FDR NATIONAL HISTORICAL SITE

(November 15, 2016) After spending two days in the lower Hudson Valley, it was time to check out of the Quality Inn in Fishkill. Like I said earlier I don’t usually stay at Quality Inn’s as most of them have exterior rooms and have a reputation of being on the lower in of the Choice Hotel Brands. This Quality Inn had interior room and the customer service was excellent.

Springwood - FDR National Historical Site

After a quick breakfast at the hotel, it was time to hit the road for the 20-mile drive back North on U. S. Highway 9 to the Village of Hyde Park. I wanted to visit both the Vanderbilt Mansion and the FDR National Historic Site, but the Vanderbilt Mansion was closed for a wedding or some type of elegant social function. So shortly after the FDR National Historical opened I pulled into the vacant parking lot and made my way into the Visitors Center. 

I was evidently the first visitor of the day and bought my ticket for the 10 a.m. tour of the Roosevelt Mansion. The grounds and the adjacent museum are self-guided but the tour of the mansion is guided by a National Parks Service Employee. 

FDR & Eleanor at the Visitor's Center

I had a bout a 40-minute wait for my tour and passed the time by walking around the grounds that are dotted with statues and monument dedicated to the 32^nd President of the United States. Just outside of the Visitors Center is a statue of Eleanor and Franklin sitting around a table reading books, and a little further along is a bust of President Roosevelt, which stands at the entrance to the museum. Behind the Museum is Freedom Park, which has two large busts of President Roosevelt and Winston Churchill along with two large pieces of the Berlin Wall.  

After walking the ground for about 30-minutes I made my way back to the lobby of the visitor’s center where I was to meet my tour guide.  When I re-entered the lobby of the visitor’s center to join my 10 o’clock tour. Several people were also waiting inside to join the tour and as I waited I heard someone say “Go Deacs”, and a couple of people came up to me and wanted to know if I was from Winston-Salem.  Seems they had noticed my Wake Forest University hat.  Turned out that they were with a tour group from the Winston Salem area.  I told them I wasn’t from the Winston Salem Area but was a Wake Forest Season Ticket hold in both football and basketball.  One of the ladies wanted to introduce me to her husband, who was also a basketball season ticket holder. She introduced me to her husband and after talking to him for a few minutes he said he recognized me as the guy who sits behind the Wake Forest bench taking pictures.

The Living Room

After talking for a few minutes our tour guide joined us to begin out tour. After a brief introduction about the life of Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt we began out walk toward the mansion. On our way we past the rose garden where both Eleanor and Franklin are buried along with their Scottish Terrier “Fala.” The guide told us we would be free to return to the rose garden after our tour of the house.

FDR's White House Desk

Out tour of the Roosevelt Mansion lasted about 45-minutes and our guide took use through each room of the house and showed us how the upper class lived and how the house had to be discreetly renovated to accommodate President Roosevelt’s polio. President Roosevelt was very rarely photographed with his leg braces and he was largely confined to a wheel chair. The Roosevelt’s like to entertain so the house contained several renovations that allowed the President to move about including a make shift elevator that operated like a dumb waiter. This allowed President Roosevelt to avoid the stairs and move between floors.

Graves of Franklin & Eleanor Roosevelt

Following my tour of the house, I made my way back to the museum, where I spent the next couple of hours touring the Museum. The museum has a number of artifacts belonging to both President and Mrs. Roosevelt including his White House Desk, and the original draft of his “A Day that will live in infamy,” speech that he delivered to Congress on December 8, 1941.

My final stop was back at the Rose Garden where I visited the graves of President Roosevelt and his wife Eleanor. Most people think that the Roosevelt’s are resting beneath the large marble monument but actually they are resting in front of the monument, with the President’s grave being closest to the monument.  There is a small sundial in the garden, which marks the grave of Fala, the Presidents Scottish Terrier.

Val-Kill

After spending the morning at the Franklin Roosevelt National Historical Site, I traveled about 3-mile down Route 9 to Val-Kill, which is the only National Historical Site devoted to a First Lady.  Following the Death of President Roosevelt in 1945, Val-Kill would become the home of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. It was the only home that she ever personally owned.  During my visit, the small stone cottage was not open for tours

but I was able to walk the grounds.

After spending about 30-minutes at Val-Kill, it was time to move on; after all today is moving day and I am headed toward Valley Forge where I will spend the night.

I crossed the Hudson at Poughkeepsie and a short time later headed south on Interstate 87.  I made a quick stop at the New Paltz Service Area for a fast food lunch before continuing my trek toward Valley Forge.

After about four and a half hours I arrived at the Comfort Inn in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania.  I chose this hotel because it is only about 5-miles from the Valley Forge Nation Park. It is a little hard to find and I must say that after enjoying good service throughout this trip, this hotel while clean was really lacking in customer service.  When I arrived I had to wait several minutes for the front desk employee to finish with a personal call on his cell phone. After finally getting checked in I walked up the street to a Burger King and grabbed a quick supper before ending the day.  Tomorrow I plan on spending much of the day before heading east toward Gettysburg.