper floor to his personal library and bedroom.

Thanks to the docent led tour, we were able to see what life was back in the day as the home was maintained in the family right up until the time it was donated to the US National Park Service.  All of the furnishing were original to the home; although some of the photos on the walls were reproductions from FDR’s mothers travels.

After completing the house tour, folks were left to explore the grounds on their own.  I enjoyed a visit in the gardens where the cemetery is located.  From there, I took a self-guided tour of FDR’s Presidential Library & Museum.  As I already stated, it was the first US Presidential Library.  It was also opened to the public while FDR was still a sitting President.

From there I headed over to the Val-Kil National Historic Site, Eleanor Roosevelt’s cottage about two miles from the FDR Presidential Home & Library.    While they offer tours of her cottage, I was going to have to wait more than an hour for the next open spot, so I moved on about my day.

Somehow in transferring over my photos from my camera phone, I’ve mistakenly deleted everything I took at the Presidential Library and Val-Kil.  There weren’t many great photos, but I am still bummed to have made such a rookie mistake!

Originally my plan was to try to make The US Military Academy at West Point, about 30-45 minutes south of Hyde Park.  But with the amount of time I spend exploring the Roosevelts, I felt too tight on time, so I did an audible and hit the road towards Vermont.

I was excited for my time scheduled in New England for a couple of reasons.  Initially I was hoping that the fall colors that the area is famous for, would be in full glory.  An unseasonably warm and dry September, however, had delayed the brilliant colors.  So my back-up plan is to drive back through New Hampshire and Vermont in hopes of seeing the New England maples and oaks in their full glory.  In the event that the weather is poor, diminishing visibility, I may just opt for a return route home through Canada.

The skies were still clear and the air warm.  It was a lovely afternoon for more driving.  I purposefully programmed Toots (my Garmin GPS system) to avoid the highways to allow me to experience New England from the rural back roads.  In fact the roads were so rural, that I wasn’t sure at what point I actually left Vermont and entering New Hampshire.  No matter, it was all beautiful.  The one downside, however, was that I didn’t take very good notes as I was depending on my photographs to help identify the names of places, particularly the series of covered bridges that distracted me along the way.

Just as there are “Barn Quilt Trails” in Wisconsin and “Lighthouse Trails” in Maine, New Hampshire is well known for their “Covered Bridge Trail.”  I didn’t see a visitor center so I didn’t pick up the guide map but I did run into a couple from Michigan touring “all of the covered bridges in New Hampshire.”  I could only think “good luck with that!”  On the other hand, I first got taken off course by a covered bridge sign with a guiding arrow.  From there, I used Toots to see of there were others in the vicinity . . . there were!  I wandered around the rural country roads, finding five.  Here are photos of two of them, the Henry and West Arlington.

 

 

 After that 90 minute detour, I continued my drive east towards the coast.  Still on country roads, I was wondering about bowling centers.  Toots came through again, navigating me to Springfield Bowl.  Imagine my disappointment hoping to find candlepins, but seeing the USBC Certification decal in the front window!

I still went in and enjoyed meeting the young man working the control counter.  He told me that he had grown up in the town and loved working at the bowling alley that was like a second home to him.  I snapped a few photos and continued on.

I was starting to think about stopping for the night. Having already priced campgrounds in the area, I knew I’d be looking at around $40/night in the area.  Having saved by not paying the night before, I thought I would splurge and get a room.  Again Toots was very helpful.  As I was approaching Concord, NH I started calling around.  OOPS . . . NASCAR was in town for the big Sprint Cup race in Loundon.  No rooms to be found “within a hundred miles” I was told by one place.

I pushed through as night fell.  Once outside of the city area, I started looking down my route using Toots.  I was lucky to find that the Greenwood Motel in Rochester had vacancies.  Even more exited to find the room was $65night.  It was clean and comfortable.

For the day, I drove 380 miles over about 13 hours.