2026 GREAT AMERICA 250 ADVENTURE - GRANT'S COTTAGE

 

WEDNESDAY – JULY 8, 2026: I was up late last night trying to figure out a plan for today. I looked at traveling from the Hampton Inn here in Rutland, Vermont up to Fort Ticonderoga and then crossing the Hudson and heading down to Grant’s Cottage in Wilton, New York.

But the drive from Rutland to Fort Ticonderoga was over an hour according to Google Maps. From what I have read, I should plan on spending two to three hours touring the fort. Then it’s another hour and a half to two hours down to Grant’s Cottage. 

When I plug in the numbers and hope nothing goes wrong, I the earliest that I could arrive at Grants Cottage would be about 1:30 or 2 in the afternoon. That doesn’t leave much wiggle room if something goes wrong.

My second option was to remove Fort Ticonderoga and drive straight to Grant’s Cottage and them have the afternoon free to either visit some sites around Albany or drive back down to Kinderhook and try again to visit the Martin Van Buren National Historic site.  

Then return to the Holiday Inn that I spent the night at a few nights ago and make the drive down to the Baseball Hall of Fame Tomorrow. There were a couple of other options that is briefly considered but this option was the one that I settled on before turning in last night.

This morning, while having breakfast at the Hotel, I checked the National Park Service Website and found that the Martin Van Buren Historic Sites were still closed due to storm damage. So, Grant’s Cottage and Albany were the plan for the day.

It took me about an hour and a half to make the 60-mile drive from Rutland, Vermont to the Ulysses S. Grant’s Cottage near Wilton, New York. I left the Visitor’s Center to my tour, I watched a 15-minute film about President Grant’s time at the Cottage. It was really interesting and gave me a great overview of what I was about to see. 

President Grant was writing his memoirs and was in the Final Weeks of his life when he arrived at this small cottage on Mount McGregor north of Sarasota Springs, New York. He was suffering from Throat and tongue Cancer and need to escape the heat of New York City.

President Grant, a few members of his family, and his medical attendants arrived at the Cottage on June 16, 1885. He could barely speak and when he tried to speak, he could not speak above a whisper.

His pain was severe and his medical attendants swabbed his throat several times a day with cocaine water. He would spend most of his day sitting in the living room or on the front porch putting the finishing touches on his memoirs.

It was so painful for him to swallow that he had to sleep sitting up in two large chairs, and he could not eat food that wasn’t pureed.

At 8:08 a.m. on July 23, 1885, President Ulysses S. Grant passed away at this small Cottage, just five days after finishing his memoirs. President Grant’s son Frederick walked to a small clock on the mantle and stopped it at 8:08, forever freezing the moment in time.

Following his death a private funeral service was held on the Front Porch of the Cottage. Funeral wreaths from the Grand Army of the Republic and Leland Stanford arrived at the Cottage prior to the Private Service.  Those funeral Wreaths are still on display at the cottage.

These fragile Victorian-era floral wreaths are exceptionally rare because they survived intact without being coated in wax or encased in glass. Lighting inside the rooms where they are kept remains dim to protect the faded arrangements from further light degradation.

Following the private funeral at the cottage, President Grant’s body was transported to New York City by train. On August 8, 1885, the official state funeral was held. The Funeral procession stretched for more than 7 miles and was attended by an estimated 1.5 million people.

Among those attending the New York City Funeral were the sitting President Grover Cleveland and former Presidents Rutherford B. Hayes and Chester A. Arthur. Honorary Pallbearers were Union Generals William Tecumseh Sherman, General Phil Sheridan. Confederate Generals Joseph E. Johnston and Simon Bolivar Buckner also served as Pallbearers. The Funeral of President Ulysses S. Grant still remains as one of the Largest in in New York City History.

I was the only person at the cottage for the 10:30 tour so I got a personal tour from my Guide Ron. Grant’s Cottage has been on my bucket List for several years and I must say that it more than lived up to my expectations.

