Chester A. Arthur and General Grant

 September 27, 2024

After a wonderful breakfast at the Inn, I headed north to Fairfield, Vermont.   Because of a mistake in my hotel booking, I ended up in upstate Vermont a day earlier than intended. This was going to get in the way of the Chester A. Arthur house as they are only open on Saturdays and Sundays, and I now found myself there on Friday.  When I discovered my problem, I talked with the owner of the bed-and-breakfast who told me she knew the tour guide, and arrangements were made for a one-on-one tour on Friday when the house was not open to the public.   Jane is a very enthusiastic and knowledgeable tour guide and I learned a whole lot about Chester A. Arthur.

Arthur’s father was a Baptist preacher who started in Fairfield.   They moved a lot and most of his experiences seem to be in New York State    He was a beneficiary of the patronage and spoils system in New York City and was basically handpicked for the vice presidency by the Political Machine after about 34 ballots, as Garfield was going to need the support of New York State.   

Garfield was assassinated early in his term by a disgruntled office seeker, and Arthur decided to honor the plans of his predecessor.   Under Arthur’s administration, serious steps were taken to dismantle the patronage and spoils system, and it was Arthur who started the Civil Service Commission.

During his administration he was becoming quite ill, but kept it secret. He did not seek the nomination and died a few years later.

The house is a replica and there are almost no artifacts in it. The guy at the bed-and-breakfast told me that at one point, thieves got into the house and loaded all the antiques on a trailer and disappeared. There is a lot of information on display boards, but this is such a low-key operation by the state that there’s not even a gift shop. As a matter of fact, many of the gift shops that I have been in cover more space than the Arthur home! 

From here I headed west across Lake Champlain, and into New York State. My route took me so far north that at one point, had I turned right I would have been crossing into Canada. I took the interstate down to Wilton, New York, not far from Saratoga Springs, to the Grant Cottage.   This is where President Grant spent his final days, finishing his memoirs. It became very important that these memoirs be finished as the family was going to depend upon the proceeds for their livelihood.    Grant had been sending articles about the Civil War to a magazine, but Mark Twain took over as his publisher, I guess, and gave him a much better deal. He died about three days after finishing the book. He was miserable in his last days and died of throat cancer. The book became a best seller and is still in print today.  I bought a copy.  It is one of the most respected presidential memoirs ever written. 

I think I was expecting a log cabin, but it was a very nice house that a friend arranged for him to live in. Former presidents, even up until Truman, did not get a government pension.  One of the staff at the site was in full Costume as General Grant.    

My final stop was on the edge of Albany at a very large and old cemetery where I found the grave of President Chester A Arthur. I had been shown pictures showing the angel at the monument had been restored at some point.  there is loose change on the monument, which I guess is a tradition from somewhere.

I find myself with some time on my hands, and I am tired of going in and out of hotels, so I booked a room at the best western in Troy, right on the Hudson river, from where I will visit Cooperstown, the Erie Canal, some covered bridges and Martin Van Buren’s home .

Across the street from the hotel and right on the river is a restaurant, Dinosaur Barbecue.   I had a combination plate and an Oktoberfest beer served in a brandy snifter! Don’t judge me!  In Houston I like New York bagels, so why not get barbecue in New York?

Presidents Pierce and Coolidge

This happened September 26, 2024

I picked up the rental car from Logan airport. Another problem with third-party booking is that I’m stuck returning the car to Logan! I have changed my Southwest Airlines reservation from Hartford to Boston, but I would’ve really rather flown out of Hartford.    Sigh

Franklin Pierce’s Home is in Concord, New Hampshire.   This is the original house, but it has been moved to an historic area.   A group called the Pierce brigade, saved the house from destruction and rehabbed it to its former glory.    Pierce was our 14th president, a strict constitutionalist.  He believed slavery was wrong, but ticked off everybody in the country over the situation in Kansas, known forever more as “bleeding Kansas”  

The tree is a reminder that President Pierce had the first White House Christmas tree.

