Washington DC

I-95 took us through Baltimore on our way to Washington D.C. The road was good, and all was going well until we were about to go through a tunnel beneath the bay. At the last exit before entering the tunnel was a sign that RVs must exit here due to the propane tanks we carry for our cook stoves and furnaces. The Maryland DOT had posted no signs earlier than this one. We were directed to an industrial area with no signs redirecting us back out. After about an hour on back streets, getting dumped into residential areas, etc, we finally got to a place that we could pull over, call the Maryland State Police, and find out what route we could take over the bay. Eventually, however, we cleared the Baltimore Metro area and made it on to College Park, MD where we stayed during our visit. We suggest that our RVing friends call the Maryland State Police before entering the Baltimore Metro area to determine where they can and cannot go. We probably should have known that we couldn't go through a tunnel, but it sure would have been good to have the sign before the turn to the bridge we eventually took. About ten minutes away from our RV park was a Washington Metro station. Washington has an excellent subway system that will get you just about anywhere you want to go.
Our daughter, Erin, flew in the day after we arrived. She had a long list of places she wanted to see. This was fine with us. Ted had been in D.C. many times, but never as a tourist. Penny had likewise been here several times on business, but her last trip as a tourist was many years ago. What we quickly discovered, however, was that Erin's sightseeing pace was much more intense than the one to which we have become accustomed. Of all of the monuments on the mall, this one was the most striking.

Here, the Capitol dome peeks out from behind the Washington Monument late in the evening.

The next day, we went to the White House. The First Squirrel (lower left of the photo) came out to greet us.

If you could only see one thing in D.C., it would have to be the Smithsonian. We started in the Museum of American History. This is the John Bull. Built in Britain and first operated in the U.S. in 1831, it was one of the first in the United States. It was last fired up and operated in 1981 making it the oldest operable steam locomotive in the world.

Here, in the Smithsonian National Aerospace Museum is a room full of firsts. The most recent of these, "flying" diagonally just below the Spirit of St. Louis is Spaceship One, the first privately owned and developed manned craft flown into space.

Penny and I had been to Belfast, where the Titanic was built, and the Halifax, Nova Scotia, burial site of many of those who lost their lives on the Titanic. Because of these travels, this life vest and camera found floating in the Titanic wreckage were particularly poignant.

One of the most interesting exhibits was this full size mock up of the Hubble Space Telescope. It was used in stress tests performed on the ground prior to the launch of the real one.

In the foreground is the Pershing II, in the background, the Russian SS20. They are atomic- warhead-capable Intermediate Range Ballistic Missles outlawed by the SALT II treaty.

I think we all breathed a sigh of relief when these became museum pieces. Long-time Portlanders will recognize this as Sandy Boulevard. In nearly the center of the diorama you can see a sign marking the old Fred Meyer store there. This was part of the display documenting the cultural history of the USA.This whimsical sculpture was outside the National Museum of Art. It reminded us of the badminton birdies at the Nelson-Atkins Art Museum in Kansas City, MO.

We even found R2D2 here. No sign of C3PO. Tyler, Blake, and Austin, wish you had been with us.

The day after we hit the Smithsonian, we went to the Holocaust Museum. It was very well done. In many places, I found tears welling up into my eyes. How could we as a species have done what was done in Nazi Germany, and in some of the other parts of the world? How can we make sure it never happens again? Photos weren't allowed, so none are presented. We later went to Arlington National Cemetery. There were several very touching monuments. Among them were monuments commemorating the Astronauts lost in the Challenger and Columbia disasters, soldiers who fought in the Battle of the Bulge, World War I and II nurses, Roughriders, the USS Maine, and many more.

The cemetery was established on the grounds of the Custis estate which had belonged to the family of Robert E. Lee's wife. A vengeful Secretary of War Edward M. Stanton, in order to reduce the utility of this estate, directed that graves be situated as close as possible to the Custis/Lee Mansion, overlooking the cemetery. Eventually, Congress reimbursed the Lee/Custis family for the loss of the property.

This is the grave of President John F. Kennedy.

A few feet away from JFK's grave is the simple grave of Senator Robert F. Kennedy. A similar marker for Senator Edward M. Kennedy is on the other side of JFK's grave.

We were priviledged to be able to watch the changing of the guard at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The unknown from the Viet Nam War was disinterred several years ago and identified through DNA. Hopefully, this means that there will never be a memorial like this again. Overall, this was a day of deep thought and sadness, and much pondering about man's inhumanity to man.

We took one Metro line and a city bus to George Washington's Mt. Vernon. The estate has been restored to nearly its working configuration by the Mount Vernon Ladies Association. The association has also purchased several hundred acres surrounding the estate and across the Potomac river so the view from the house will remain as it was when Washington

lived here. This is George Washington's crypt. It was particularly significant to us since one of Penny's relatives was a pallbearer when Washington was laid to rest. Martha is buried in the sarcophagus to the left. Several Washington family members are interred behind the black door in the center of the photo.

On our final day together, we visited Ford's theater. This is the box where President Lincoln sat when he was assassinated. It is still a working theater, but the Lincoln display, mostly in the basement, was excellent.

This is the Star Saloon where the President's bodyguard drank as John Wilkes Booth slipped into the President's box.

Across the street from Ford's Theatre is Peterson's boarding house where the President was taken after being shot, and where he died.

For us, one of the lowest key, but still most breathtaking places was the Rotunda of the National Archives. There's just something about viewing the original Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights. Also here was one of the fifteen original copies of the original Magna Carta. We saw another one at the British Library when we were in London.