I ended up spending more than two hours at the cottage, but all good things must come to an end and it was time to head back down the mountain for my next stop at the Albany Rural Cemetery.

It took a little over an hour to make the 50 miles drive to the Albany Rural Cemetery which I visited the grave of our 21^st President, Chester A. Arthur. President Arthur served as the the 20^th Vice President under President James Garfield from March 4, 1881 – September 19, 1881.

When President Garfield was assassinated and died on September 19, 1881, President Arthur assumed the Office of President. He served from September 19, 1881, until March 4, 1885.

After spending the summer of 1886 in New London, Connecticut, he returned home where he became seriously ill.  On November 16, 1886, ordered nearly all of his papers, both personal and official papers, to be burned. The next morning, Arthur suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and never regained consciousness. He died the following day, on November 18, 1886, at the age of 57.

He was laid to rest here in the Albany Rural Cemetery. His grave is marked by a large sarcophagus and a large angel. The "Angel of Sorrow" is a life-size bronze sculpture created by Ephraim Keyser. It features a mourning angel laying a palm frond over a polished black granite sarcophagus.

Before leaving the cemetery, I tried to make a reservation at the Same Holiday Inn I stayed at a few nights back. But it was sold out, on whim I checked hotels closer to Cooperstown. All of them were sold out.

July is induction Month at the Baseball Hall of Fame and from time to time it will be closed to the public for special induction events. So, I checked and sure enough, the Baseball Hall of Fame will be closed tomorrow and Friday for a special event.

So, I decided to put some miles behind me and start the journey home. Leaving the cemetery, I made my way back toward Interstate 90 and eventually to Interstate 88.

As I was traveling down Interstate 88 toward Binghamton, it dawned on me that I still needed a place to stay tonight. Just before I got to Binghamton, I stopped at the Rest Area near Worcester, New York and explored accommodations in Binghamton, New York, Scranton, and Hazleton, Pennsylvania.

It took me about 30-minutes, but I finally settled on the Holiday Inn near Hazleton, Pennsylvania which was about 4 hours away.

On the way I encountered a couple of area of stop and go traffic around Scranton and Wilke Barre, Pennsylvania. Because of these delays I decided to stop and get supper at a Cracker Barrel in Wilkes-Barre.

After supper I still had a little over and hour to drive to the Holiday Inn and I did encounter one more area of stop and go traffic which delayed my arrival. I didn’t arrive at the hotel until 7 p.m. but check in was quick and I soon settled in my room.

Tomorrow will be all about miles and getting Home. I still have just a little less than 500 miles to home. Looking at things, I will probably stop a couple of times along the way for coffee but tomorrow will be a straight shot down Interstate 81 to home.

THURSDAY – JULY 9, 2026 – I slept in this morning and didn’t check out of the hotel until after 9 a.m. I managed to fill up both of my tumblers with coffee before leaving the hotel so I was good for a while.

Like I said it was a straight shot down Interstate 81, and I did not encounter any delays as I made my way around Harrisburg. The miles clicked by as I exited Pennsylvania and made my way through Maryland and West Virginia.

Back in Virginia I made my first stop of the day at Love’s in Toms Brook. I thought about getting gas here but decided to push on to Buc-ee’s south of Harrisonburg.

From Tom’s Brook to Buc-ee’s I was playing gas tank roulette and when I arrived, I had 4 miles left on the mileage meter. After gassing up and getting a drink and a couple of brisket sandwiches, it was time to hit the road for the final push home.

From Staunton South, Traffic was nerve racking to say the least. But this is the norm on Interstate 81. But I encountered no real delays and arrived home at 6:20 p.m.

I had planned on being going until Saturday, actually arrived back home two days early. I still managed to cover 1,889 miles and visit the grave of 6-President and some of Baseballs Greatest Players.

While a lot of things didn’t go as planned, A lot did and I can say Without a doubt, Grants Cottage was the highlight of this trip.

Now, it’s time to rest up, and start planning my next adventure.