Bookworm's Dinner : Franklin Roosevelt

Monday, July 19, 2010

Sunday Salon-Monday Recap-July 19, 2010

My cousin Russ came to visit on Thursday night and so I was busy, busy, busy hanging out with him. So, please excuse this Sunday Salon on Monday this week. I didn't get a lot of reading done over the weekend but did pick up a couple of books and wanted to tell you about my trip to the FDR Library and Museum and Val-Kill in Hyde Park, NY. In Connecticut, it has been unbearably hot and humid. The humidity is really the killer for me, bad hair days and uncomfortable sticky icky weather. Russ and I were going to go kayaking on Friday, but when I looked at my kayak, there was a hole in the bottom that needs to be patched. No problem, Russ brought his bike and so we took a 10 mile ride up to Kent, CT along the river. What a beautiful ride. It was so much fun and so pretty, we repeated the same trip on Sunday morning, biking a little further on the second trip.

Along Our Bike Route-CT Americana

Biking Along the River-July

On Saturday we went to the FDR Library and Museum and Eleanor Roosevelt's Val-Kill Cottage. I get so inspired by this woman's legacy. She was an amazing woman, a powerful political figure and as I walked through the doors to her home I couldn't help but reflect on the history surrounding me. This modest cottage in the country was a retreat for Eleanor and her family, not only Franklin, but her children, and many grandchildren. Think about this, she entertained countless heads of state at Val-Kill in the country, including John F. Kennedy, Nikita Khrushchev, Haile Selassie, Marshal Tito and Winston Churchill to name just a few. The park guides mentioned that she would often tell her staff to expect 4-5 guests for lunch only to learn that twenty or more would show up. She would just set up card tables and portable folding chairs and make do. If you are ever in this area of New York, the Roosevelt Historic Site is well worth a look.

Photos-Hyde Park, New York-The Roosevelt Historic Site