August 2017 Roaming through Massachusetts and Northern NY

After putting Katie and the kids  on the airplane in Portland (first plane ride!) we visited Kennebunkport (Arundel Wharf for dinner) and regrouped—its awfully quiet after a couple of weeks with the kids and we are shifting gears. 

We hated to see them go!

Beautiful seaside homes on the Maine shore

Kennebunkport and the Bush Compound

On July 19^th Fitz and I head out to Plymouth, MA and Pinewood RV.  There we visited Hyannis, Provincetown (best kept secret on Cape Cod—those that live in Key West during the winter, come here in the summer), Boston (the USS Constitution was being launched after extensive refurbishing), Plimouth Plantation and Rock (small!!!), and to ritzy Nantucket (went across the island on a city bus to Sconset Beach where Bill Belichick has a huge home—8 gardeners were working in the yard).


Boston had some beautiful architecture

Fenway Park--almost makes you want to like baseball

USS Constitution was having a huge ceremony



Nice churches
 

Provincetown was a great surprise

Great dinner at P-Town

West Point was the next step and while the military academy was totally worth the trip, the RV park proved to challenge even the best of drivers.  Down the mountain in a windy twisty fashion we traveled to sit beside the Hudson River and for 24 hours we wondered how in the world we would get the RV out of there. 

RV Park at West Point or as Fitz calls it "The Hell Hole"

 

The Chapel at West Point was beautiful



West Point was renovating (isn't everyone?) but we had a great tour and learned a lot

West Point hovers over the Hudson River-- spectacular views and quite proud of their football team too

  Rhinebeck/Hyde Park, NY and Interlake RV was next and we visited Val-kill, FDR Home and Library, a Vanderbilt Mansion (Frederick—the favored grandchild of Cornelius who inherited most of the Vanderbilt wealth).  In Poughkeepsie we walked across the Hudson River and ate a fabulous lunch in Rhinebeck at the Beekman Arms.  Met a man named Neil Hammitt who drives for an older lady who is a professional classical pianist out of Cleveland, TN—they travel by RV all over the US-mainly going to music festivals!

In Rhinebeck--history dates back to a meeting place for the Colonials during the Revolutionary War

 


FDR Home in Hyde Park

FDR Library

Living room for FDR Mansion

The walk over the Hudson River at Poughkeepsie was fun

Val-kill was on the Roosevelt Land in Hyde Park and is where Eleanor lived full time after FDR died--
they had a small furniture making business there for a few years



The Vanderbilt Mansion was next door to FDR's place

Vast renovation on the Vanderbilt Mansion