When I made my reservation they told me to get there before 9 and I showed up around 8:30. The lights were on and the sign said open but no one was around. There was a gate to get in so I couldn’t really drive in and set up. I decided to just call the number and just as I rang a guy pulled up on a golf cart and got me squared away. He gave me an incredulous look when I told him it would just be me for the night. Why do people find it so hard to believe that A) some people travel alone, and B) some of those people are young women!? Anyway I had a nice spot by the water and despite an annoying neighbor and a training blowing through at 3:00am, I slept well. 
The next morning I headed out bright and early in heavy fog. It burned off in time for my first stop in Catskill, NY. For some reason the Thomas Cole National Historic site is a hidden part of the NPS. 
A few years back Mom and I had traveled around this area so I could check off a few more NPS sites and I never knew this place existed because it’s not on any map or listing of the NPS. I forget where I even stumbled across it but I knew that I had to stop by and check it off my list. It encompasses the home and studio of Thomas Cole, founder of the Hudson River School of landscape painting. The front porch has a great view of the Catskills and the gardens were landscaped very nicely. 
On my way out I saw a brochure for The Hudson River School Art Trail that takes you to the sites that inspired America’s first great landscape painters. Two were right in town so I decided to check them out. The first was a view on the Catskill Creek but it has lost its charm as you have to stand on a busy highway bridge to see it. 
The next sight however was stunning! Olana State Historic Site was the home of Frederic Edwin Church one of the major figures in the Hudson River School of landscape painting. 
The stone, brick, and polychrome-stenciled villa is a mixture of Victorian, Persian and Moorish styles. I’ve never seen a house with so much detail.
I was there too early to go inside but I really enjoyed the exterior, the views from the hill top and especially the gardens which had some really beautiful flowers. 
I then raced over to Kinderhook, NY to make the 10am tour of the Martin Van Buren house. 
When Mom and I had come to this area a few years ago we got to Martin’s house after dark and were nicely escorted off the grounds by some rangers and told to come back when it was open. Well I am really glad I came back because the tour was really great.
Our guide was very knowledgeable and informative and I learned a ton. She even asked some trivia questions and I got them all right! I was very proud of myself. The house was huge and it seemed half of it was servant’s quarters. 
I really liked the main dining room because of the wallpaper depicting a hunt. 
This room was also interesting because of the arch. 
I also got to look up at the 4 story tower.
Lastly I got to see MVB’s room where he had a cane given to him by Andrew Jackson. I had no idea but those two were quite the BFF’s. 
I really like the presidential sites that are preserved by the NPS because they teach me so much about the Presidents and where they come from and how they became President. For instance, MVB was known as the Red Fox and Old Kinderhook (which is partially where we get the term o.k. from). He was also the first President to be born in the United States
No comments:
Post a Comment