Another day in Ballston Spa and Glens Falls

Rain, rain, rain. We woke up to rain and it rained steadily for the rest of the day. Most of the day was spent inside the Hall of Records in Ballston Spa finding more genealogy. Hey that is why we came here. We had planned to do some cemetery hopping but not in a downpour.
OK - I did take one picture today out in the rain. This house was across the street from the Hall of records and is an excellent example of what homes look like in this neck of the woods. Sorry about the trash can but it was raining and I was shooting this from inside the car.
This evening we went to a nice family owned restaurant in near where the Eckenfleders live. The chef was trained at the CIA and you could tell as the food looked every bit as good as it tasted. This has been an enjoyable stop on our trip.

Trip Day 3 - to Ballston Spa and on to Glens Falls

One of the first things a westerner needs to learn when they come to the Eastern United States is that there are trees everywhere. In fact the only places you don't see trees is where man has cut them down to build towns, farm, etc. The fall colors are still a week or more away. Some of the trees have begun to change but not many. The predominate color right now is yellow if a tree isn't green. Barbara and I both would love to see the reds, etc. but not yet.
We took State Route 9 for aways today winding between little towns - they are always the best in upstate New York and the other rural areas we have visited in the past.
But about 2/3s of the day was spent traveling on a toll freeway up to Albany where we could switch to a free highway. Traveled this way up to Ballstown Spa where we both have ancestors. The county has a county historian and the office is in the county courthouse and has a tremendous collection of information. In fact left only because they kicked us out. Had so much fun we skipped lunch. (Yes, really.) I took 211 photo images of pages of information for Barb and I.
Then we left to spend the next two nights with Jill Poulson's parents in Glens Falls. Jill use to be in our ward and as it turns out is related to Barbara 2 different ways. Her folks were gracious enough to allow us to bunk in there house for two nights and save us a ton of money. I even went hometeaching with Bro Eckenfelder (Jill's dad) and gave the lesson.

OK, the only pictures today were about breakfast. Yes, breakfast. We went to the CIA for breakfast. No not that CIA but the Culinary Institute of Americe. It is an exclusive pace for people to train to be first class chefs. We were too late for dinner last night so we went for breakfast. You know me and eggs so I went for the French Toast (soaked in a custard flavored in cinnamon. Lucious but way to filling - I actually couldn't eat but a little more than one slice. This is what my plate looked like.
This is one of the halls of the Culinary Institute. It is almost $30,000 a year for tuition for either a two or four year course. We walked the halls of ground floor of this building and were able to look in windows and see lectures and food preparaton activities. Great place to visit and the food was good.

One more picture

I don't know if it was just a coincidence that so many Jewish people were here at the FDR museum but I am sure one of the displays they wanted to see is pictured here. It is a copy of the Torah that was given to Roosevelt for his efforts in ending WWII - this Torah had to be altered so it could be given to a non-believer so the took out a small portion of it so it was considered imperfect.

Day 2 more pictures - FDR Museum and Library

Barbara got invited to an afternoon tea by the nicest couple. She had a really had a fun time with them.

Ever seen a wheelchair with an ash tray? Well FDR had one.

Here is the FDR car - really quite well preserved for its age. But how would a man with no use of his legs drive?

Here is how - the two levers controlled the clutch, brake, and gas pedal.
The silver metal box to the left of the stearing wheel dispensed lighted cigarettes.

Pictures Day 1 - 2

LA airport before we knew it was going to be a 3 hour delay. The smile soon evaporated.

The front of the Vanderbilt mansion built shortly before 1900 and was out of style within a few years. Some rooms really reminded us of Hearst Castle.

What do you do it you don't want neighbors watching your back yard - buy the far bank of the river and pay to have a convent buit there. You can see the beginning of the fall colors on some of the trees but it has a long way to go. A train track is right below us and the trains are quite noisy. Would that bother you? Maybe but when you own the railroad it is the sound of money.

Side and back porch of the mansion. It really is on a lovely overlook of the Hudson River.

Trip Day 2 - To Hyde Park, NY

OK today was better - the sun was hidden by clouds but it was daylight and I much prefer to drive in the daylight. Got out of NY alive. Drove right past the World's Fair site (I remember being there in 1964. Saw the old Shea Stadium and the hugh Citi Park that the Mets play in. Our goal was to drive up the Hudson River to Poughkeepsie so Barbara could do some genealogy at the Dutchess Co. Genealogical Society. She wanted to find out about the parents of her ancestor Festus Cronk. We weren't successful but found out that he was probably a descendant of the original Dutch Cronkites or however they spelled in in Dutch.
From there we did some sightseeing. Our first stop was the Vanderbuilt mansion on the bluffs above the Hudson River in Hyde park. Built right around the turn of the 20th century. When Mr. Vanderbuilt died in the 1930's tey tried to sell it and couldn't even get $300,000 for so they gave it to the government for a dollar! I didn't even get to bid. Darn.
Lastly we went to the FDR Presidential Library. It was the first presidental library and you can tell as it is so modest in comparison to the later ones. So far we have see the Kennedy, Hoover, FDR, Nixon and Regan libraries/museums. It was very interesting. We so dozens of Orthodox Jewish families - young families - everyone wearing black, heavy stocking, men in locks, ladies in hats. Thought is was somewhat strange until I saw the Jewish tributes to Roosevelt in the museum.
All and all a fun day with only light showers and near 100% humidity. Pictures after dinner. More to come.

Trip - Day 1 - or How long does it take to get to NYC?

This was one long day. Wake up call was 3:30 AM so we could be out the door at 4:15. The day started good with Fresno-Yosemite Airport was a breeze. The flight to LA was uneventful - took off at 5:45 to the minute and arrived about 6:30. Great day -right? Well it was downhill from there. We first were told due to low clouds, rain and heavy traffic our flight was delayed from 8:30 to 9:30. OK no problem - we wished. At 9:30 it became 10:30 due to the same problems. The plane actually boarded about 10:30 but then as we taxied down the tarmac towards the runway we were pulled over and made to sit there for some 45 more minutes. We finally took off at 11:40 which caused us to get in to JFK airport at 8 PM instead of 5 PM. Then we had to wait for luggage and rent a car. Now it is 9:00 PM plus and we need help to get to the hotel just 5 min from the airport. That was 5 min by the way the crow flies. I wish we could fly like a crow! I drive like a lost Californian. After going in circles we finally got to the Comfort Suites at a quarter to 10 or so. Luckily there was a NY Pizza place a block away that wasn't quite closed and we were able to get a couple of slices of NY pizza - first real meal of the day. I hope this isn't a portent for things to come. We will assume that things will only get better. After all, all's well that ends well. Until tomorrow.
What is this - 11 PM - 71 degrees and 96% humidity!!!! This must be the East Coast.