New York Revisited!

September 2-5, 2022

To break the trip to New Jersey up (and avoid the New York City vicinity), we stopped in southeast New York for a few days.  What we had anticipated to be a few days of catching up with things around the camper turned out to be nothing of the kind!  

We stayed at Rondout Valley RV Campground for this Labor Day weekend.  It wasn’t until a couple of days before arriving there that I began thinking about a friend from my days at Iowa State University.  Patrice and I both were Home Economics Education majors with our area of concentration in textiles and clothing.  We also both did our student teaching experience through the Cultural Urban Teaching Experience (C.U.T.E.) program in Kansas City.  Patrice and Dave live in Catskill, NY and I began wondering how far we would be from their home.  It turned out that we weren’t far at all!  We last saw Patrice and Dave 26 years ago when our family took our epic two-week, east coast camping trip.  We actually set up our pop-up camper in their yard for a couple of days, using their home as basecamp to make a day trip into New York City.  We always laugh about that day.  We took our car to catch a train to ride the subway to catch the boat to get to Liberty Island!  

1996 Boat Ride to Liberty Island!

In contacting Patrice, we found a common available day and found a central location to meet.  Before we knew it, we were enjoying a delicious dinner at Frank Guido’s Little Italy in Kingston with Patrice and Dave.  Boy, did we have a lot to catch up on!  I wonder what circumstances will have our paths cross again!

Our next adventure in the area was a day at the site where the Woodstock Music Festival was held in 1969.!  I always thought Woodstock was held in Woodstock, but that’s not the case.  It’s a bit of a long story, but the organizers ran into many challenges in finding just the right location to hold this massive concert.  They had originally hoped to find a spot in Woodstock, but couldn’t find the right property to house both the concert and parking.  They did find a spot and had a contract signed to hold the concert in an industrial park in nearby Wallkill.  The stage was built and the grounds well underway in preparation for the concert when the towns people got wind of what was going on. They mounted a protest, not wanting a lot of “drugged-out hippies” descending upon their town.  Suddenly, a statute was passed that effectively banned the concert from Wallkill.  Panic set in, as there were only six weeks before the concert and a new location had to be found.  Three weeks later, dairy farmer Max Yasgur from Bethel stepped up to the plate and agreed to rent some of his farm for the concert.  Pushing as fast and as hard as possible, the organizers started getting the new venue ready.  Originally planning for 50,000 people to attend, they learned 150,000 - 170,000 tickets had been sold!  Efforts were redoubled to arrange for toilets, food, water… for this large of a crowd.  Two days before the concert, 50,000 people were already there!  Fencing had not yet been completed and ticket booths were not ready.  There was no way to keep the people out!  When the concert began, an estimated 400,000 - 500,000 people were there with another million people stuck in traffic jams trying to get in.  Bethel, NY had just become the third largest city in the state of New York! 

Monument overlooking the Woodstock venue

Music, sex, drugs and some nudity became the trademark of this festival!  And, there was zero violence!  The climate of the 60’s brought this crowd of hippies together who only wanted to escape the violence of everyday life in the 60’s (Vietnam War, assassinations of Bobbie Kennedy and MLK, civil rights protests…).  Three days (going into part of a fourth day) of peace, love and music was the Woodstock slogan and that it was!  I know at least one child was born during the concert.  Undoubtedly, many others were conceived!

Groovy!

We met several “alums” while we toured the museum and grounds.  One alum we met was Duke.  Duke hitchhiked from Texas for the concert and never left!  We also met John, who works as a docent at the museum, giving guided tours which include his personal stories of the concert.  The museum does a great job of “setting the stage” politically and socially for this period of time, explaining the challenges faced by the organizers and giving you a feel for what it was like to be in attendance.  It was such a fun day!

Duke's hangout -- since 1969!

John with his original tickets to Woodstock

Our final day in New York, we headed to the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum in Hyde Park.  There, we not only were able to tour FDR’s library, but also his home, Springwood.  On January 30, 1882, FDR was born in this home. This land was a huge influence on FDR.  The Hudson River flows just behind his home.  In fact, his bedroom offers a beautiful view of the Hudson River.  Between the river and the 1522 acre family estate, FDR acquired a large love for nature and the conservation of land.   

Springwood -- FDR's home

In 1921, FDR was stricken with polio, which left him paralyzed from his waist down.  FDR was determined to regain as much movement and strength as possible, self-prescribing physical therapy exercise of dragging himself down the long front lane of his home.  

FDR's physical therapy lane

Throughout FDR’s life, he loved returning to this home. In fact, he was responsible for building his library and museum here.  FDR’s office in the library was a working presidential office when FDR would come home for summer retreats from the White House!  It was amazing to see not a replica, but the exact office FDR used!

The office in the Library where FDR worked 

In his home, there is a manually operated luggage lift, used to take guests’ luggage to the second floor where the bedrooms were located.  FDR would use this lift to manually pull himself up to his bedroom.  He refused to have an electric elevator installed, fearing a fire would render the elevator unusable.  It’s impressive to think of the strength it would require to pull the ropes on a simple pulley system to raise the lift up to the second floor.  

The fourth section of the Berlin Wall we've come across on our travels

View of the Hudson River from below FDR's bedroom window

We were able to see wheelchairs FDR used in both his home and in his office.  These wheelchairs were pretty basic.  He had them made for him, requesting a simple kitchen chair have its legs removed be and mounted on wheels.  FDR went to great lengths to not be seen by the public in a wheelchair.  He learned to maneuver himself with the use of the steel braces he wore under his slacks to make it look as if he could walk – always with a smile on his face!  

Based on FDR’s belief that all Americans should have freedom of speech, freedom to practice whatever religion they wanted, freedom from fear and freedom from want, he came up with his “New Deal”.  He is also remembered for his “Fireside Chats” and his famous quote: “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself”.  Through FDR’s strength and perseverance, he guided America through the Great Depression and through most of WWII.  

Private library in Springwood (FDR worked on his stamp collection at the desk in the rear left corner.)

Stables on the property

On April 12, 1945, only three months after his 4th term election, FDR died of a cerebral hemorrhage and is buried only yards away from the home in which he was born.  

Eleanor Roosevelt was another strong and courageous person, who worked side by side with her husband.  After FDR’s death, Eleanor continued an active political life until her death in 1962.   Eleanor is buried next to FDR in the center of a rose garden located between their Springwood home and the Presidential Library.  Both Eleanor and FDR cared a great deal for all Americans.  I loved this quote from FDR: “The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.”  

Next up:  New Jersey (for real this time!)