Saturday morning we left Havre de Grace under the cover of darkness (5:00 a.m.) and headed north to Hyde Park, NY. Our first real stop was at the Vanderbilt Mansion where we saw the excesses of the Gilded Age. Louisa Vanderbilt had her bedroom built as a replica of the Queen's bedroom at Versaille - complete with marble railing around her bed. Husband Frederick had his bedroom fit for a king. It was all a bit much. We then went to FDR's home Springwood and saw how other rich people lived when they were busy doing public service and weren't interested in impressing everyone. Our tour guides at FDR's called it a study in comparing old money (Roosevelts) to new money (Vanderbilts.) then we headed to our own little house - Le Petite Chateau - a lovely little Bed and Breakfast. Such a pretty place - champagen in the room with a view of the pond and lots of little vases with fresh flowers in our room (which is pictured above.) Here are the top reasons we can never stay in another B&B: 1. The floors of old houses creak and we walk like baby elephants. 2. The walls of old houses are thin - and we talk loudly, like trumpeter swans. 3. The stairs are steep and we plod up and down like dinosaurs. 4. Breakfast is served in a dining room - with other people in close proximity - we lack table manners and usually leave the embroidered linen table cloth - a mess. and reason #5 we are not staying in any more B&B's : the plumbing is old and we always clog it up. Anyway, dinner at the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) was delicious. We ate in the American Bounty restaurant. The students spend 3 weeks either cooking in the kitchen or serving the food. I had lobster burgoo - kind of a stew. Appetizer was tempura battered squash blossoms stuffed with ricotta cheese. It was very tasty. Kelly had a double pork chop with at least a pound of mashed potatoes. Fabulous! Bob had lamb carpaccio which we learned was sent back to the kitchen 3 times by the chef's supervisor - because it wasn't quite right. He liked it but it looked awfully raw to my Western Pennsylvania sensibilities. My fresh warm peach cobbler was to die for , Bob's molten lava cake was delish and Kelly's ice cream filled profiteroles (with a litttle pitcher of warm chocolate sauce) were tasty. After that huge meal we really made a lot noise lumbering back into the B&B that night. Sunday morning we had a delicious breakfast made by a student chef from the CIA. We headed to Val Kill, Eleanor Roosevelt's retreat and the place she moved to after FDR died. It was so homey. We met up with the best NPS guide, Victor Pennes. He picked up on the fact that Kelly knows all about presidents' families and he was sure to point out lots of family photos to her. He even opened up a closed building - the Stone Cottage - so that we could see the small house that FDR designed as a place for Eleanor and her friends to use. For a while it served as a furniture factory where locals would learn crafts. Mr. Pennes made our visit really special. In the afternoon we headed to Tanglewood and saw John Williams conduct the Boston Pops. They performed the themes he wrote for Star Wars, Superman, and Harry Potter. A special cello elegy was played in memory of Senator Ted Kennedy. Then, James Taylor and Friends played the second half of the concert and it was fabulous. He kept coming back on stage and singing. It would have been perfect if the woman behind us didn't burst into song with JT every now and then. Luckily, I have perfected my Librarian Shoosing Look and would give her the evil eye everytime she was overcome with musical inspiration. Many thanks to the hundreds of students I have shushed over the past 3 years.