The Hudson Valley

On our way to Washington D.C. to meet our daughter, who was flying in for her vacation, we planned a stop in the Hudson Valley.

On our first night in, we decided to go to New Paltz, a French Huguenot community founded in 1678. Evidence of the age of this town is seen in several of these neat stone houses in the Hugeunot section. This old French Reformed churchyard sat on the edge of this part of town.

This house was across the street from the churchyard. There were several pairs of wooden clogs outside the front door. Many of the Huguenots sought refuge in the Netherlands between the time they left France and came to the America.

Of course, there is a much larger town surrounding the old Huguenot community. Two of the more famous former residents were Sojourner Truth who joined with the Quakers in fighting slavery, and more recently, Floyd Patterson, former world heavyweight boxing champion. On the way back to our RV park, we went through historic Newburgh, NY. Here, overlooking the Hudson River, is Hasbrouck House, George Washington's headquarters during the closing months of the Revolutionary War.

The next day we went to West Point, about forty miles south of our park. What we had failed to check before we left was the college football schedule. It was a Saturday and there was a home game. Since 9/11 visitors can only get on campus by a tour bus or ticket to an event. We changed our plans and continued south to Sleepy Hollow, NY. Several famous people are buried here in the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery. The two graves to the left are those of Andrew Carnegie and his wife Louise. To the right are the Carnegie servants. This was a repeated theme throughout the cemetery. Imagine spending eternity with your boss.

This is the mausoleum of Walter Chrysler and the Chrysler family.

This modest stone marks the grave of Elizabeth N. Graham, better known as Elizabeth Arden. The double names indicate that she is buried on top of the first person. Frugality or environmental awareness?

This is the mausoleum of Henry and Leona Helmsley. A local told us that Leona had demanded she not be interred facing the "poor people". She was laid to rest in this mausoleum on the edge of the cemetery facing William Rockefeller. True or not, it makes a good story. We're not sure Mr. Rockefeller would approve of the arrangement.

This was what we really came for. Here is the grave of Washington Irving. For those who are unfamiliar with Ted's background, he grew up in Bixby, Oklahoma. When Washington Irving traveled west, he and his party camped just outside the area that would later become Bixby. One of Ted's friends was instrumental in the establishment of a realy cool arboretum named after Irving.
In the cemetery below him are townspeople of Sleepy Hollow and Tarrytown, many of whom are said to be the inspiration for some of his characters.

This is a replica of the Headless Horseman Bridge over the edge of the Pocantico River which runs along the east side of the cemetery. The original was located about a hundred yards downstream where there is now a busy highway.

Of course, we tried to mentally reconstruct the circumstances and setting for Irving's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Perhaps we got a bit carried away.

The next day, we went to FDR's Hyde Park. Here is the house where he was born and to which he often escaped when he was President.

This was the view he had out his bedroom window.

This is the FDR Presidential Library and Museum. It is the only Presidential Library actually used by the sitting president for which it was named. It was constructed with FDRs personal funds. As you look at his desk inside the museum, you can't help feeling the gravity of the decisions he had to make during his administration.

This sculpture was outside the welcome center. It represents his wheelchair, his patriotism, and his love of sailing.

The busts of Roosevelt and Churchill face each other. In the background is a sculpture made by Churchill's granddaughter from pieces of the Berlin Wall.

These bronzes of Franklin and Eleanor were also just outside the welcome center.

Here are the graves of Franklin and Eleanor. Beneath the sundial in the background are buried the Roosevelt dogs, "Big Boy", and the better known Scottish Terrier "Fala".

Two miles away is Val-Kill, Eleanor's modest cottage and the Val-Kill Industries where she hosted several artisans and artists in a grand experiment in social engineering.

In contrast to Eleanor's Val-Kill, is the Vanderbilt Mansion. In a way it was rather a sad comment that there were very few people at Val-Kill while the parking lot at the Vanderbilt Mansion was packed.

This is a view of the Hudson River from the edge of the Vanderbilt estate. People had gathered here on the top of this hill and were sitting in chairs watching the sun set over the Hudson.

As we drove back home, we pulled into the American Culinary Institute in Hyde Park. Fellow Food Channel junkies may recognize this restaurant on campus.

Streets on Campus were appropriately named.

The Culinary Institute was large and beautiful. On the case of the clock at the top of the stairs was the word "Heinz".

After leaving the home of the immensely popular President Roosevelt, we went to the home of the unpopular President, Martin Van Buren near Kinderhook, NY, on the edge of the Catskills. This is Rip van Winkle country, and they made every effort to capitalize on it. As we entered the estate, we were struck by this tree just beginning to assume its fall coloration.
This is Lindenwald, Martin Van Buren's House. Van Buren was the eighth President of the United States, and the first born under the American flag. He was an unpopular president. He inherited a recession, primarily attributable to decisions made by his popular predecessor, Andrew Jackson, and his own Congress. Many of Van Buren's actions resulted in an exit from that recession during the administration of the successive administrations of William Henry Harrison and John Tyler. Unfortunately, Van Buren never got credit for this.

That evening as we went to dinner, we were passed by the car carrier for NASCAR driver Dale Earnhart Jr. Junior is Tyler's favorite driver, so we included this photo mostly for him.

We thoroughly enjoyed our time in the Hudson Valley. However, we barely scratched the surface of the rich history there, so this goes on our list of places to which we must return.