June 11 Washington's Headquarters and Storm King Mountain Art Center

So today we went to Washington's Headquarters and Storm King Mountain. It was an interesting day to say the least. We actually got to Washington's Headquarters two minutes early, because we had to wait for the gate to open. I'm not exactly sure why they couldn't open the gate two minutes early, but waiting wasn't that bad.  Our tour guide for Washington's Headquarters was an interesting person to look at. Her make-up was atrocious, and she had this bow in her hair that looked like it was made out of hair. At a closer look, I noticed that it was made out of plastic string. Anyway, though she was funny looking, she definitely knew what she was talking about. Every time someone asked her a question she was eager to answer. It was a very good tour, I thought. We learned that the house was not actually owned by the Washington's. The Livingston's actually owned the house, George Washington was renting the house during the revolution. It was a convenient location because West Point was not far down the river. West Point was a spot in the river that was crucial for the war. If the British were to capture West Point, they would have been able to control the entire Hudson River. Our tour guide made sure we knew this.

Front Gate of Washington Headquarters

We could not take pictures inside the house, which kinda stinks, but we were allowed to take as many as we wanted outside of the house and museum. I learned that the Livingston's built the house in 1750, then put the addition on in 1770. In 1782, Washington moved in, along with his wife Marsha, secretaries, and guards. The house was built on a 200 acre farm, that was actively running during the revolution. In the house there was a Dutch jamless fireplace. I thought it was kind of funny because the first time that I saw one of these was at the Mabee Farm, and now I seem to be seeing them a lot more.

Washington's Headquarters

There was a museum built on the property. The house became a historic sit e in 1850, and it was the first historical site. It is also the site of one of the Minute men. This minute man is on the seal of New York State. Our tour guide was very proud of this. Also on the property was a Washington Monument. We were not even allowed to go inside this building, because of the unstable roof/ceiling, but there was an opening on each side with locked gates that allowed us to look into the monument.

The Minuteman

One this that I really remember from the headquarters, is the badge of Merit, better known today s the purple heart. This award goes to enlisted men, who were killed in action or wounded on the battle field. I personally knew someone who recieved this award. His name was Doug Cordo, and he was only 20 when he was killed in Afghanistan. His mother received the award for him at his funeral services. It is amazing to think that I stood in the room that Washington created this award for the Enlisted men of the service. Up until this time, only the higher-ups would receive awards for merit. It's nice to know that someone was thinking about the little people.

Washington's Monument

After Washington's Headquarters, we ventured off to Storm King Mountain Art Center. This was actually a lot different than I thought it would be. We had an assignment here, to compare and contrast this art center to the Hudson Valley School of Painting. So what did I think about? The Hudson Valley School of Painting was the painting of the landscapes and mountains. This art center used the landscapes to enhance the statue art. The picture below shows the grumpy Krista standing in front of a Tree like statue. Upon closer look at this statue, though it was made out of wood, it was not carved out of a tree trunk like I thought it was.

Krista standing in front of the Tree looking statue

Krista sitting in the Half Dollar Chair

What I like to call the Lightening Rod

Michelle being Studius

We also took a tram ride around the art center which was very large. We looked at many statues and pieced that I did not know where statues until someone said something. My favorite statue was the Lightening Rod showed above. This thing was huge and I could only imagine what would happen if it got struck by lightening. After our tram ride we got to go back up to the Visitor Center, where there was a small museum. We walked around here for a while, watched a few movies at the museum, and saw miniature statues just like the ones out on the lawn. Upon returning to campus, we finished watching the move about Eleanor Roosevelt. We finished pretty early with this, and decided to go out to dinner. Michelle, Krista, Kaity, Kassiana, and Me went to Applebees, but not before we got ourselves and the professors lost, when Michelle's GPS stopped working and brought us to an imaginary Applebees. Michael, Toby, Andor, Pamela, and Andra decided not to join us at Applebees, but we still had a delicious dinner. Tommorow is the day that we get to go home, and I can't tell you how excited I am for it.