Today is the day we all have been waiting for. It's the day we get to leave Newburgh and go home, whether to Troy or Saugerties, we were all relieved. There was a catch though, we had to make a pit stop on the way there. This pit stop consisted of the Roosevelt home (old money), the Vanderbilt Mansion (new money), and Val-Kill, which was a nice comfy cottage. So lets start the day at the Roosevelt home. There was yet another scheduling issue, apparently we were supposed to go to Vanderbilt Mansion first, but we went to the Roosevelt home. I don't call it FDR's home though because he is the not only one that lived there. It kind of annoys me that it is called FDR's home; what about his mother, his wife, his kids, his father. I do understand that he was an important part of history but there were people behind him and there to support him through every decision that he made. For instance, his mother; though she was over bearing, she is one of the reasons he turned out the way he did. I was surprised to find out that FDR was home-schooled until he was fourteen and then sent off to a boarding school. When he was younger, he also learned how to read and write; he learned other languages; and he learned proper manners. Anyway continuing on with the day. While we were in Newburgh, we watched a video about Eleanor Roosevelt. It is her that I really should be focusing on. But again I'm Fast forwarding; let's talk about the Vanderbilts.
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| View from the Roosevelt Home |
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| The Roosevelt Home |
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| Roosevelts' Graves |
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| Visitor Center at Vanderbilt Mansion |
When I first walked in to the visitor center, my eyes were drawn to the trophies on the wall. no not like an award trophy, like a hunting trophy. I could not imagine what I would do if I ever got a trophy like these. The racks on the deer are huge, and just about perfect, and I have never gone bison hunting, which is what the trophy is on the bottom I'm pretty sure. This makes me think, did Vanderbilt actually get those himself, or did he buy them from a taxidermist? Anyway, the Vanderbilt mansion, was HUGE!!!!! There were only two people that owned the house, Mr. and Mrs. Vanderbilt. Why on Earth would two people need 54 rooms in their house. That is just crazy. The house was more for show than necessity though. There were servants that lived with them in their house, but there were 6 or 7 guest rooms just on the second floor. I honestly don't think I am friends with enough people to fill every room in the house. Another thing that blows my mind is, it wasn't their home year round. They only went to the house during the Fall and Spring. I couldn't believe that it was also the smallest of the Vanderbilt mansions. The Vanderbilt family liked to show off their wealth and they sure did that with the mansions that they built. After Vanderbilt Mansion, we went to lunch. Everyone else went back to the visitor center at the Roosevelt house, though I did not want to pay those prices, so me, Krista and Michelle went to McDonalds. It was just as tasty. At one o'clock, we ventured on down the road to Val-Kill.
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| Vanderbilt Mansion |
Val-Kill was the get away home for Eleanor Roosevelt. Continuing from before, Eleanor was a woman of influence. She was the most powerful woman in the world for quite a few years. This woman had been through so much heartache and betrayl so early in life that it is amazing she became the woman that she did. FDR built Val-Kill for Eleanor because she didn't feel comfortable in his mother's home. This was also built after Eleanor found out that FDr was had an affair with Lucy Mercer. Eleanor was heartbroken when she found this out because she loved FDR, but after this incident, which was early on in their marriage, she was not the same person. Val-Kill was a cozy little cottage. Apparently Eleanor liked it this way. I could definitely tell that this place was used for recreation for the family, it seemed a lot more like home than the other Roosevelt house. Eleanor still had important people over to her house, but she insisted on treating everyone the same, whether you were the King of England, or a mine worker, you were seated at the same table. Also scattered around this dinner table were Eleanor's grandchildren. I thought this was pretty cool; I never got to sit at the adult table, and sometimes I still don't. Eleanor was someone that was looked up to, and she conquered everything that she could imagine. I can imagine that she died a very happy lady because she really did it all.
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| Val-Kill |
After Val-Kill, we were on our way. We have to meet up on Saturday at 8 a.m. yay :(. At least we get one day off.
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