Allie, Barb and I took a summer roadtrip to upstate New York, making stops at Hyde Park, the Mohonk Mountain Inn, Cooperstown, and Niagara Falls.
Sunday, August 24
We drove from our home on Paddington Court to Poughkeepsie, going via Harrisburg and Pennsylvania to avoid I-95 and New Jersey. We found our hotel (nothing special, maybe a Quality Inn), located on Route 9 between Poughkeepsie and Hyde Park.
Monday, August 25
We toured Franklin Roosevelt’s home and museum at Hyde Park. We first spent a few hours in the excellent FDR Presidential Library and Museum on the grounds of the Hyde Park estate, then took a tour of his actual home, Springwood Estate, that included some time at the Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site at Val-Kill nearby. The tours of both homes were good and I learned a lot about the Roosevelts. It seemed like Barb already knew all about the vicissitudes of Franklin and Eleanor’s relationship. A lot of it was new to me.
Allie at Val-Kill 
Allie at Springwood 
After a full day with the Roosevelts, we went back to the hotel, cleaned up and drove down the road just a bit to the Culinary Institute of America where we took a quick tour then settled in for a nice dinner. Though a long day, it was an excellent one. It didn’t hurt that it was a lovely summer day.
Tuesday, August 26
We checked out late and drove the few miles from Hyde Park to the Mohonk Mountain Resort. I had seen pictures of this rustic-Gothic resort and wanted to visit, though I knew nothing about it other than it looked amazing. We stayed two nights in a little room a long way from the elevator; I remember walking twisty corridors to get to our little nook. I don’t think there was air conditioning or TV, which immediately made it suspect for Barb, but there were enough distractions around the hotel that we made it fine for two nights.
The hotel is situated on Lake Mohonk and has lots of walking paths and activities. It’s a small lake filling an old quarry halfway up a “mountain”. We started exploring, first around the lake and then taking the hike to the top of the hill overlooking the resort. There’s a stone tower there, “Sky Top,” dedicated to Albert K. Smiley, one of the brothers that developed the resort in 1870.
Lakeside at Mohonk 
“Sky Top” Tower 
View from the top 
We enjoyed dinner at the hotel and there was some music entertainment in the evening. I think Barb and Allie headed back to the room to read.
Wednesday, August 27
We spent the next day taking it easy around the lodge. There honestly weren’t a lot of activities I wanted to do. Allie was brave enough to swim in the lake. Not me or Barb. But we had a restful day and enjoyed the scenery.
Thursday, August 28
We got going fairly early to drive several hours from Mohonk to Cooperstown to see the Baseball Hall of Fame. I’d long wanted to see this shrine to the sport and it was fun to bring Allie and Barb along. Eddie Murray of the Orioles had been inducted that year so we sought out his plaque along with those for legends like Babe Ruth. We spent hours in the museum and I think the girls were interested for much of it (at least that’s how I like to remember it). I could have stayed for hours more, but it closed in the late afternoon.
We made our way over to our hotel, The Otesaga, a classic old place on the lake in Cooperstown. This hotel serves as headquarters for each year’s Hall of Fame festivities and it was a great and pleasant surprise. The grounds and lake were gorgeous. Allie and I took some nice photos and I had time to walk a couple of holes of the lakeside golf course as the sun was setting. The pristine Otsego Lake ringed by the Catskills had a single peaceful sailboat meandering about. It was a glorious evening in one of the prettiest, calmest places I’ve been in all my travels.
We capped the evening off with an excellent dinner in the hotel’s main dining room. I lingered on the lawn with a scotch after the ladies went to bed. Quite a place. If I’d known better we would have stayed several nights.
Friday, August 29
We bid the Otesaga adieu and headed off on the fairly long drive to Niagara Falls. We stopped in Rochester for lunch, doing a quick spin around town to see some of the old Kodak buildings and George Eastman’s home/museum. We didn’t have time to go in any of the Rochester sites but I wouldn’t mind giving it another try some time as a memorial to America’s industrial past.
I had never been to Niagara Falls. I think Barb had been as a child but hardly remembered it. Now Allie can say the same. The falls were greatly impressive but the town and tourist traps around them less so. We stayed on the Canadian side in a nondescript hotel a short walk from the falls. The first evening we went up the Skylon Tower for a view from above.
Saturday, August 30
We took a full day to explore the falls. We went above them, behind them and took the Maid of the Mist underneath them. We also spent a long while in a museum learning about the various idiots that have gone over the falls. We enjoyed fireworks over the falls in the evening. The roar of the falls and the mist they generate were impressive. It was mesmerizing just watching the water flow over the edge. I could have done that for a long time…but one day there seemed plenty.
Top of the falls 
Behind the falls 
On the Maid of the Mist 
Fireworks over the falls (barely visible but lit up lower right)
Sunday, August 31
We drove home in one long day, stopping in Corning, NY, for lunch and a little time in the Museum of Glass. The museum was well worth a longer visit, but we had miles to go before we slept.
There is a long expanse of nearly uninhabited forest scrub down Route 15 from Corning to Williamsport, then miles more along the Susquehanna River to Harrisburg and to Maryland. The girls slept through most of it; I struggled at times to not join them. Pennsylvania is a surprisingly large and empty state down the middle. But eventually we got home without incident.
This was, in all, a very pleasant week-long road trip. There is a lot to be said for upstate New York when it’s not wintertime.
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