June 9, 2008: Hyde Park / Poughkeepsie

We saw Laurie and Brian off again this morning early and then went back to bed. When we did get off, we were headed north on the Hudson. Again, it was a record breaking heat wave day. We passed West Point Military Academy which is built behind a massive fortress on the river where the river is over 100 feet deep. Tom noticed that the basketball arena had “Beat Air Force” painted on the roof... Think about it ... who would see it painted on the roof but pilots. We are still passing ocean going freighters as well as a guy who was rowing his small boat from Albany to Manhattan. There were also a series of jetskiers who were delighted to find our rolling wake as a playground. We passed under the Bear Mountain Fixed bridge by a tunnel that provided the route for the Amtrak that ran along side the river.

This afternoon, we met Captain Joe at the Hyde Park Marina. He was an ex-IBMer with 38 years of service and also a boater who had done the loop. He was full of stories including a discussion about IBM’s 360 computer released in 1964 and the technology of magnetic core memory. We also met with some wonderful hospitality here. Captain Joe drove us to the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Home and Museum and later also gave us a ride to the Palace for dinner.

The FDR Museum included the building where Roosevelt had his office and library – the first Presidential library for preserving history. There were many depictions of the depression and the terrible times our country went through trying to recover. Amazing things were done during RDR’s presidency – like the Tennessee Valley authority and other power plant systems to bring electricity to the rural areas, the building of the Blue Ridge Parkway and other national park improvements. FDR established the minimum wage and Social Security and gave a fearful people hope. He was also President during World War II and so had a tremendous impact on our history. Tom was very interested in his coping with the crippling polio because his Dad also had polio. We saw the car that he drove which was modified to have hand controls for driving. I also remembered many stories my mother told about the depression and always knew she was a “depression’s child”. We also walked to the house where Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt lived (among several). They also told Eleanor's story, having lost both parents by the time she was 12, and her development as a civic leader and later a representative to the United Nations. She was quoted as saying "Courage is more exhilarating than fear and in the long run it is easier."
They were buried in the rose garden by the house. I am glad we had the opportunity to visit here.