Field Trips and Excursions|
NEWBURG, CORNWAL, HYDE PARK, RHINEBECK, RED HOOK, VAILS GATE, GOSHEN Tuesday-Thursday, May 6-8, 2008 Return Surratt House: 8:00 p.m. (May 8, 2007)
Price per person:
$590 Single
$470 Double
Price covers transportation, 2 nights hotel, 2 breakfasts, 3 lunches, 2 dinners, 7 tours A deposit of $100 is due upon registration. Final payment due by February 25, 2008. No-refunds after February 25, 2008. |
In April of 1997, we visited the Hudson River Valley area of New York and had a grand time. We are going to do it again and have an even better time!
On the first day, we will head to Newburgh where we will have lunch at Torches on the Hudson, a fabulous restaurant overlooking the river. After lunch, we will tour Washington’s Headquarters that was housed in the sturdy Dutch style house of Jonathan Hasbrouck. General Washington, Martha, subordinate officers, slaves and servants stayed in the eight-room house for 16 ½ months. It was here that Washington signed the “Cessation of Hostilities” ending the war with Great Britain and where he awarded the first three Badges of Military Merit, the forerunner of the Purple Heart. In 1850, this house became the first publicly operated historic site in the United States.
Next on today’s agenda is a visit to the Crawford House, Captain David Crawford’s 1830 neo-classical mansion featuring Palladian windows and 40-foot bearing columns with a spectacular view of the Hudson River. The mansion houses the largest collection of Hudson River School paintings in the world.
Now it will be time to check into the Hampton Inn in Newburg (845-567-9100). This will be our home for two nights. Dinner tonight will be at the Canterbury Brook Inn in Cornwall. This charming cozy restaurant offers their patrons the feel of Europe. It was built in the 1700s and is located near a soft running brook. After dinner, we will head back to our hotel.
On day two, after breakfast at the hotel, we will head to Hyde Park where we will have two hours to tour the FDR National Historic Site, “Springwood,” and the FDR Presidential Library Museum. Springwood was the lifelong home of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. It was purchased by his father in 1867, renovated in 1915 and inherited by Roosevelt upon the death of his mother in 1941. After touring Springwood and visiting the library and museum, we will go to the Henry A. Wallace Visitor and Education Center to pick up our box lunches.
After lunch, we will head north to Red Hook to visit the Alison Wines and Vineyard to enjoy a tour and wine tasting. Their wine is made in an old dairy barn built in the 1840s where there are panoramic views of the Catskill Mountains.
After touring the winery we will visit the beautiful Queen Ann style mansion, “Wilderstein.”Located on 40 acres of land with views of the Hudson, Wilderstein was home to the Suckley family for three generations. It was built in the Italianate style for Thomas Suckley in 1852. In 1888 his son Robert, doubled the size of the house by adding a verandah, ports cochere and a five-story tower. The interior rooms include a Gothic library, a silk-draped Louis XVI salon, colonial revival parlor and an English Renaissance style dining room sheathed in mahogany. In 1890, Robert hired Calvert Vaux to landscape the grounds. In 1983, Robert’s daughter, Margaret “Daisy” Suckley, gave the house to the non-profit Wilderstein Preservation. The Preservation group fixed up the house (it has fallen into disrepair) and it is now open for tours. By the way, Daisy was a distant cousin of FDR’s and a confidant of his. It was she who gave the president his Scottish terrier, Fala.
Now it will be time for dinner and we will enjoy ours at the famous
Beekman Arms Inn. This is America’s oldest continuously operating hotel. This hotel started out in the early 1700s. In 1766, known as Bogardus Tavern, it was located on this very spot at the center of Rhinebeck. Some well-known visitors to the Inn were Horace Greeley, William Jennings Bryan and Benjamin Harrison. It is said the quarrel between Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton began here. By the 1800s, The Beekman was a very popular stopping off place for people traveling through the Hudson Valley. In 1918, the Inn underwent extensive renovation. Thomas Wolfe visited frequently and got his ideas for his 1935 novel, Of Time and the River. FDR was a guest here numerous times. So, we will be in good spiritual company as we enjoy out dinner. After dinner, it will be time to head back to our hotel.
On day three, we will check out of the hotel and head to Vail’s Gate and the National Purple Heart Hall of Honor Museum. If you have a family member who received the Purple Heart, you will be able to submit his record to be kept in their data base.
After our visit here, we will head to Goshen and the Harness Racing Museum. This museum is located not far from the birthplace of “Hambletonian,” the ancestor of 99 percent of all horses engaged in harness racing today. We will tour the museum and have a simulated ride that lets us experience the thrill of sitting in a sulky during an exciting race. After the race, we will enjoy lunch in Haughton Hall.
After lunch, we will be ready to head back to Maryland. There will be a stop so you can pick up fast food (on your own). We should arrive back at Surratt House by 8:00 p.m.
if you would like to join us on this tour that has something for everyone. Send the form with your check made payable to “Surratt Society” to:
Return to Surratt House Museum Homepage