My tour guide was very knowledgeable and enthusiastic, even though by noon I was only the fifth visitor of the day. They have many interesting artifacts for the house.   President Pierce did not always have a happy life as none of his three children survived childhood.    He considered Jefferson Davis a friend since Davis had been his secretary of war and even wrote nice things to him after the war.   Peirce was not able to get nominated for reelection and saw James Buchanan take his place.  Boy, that was an improvement?!

Next, I drove forever to Plymouth, Vermont to see the birthplace and boyhood home of Calvin Coolidge.   I had planned to just wander through the visitor center, but the lady convinced me to take the walk a couple hundred feet to the village of Plymouth Notch that has been preserved, mostly.   Here I saw where he was born, grew up, was told he had just become president with the death of President Harding, and even saw the upper room over the general store, that is referred to as the summer White House.  Coolidge was a man a few words, but the visitor center has a number of his witty sayings in his own voice.   

I was very impressed with a quilt that Young Calvin made. It is still on his bed. The tour guide said it is very rare for a boy to be able to do the intricate sewing required of falling blocks.  I was impressed and intrigued because I have that quilt, with different material, that my grandmother made me many years ago.   

This is the room where Calvin‘s father administered the oath of office after Warren Harding passed away.  

I was a little late getting to Coolidge because I saw a wooden covered bridge and some foliage and a waterfall, so I just had to stop!

The Coolidge site is so remote that I had to drive about 10 miles before my GPS would reconnect and tell me how to get to Fairview, Vermont almost to the Canadian border.   You may know that I do not trust GPS, but this day I had to put my full faith in it.    Coming out of Boston, I would’ve killed myself if I had had to study a map and drive, but I just plugged it in to the car display and charged along.

I stayed the night at the Inn @ Buck Hollow Farms just a few minutes south of the president Arthur birthplace.    Very nice and cozy.   Breakfast included lemon poppy waffles with real Vermont maple syrup!

This was the view of foliage from my upstairs window.  

John Adams and John Quincy Adams

September 25, 2024.    Boston and Quincy

MBTA is working on the line through Quincy, so I had to take a shuttle bus that took a whole lot longer. I want to emphasize that MBTA and the bus company are doing everything they can to make the detour work. There are employees everywhere ready to get you to your destination. 

The National Park System visitor center is across the street from Quincy Center station. There was a nice film about generations of the Adams family.  Don’t confuse this with the Addams family from the sitcom, like my auto type just did.   The film features Paul Giamatti, Tom Hanks, and Laura Linney.   

John and John Q were the only two presidents of the first seven to only serve single terms.  Father / Son.  Both had extensive service as ambassadors/ministers to Europe, as well as secretary of state. The family was in Quincy for many generations. Quincy, by the way, was a family name of Abigail Adams, wife of John. She herself was intelligent and completed John.

The tour offers a shuttle bus between the three houses and the visitors center. The old house at Peace Field Has a tour guide.  Peace Field Was refurbished a number of times after J and JQ. The kitchen displays a number of stoves from throughout its history.

Probably the most awesome site is Stone Library, right behind Peace Field, Built by one of the descendants and located behind the main house. The Library houses, the Adams book collection and many artifacts, including a desk from Congress.(?).  The tour guide called this the first presidential library!

Both presidents and their wives are entombed In the basement of the United First Parish Church, which in of itself is quite a place.  By the way, count the stripes!

I found statues of John Hancock and John Adams in town, but JQ not only does not rate a statue, he does not rate a coffee mug.   His crypt is about the only thing I found with his name.

John, the second president, successfully defended the five British soldiers from the Boston massacre. JQ, the sixth president, went to Congress after the White House and successfully defended the Amistad enslaved people before the Supreme Court. He died in the US capitol And has the distinction of having known both Washington and Lincoln, who was in Congress with JQ.   

I went into Bank of America in Quincy Center for business. This is a beautiful old bank building with its own history, but I was asked not to take pictures inside. The stately structure could be a separate tour.

I have now seen something of 31 presidents!

On to New Hampshire and Vermont.   

JFK Presidential Library

 September 24, 2024

Took the hotel shuttle to UMass Redline and boarded the number one shuttle at UMass. Everyone else was getting on the bus without a word, but the driver looked at me and says “where?”  I told him and  he said you got the right bus, get off of the third stop .    How did he know I was not a UMass student?

