Father's Day Golf

We spent Father's Day at the US Open Golf Championship at Shinnecock Hills on Long Island.  Here are a few shots from the day.

 The entrance

 Phil Mickelson signing autographs and taking selfies with the fans.

 Justin Rose taking his second shot on the first hole.

Amateur Matt Parziale hugging his father, who caddied for him, at the 18th green.

 Stands at the 18th green

I guess you can't take the primary teacher out of a person.  Made me giggle to see this board with these two player names...channeling of Dr Seuss... Knox and Fox in golf sox!

And finally, Happy Father's Day to a fabulous father....

Stay tuned we are headed to Iceland tomorrow.

Sights from Day 2 NYC

 Delicious cupcake and strawberry shortcake from Carlos' Bakery.

 The Naked Cowboy

 Bruce Willis  at the Wax Museum..so life like.

 Went to see this.

Skateboarding down Broadway.

Sights from Day 1 NYC

Ended the first day by seeing the following play which was hilarious!  The dinner before bed.

FDR

Today we visited the Franklin D Roosevelt home and presidential library/museum in Hyde Park, NY. This presidential museum and library was the first of 13 in the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).  It was FDR's idea to create a presidential museum and library to share with the American people.

First we had a guided tour of his home. It is all original furnishings and remains the same as when the President was here last just before his death in 1945.  After FDR's death, Eleanor never came back to live here.

This is the family room.

This is the family dining room.  FDR's chair is the one at the end of the table slightly turned away from the table.  It always sat like this allowing him easier access from his wheelchair into the dining chair.

This is an oversize dumb waiter that FDR used to go to and from the first and second floor of the house since he could not use the stairs. Two things I found interesting regarding this picture.  One was that he used a kitchen chair with bicycle wheels attached as a wheelchair within the house.  He used this because of the narrow doorways ad hallways in the house.  The second thing was that he never had an elevator put into the house because he was afraid of fire and thought that he would be trapped if the house ever had a fire.

This was the bedroom of Franklin and Eleanor until they added the south wing of the house.  Then it was used as a guest bedroom.    Queen Elizabeth has stayed in this room.

 Once the south wing was added, this became the bedroom of Franklin and Eleanor until his attack of polio.  This telephone on the wall was a direct line to the White House during WWII.

This is what the house looked like after a wing was added on both ends and what it has looked like since 1945.

Both President and Mrs. Roosevelt are buried in FDR's mother's rose garden on the property.

 Fala, was the President's Scottish Terrier.  Fala was called "the informer" by Secret Service because if you saw him, the President wasn't far behind.

Other sights on the grounds.

One of my favorite quotes from Eleanor Roosevelt that I spotted in the library:  "... it is more intelligent to hope rather than to fear, to try rather than not to try...Nothing has ever been achieved by the person who says, It can't be done."

This was one of my favorite presidential museums.

Woodrow Wilson

Monday was mostly a travel day for us.  We needed to get from Lexington, VA to somewhere close to Hyde Park, NY.  Our only stop before landing in Bethlehem. PA for the night was in Staunton, VA at the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Home, Museum, and Library.  This library is not part of the National Archives and Records Administration like the others we have been to in our travels. It is privately funded. Even though they had three buildings, it was pretty sparse compared to those we have seen.

We started at the information center to purchase our tickets to the museum and guided tour of the home.  Then we walked through the museum.  The highlight of the museum is the presidential limo.

Then we participated in the guided tour of the home where President Wilson was born and lived for a short time.

 President Wilson's father was a minister and the Presbyterian church provided this home for the family, partially furnished, while he was the their minister.  Later the family would move to Atlanta, GA for Reverend Wilson to be a chaplain for the Confederate army.

I did learn a few new facts about President Wilson.  He had trouble getting ladies to accept his proposals for marriage.  He first proposed to a cousin who turned him down.  Then he proposed twice to the woman who would be his first wife.  Later after his first wife died, he proposed to the woman who would eventually be his second wife and she declined the first time.

I also learned that he suffered a stroke at the age of 39.  Later in life near the end of his second term, he suffered 3 more strokes. It is believed he was very ill as he ended his career but that Mrs. Wilson kept him out of the eye of the public and kept his health a secret, as she took care of much of the business of running the country.

He was also the only president who held a doctorate.

Tuesday we will visit the presidential museum and library of Franklin D Roosevelt in Hyde Park, NY.  Stay tuned....