126) Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site

Visited: Sunday, September 1, 2019

Um - OK.  The grounds of the mansion are very nice - the views of the Hudson, in particular - and the house is pretty enough.  But - the mansion itself just isn't that interesting.  The Newport mansions have more character, and more stories; it's nice that one gilded age mansion is with the NPS, I suppose, but - it just isn't that interesting to visit.

I can picture going back to any of the four sites we visited this weekend, under the right circumstances - except for this one.  No one even invented Contract Bridge here, by golly...

125) Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site

Visited: Sunday, September 1, 2019

This was - depressing.

Eleanor Roosevelt's story isn't depressing, and the Val-Kill cottage isn't a depressing place - it's very homey and lived in, with a relaxed atmosphere rare to see in NPS houses.  But:

At FDR's home, there's parking for over 100, without counting the emergency backup parking.  At least ten buses would have room at the same time.

At Eleanor's home, there's parking for 10, and 2 buses.

Worse, Eleanor's home was offered to the NPS when she died.  Congress said no; everything was auctioned, and when finally approved 15 years later (right before it was bulldozed), they had to try to re-collect everything.  Amazingly, they're about 60% of the way there.  But it wasn't necessary.

As impressed as I am by Eleanor Roosevelt, I'm equally unimpressed by how she's been treated - not by the NPS, who's done as best they can, but by the public, who failed to fill the parking lot.  I thought the movie here gave a better view of Eleanor's life, too - though the display of what was in her wallet when she passed, kept in the FDR library, also has to be seen.

124) Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site

Visited: Saturday, August 31, 2019

This site is among the most impressive I've seen - because Roosevelt willed it to the nation, and the transition to the NPS was essentially immediate, leaving the house _exactly_ as it was, rather than having to re-collect or try to match things.  The view of FDR given is - not bad, I suppose, but even as someone who's no FDR scholar I've heard enough more that it felt quite incomplete, even given just 20 minutes to go through things.  The library is impressive, the garden beautiful, the house well preserved and authentic, and the story - well, other than admitting to the extent of the polio damage, really almost exclusively the story that FDR wanted told.

There was, in FDR's bedroom, a sentence taped over.  I'm - irrationally curious what it said, but the rangers couldn't help.  I'm also curious if his mother, Sara Delano Roosevelt - the same one who contributed to the restoration of Saint Paul's Church - ever used, or even was able to use, the TV FDR re-gifted her.  There were experimental stations in Schenectady and of course NYC, but I'm not aware of any in Poughkeepsie.  

123) Saint Paul's Church National Historic Site

Visited: Saturday, August 31, 2019

The smaller, less visited NPS sites often resonate with me more; in no small part I'm sure this is because at those sites one often gets much more attention, and as a result more easily connects with the history underlying the site.  The National Parks are great, and the grand scale fits them; for the historic sites, I'll take the small ones every time.

Saint Paul's Church is somewhat unusual in playing some small role in a number of big events, rather than playing a big role in any of them.  They tie the church to the right to vote (suppressed among the Quakers locally, before progress was made) and freedom of the press (suppressed by one of those who had stifled the Quaker's vote, which a NYC journalist called him on it), but really the greatest historic significance of the church was it's use - prior to its completion - as a hospital by the Hessians during the Revolutionary War.  And of personal interest, given where we went next, Sara Delano Roosevelt's role in the restoration of the historic pews - as a result of which it's something of a view into churches at the time of the Revolutionary War rarely seen.

I do wonder, had the timing been different, if the US Government would have turned away Saint Paul's Church.  The loose ties to history leave plenty of stories to tell, but - other sites with more history have been less favorably received.

122) Saratoga National Historical Park

Visited: Sunday, August 11, 2019

It's been a while - though we do have plans to see a few more sites soon.

The visitor center at Saratoga is really nice - there's a film, very well done, and a light show.  I find that light shows are more helpful for getting a feel of a battle than anything else I've seen.  There's also a nice section focused on Benedict Arnold.  There's also a nice driving tour of the site, which includes some lovely overviews of the Hudson River.  I'm not sure just how, but I'd never really understood the role that Saratoga played in the Revolutionary War, so it was definitely a great learning experience as well.