Farewell to Upstate New York

On first Sunday morning stop, before heading south, was the Vanderbilt Mansion, neighboring FDR's home in Hyde Park. Unfortunately, it was under renovation and surrounded by scaffolding on the outside (the pic isn't my own one therefore) and it had wrapped furniture on the inside.

Nevertheless, this park ranger with a Greek name did an amazing job in explaining the history of the Vanderbilt family and the way society – "Nouveau Riche" and "Old Money" – worked at the time. This was the home of one of many grandsons of the famous railroad patriarch Commodore Vanderbilt, Frederick Vanderbilt and his wife Louise. They lived here from 1896-1938, not year around, but only a couple of months in the spring and fall. Besides the fancy interior with all luxury imaginable, the estate offers spectacular scenic views of the Hudson River and the Catskill Mountains that inspired the Hudson River School of Art.

Rain was pouring down in buckets when we left the house and it rained hard all day long. We made a brief stop in Beacon, an artsy community with a quaint main street and glimpsed into the Hudson Beach Glass Company, before we headed out towards NYC. Though it was only a 100 mi-drive from Poughkeepsie, it took forever. We didn't want to drive on the hectic toll roads, so, we chose backroads (would have been a fantastic drive through the Hudson River Valley without rain!), and, from Yonkers we drove on Broadway/Hwy. 9 (the same famous Broadway as in NYC - one of the longest roads in the world!), through the Bronx, over the Harlem River into Inwood, Washington Heights to Harlem. It was stop&go, since traffic was dense on this Sunday afternoon and the driving style of the New Yorkers is horrible, especially in the rain: parking second row, cruising slowly and looking for parking, cutting into lanes, taxi cabs, pedestrians, you name it. It was no fun at all, especially in this hard rain, with real poor visibility and flooded roads.

Well, eventually we made it and because of the rain dropped our luggage in Harlem, at Heidi's house, first. There is absolutely no parking, so we had to be quick to unload before we returned the car at Avis in Uptown. All sweaty and exhausted and wet afterwards, we arrived "home" at about 4:30 pm.

Since Monday we are back to exploring The City, NYC, walking instead of sitting in the car. Though, don't miss the car! The weather has improved again, but now the time of thin sweaters and t-shirts is over. Temps don't climb over 55 deg. F. anymore, but sun was out quite a bit. NYC photos will follow tonight, it's hard to catch up when days are soooo long.