FREEDOM !!!!

[Wentworth]

After months of quarantine la familia and I masked up, and took the pooch for an extended walk at the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Park not far from my place. The walk did much to reduce my ennui...I've attached some photos I took and I hope they have an ennui reducing effect for those still locked in:
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So how's your ennui doing now? :happy:

[Naharaht]

It looks a beautiful park, Bill. Thank you for sharing the photographs. :thumbsup:

[Bligh]

:sleep::help: Much better thanks Bill.

Although i think my listlessness is due mainly to my ship being in harbour without any wind or waves to affect their stability.:minis:
:steer:
Rob.:takecover:

[Wentworth]

It looks a beautiful park, Bill. Thank you for sharing the photographs. :thumbsup:

It is an interesting place to visit as well as being beautiful -- the park contains the FDR Presidential Library and Museum (the U.S.'s first and the only one from which a sitting President governed the country -- it was the "White House North"), also FDR's home Springwood, Eleanor Roosevelt's home Valkill, Top Cottage (a mountaintop retreat where FDR famously threw a hot dog cook out for the King and Queen of England and Winston Churchill), miles of trails to walk, and an interesting visitor's center. If you are ever on this side of the pond I recommend a visit.

[TwoSheets]

Very strange. When logged in I can't view the photos. If not logged in I can see them but very small.

I will take you up on this when we are truly free again.

[Bligh]

Some very odd things happen with photos, often depending on the system that your viewing or downloading device is running on. My computer, for instance suddenly decided that it would post all pictures with an attatchment of the picture as well as the main one. The only way round it is for me to post to one of my albums first and then pick up the picture from there or post it and then cut the picture just retaining the attatchment as the pic. That is what I now do unless I want to have my comment exactly with the picture.
Rob.

[Wentworth]

Very strange. When logged in I can't view the photos. If not logged in I can see them but very small.

I will take you up on this when we are truly free again.

Hi Peter,
Yes when this clears up you might take a drive down -- there's a lot to see and do down here. In fact, Forbes Magazine named the Hudson River Valley one of the top travel destinations in the U.S.:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurabegleybloom/2019/12/19/best-places-travel-us-2020/#24d85a114898

A fun place to start your visit is a few minutes south of the FDR site at the Walkway Over The Hudson -- it is an old elevated rail bridge constructed from steel made by Andrew Carnegie that has been converted to the world's longest elevated pedestrian walkway. The views from up there are beautiful (and it is free to visit -- you can't beat free):
https://walkway.org/

Since you had some problems with the photos, here are the links for the FDR and Eleanor Roosevelt sites:
https://www.nps.gov/hofr/index.htm

https://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/presidents/eleanor_roosevelt_valkill.html

If you do come, a few minutes up the road from FDR is the Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Park which is worth a visit;
https://www.nps.gov/vama/index.htm

About 10 minutes further up the road is one of my favorite Hudson Valley big houses, the Ogden Mills mansion "Staatsburgh" -- it is the house that Edith Wharton modeled her "House of Mirth" upon. It also has hundreds of acres of trails to walk:
https://parks.ny.gov/historic-sites/25/details.aspx

The Hudson River Valley is lined with mansions of the old blue blood families and the noveau riche of the Gilded Age which are fun to visit:
http://www.hudsonriver.com/history/great-estates-hudson-valley

One of my favorites is Hudson Valley School painter Frederick Church's home and studios Olana -- it sits atop a mountain with spectacular views of the Hudson River Valley:
https://www.olana.org/

In this same vein is the home and studios of painter and inventor Samuel F.B. Morse (in his time called "America's DaVinci") about 10 minutes south of the FDR property:
https://www.lgny.org/

Of course, as you know, about 20 minutes North from all this is the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome:
https://oldrhinebeck.org/

Eating in the area is quite good if you come to visit. An almost required gastronomic stop is the Culinary Institute of America (10 minutes from the FDR property) -- it has the highest concentration of Master Chefs and Master Bakers in North America -- you can tour the teaching kitchens and eat in one of their restaurants (the food is fabulous, but pricey):
https://www.ciachef.edu/?utm_source=gmb&utm_medium=organic

A bit more pedestrian (and adjacent to the FDR property) is the Hyde Park Brewery (a micro brewery and restaurant) where you can watch the brew master make the beers on the menu (I recommend the Big Easy Blond -- that's a beer not a waitress):
https://hydeparkbrewing.com/

Two diners in the area that are particularly good are the Everyready Diner and the Palace Diner.

Of course, if you want to do it up big, the Mohonk Mountain House Hotel and Spa sits on a mountaintop about 45 minutes from the FDR site and is rated one of the top spas in North America (I can just see you getting a mudpack and a mani-pedi there):
https://www.mohonk.com/?nck=gbetri&gclid=CjwKCAjwx9_4BRAHEiwApAt0zrtyRzNGjNPq6D-Wad-vQmv6MRt7w6OfUp542inHNw98JXBbbwBv_xoCc9oQAvD_BwE

Huguenot Street in New Paltz is the site of early European settlers and has a number of buildings from the 1600's to tour:
https://www.huguenotstreet.org/home

About 45 minutes to the North is Woodstock -- if you need to stock up on your tie dye wardrobe this is the place for you. At one time Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Crosby, Stills and NAsh, The Band, etc. called this home. The site of the famous (infamous?) 1969 music festival is about 45 minutes outside of town and now has a museum and concert venue:
https://www.bethelwoodscenter.org/museum

AND OF COURSE about 45 minutes South is the United States Military Academy at West Point (terrific military museum, visitor's center, trophy point with captured ordnance, cadet chapel (battle flags), cemetery (Custer among others buried here), Rev War Fort Putnam, etc. etc.:
https://www.westpoint.edu/

If you do come down when this clears up (and I am still extant) and you think you can stand extended exposure to the wonderfulness that is me, I would be happy to be your tour guide.
Bill