Excellent film on the early life, which ended with the 1960 convention.  The exhibit for the 1960 election features a street with storefronts with artifacts behind the windows with everything from kitchen appliances to a TV set showing leave it to Beaver.    

Kennedy's inaugural speech was short.  Full of inspiration and quotes from many sources.

Kennedy did the first ive press conferences on TV.    He started the Peace Corps.   Film of many of his speeches and transcripts of more.

Presidential gifts are interfaced throughout the hall along with history presentations.  I felt like I was in the White House.

Film “To the Brink”.    About 20 minutes, using actual voice from the situation room. Excellent.  Cuban Missile Crisis

An avid sailor and a good golfer, he made a conscious effort not to be compared to Eisenhower, who everyone thought spent too much time on the golf course.   Kennedy tried to do it quietly outside Hyannisport.

The view in front of the Kennedy Center is much better at 1 o’clock than it was at 9:30     The sky has cleared up.     I was given a little momento and a certificate in honor of me completing the 13 National Archives presidential libraries 

The café, although everything was prepackaged, I had the meatball sandwich and it was tasty    

The Kennedy library is on the grounds of University of Massachusetts. Most of the buildings that I see are modern and quite attractive, as are the students. 

After purchasing the required coffee mug, and refrigerator magnet, I headed into Boston. I took three different subways to the long wharf without getting lost!

I visited the USS Constitution and the USS Cassin.   The Cassin is a preserved Fletcher class destroyer, and was a sister ship to the USS Gregory, on which my father served in the late 50s.   

Both ships are in the Charlestown naval shipyard.   There is an historic drydock that is now used only to take care of these two ships.

The national park service runs the museum and the destroyer, but the navy has kept the constitution as a commissioned ship since the early 1800s.  The crew are active-duty Navy personnel.

And now for a little potty humor.   The following was posted were even the king must go on foot.

The park service tries to keep the children entertained.   There are many activities in the museum to include build a boat, And they had a pretty high-quality putt putt course on the dock.  

I’m pretty sure there’s a rule that says a Texan in Boston has to buy a lobster roll.  I did and it was very tasty.   The food was good and the service was quite good.    Karina asked me to post on one of the opinion pages, but I told her this is as close as it gets.   Karina gets five stars!    Bostonia Public House.  

The green salad was one of the better I’ve had.
 It was packed pretty tightly in that little bowl!

Amtrak to Boston

 This morning, I said goodbye to New Jersey and New York. The best western at Newark airport is nice, and comfortable, but it takes a little bit of doing to get from the hotel to the train station.

I chatted with a group of Polish businessman on the way to the train.   The clouds look a little threatening, but it never did rain.

I took the Amtrak Northeast regional from Penn Station to Boston. The cars are newer and better shape than the sunset limited, but the sunset limited has a whole lot more legroom.

When I got to Boston, I discovered if there’s construction on the MTA redline but several very nice people helped me get onto the right bus and get off at the right stop to get to my hotel. I am staying between the Kennedy library and the Adams museum, and now discovered that my hotel offers a shuttle to the train station at Harvard .   

Chris has already sung the Kingston Trio, song MTA to me over the phone, But after my dinner across the parking lot at a brewery, pub attached to a bowling alley, I think the big Lebowski would be appropriate.    I didn’t feel like going anywhere and the hotel desk clerk said this little pub makes an excellent hamburger, and it was! This months feature is a truffle burger with truffle aïoli.    Sam Adams Oktoberfest beer on tap.   

Tomorrow I will go to the JFK presidential library and I may try to take a tour of downtown Boston.

Grants tomb, Teddy, Roosevelt, and Chester A Arthur

 

Sunday, September 22, 2024.

Took the subway to Columbia University and was going to get on a bus, but I decided I would come down to the park and just walk to Grant’s Tomb.   It’s a beautiful day.

Spent time on the train and the Airtrans (Newark Airport people mover) with Kevin from Nova Scotia who is a retired government spin doctor (his term).   We had a nice conversation.   

  I guess I missed the worship service this morning, as my friend Sandra texted me “the peace of Christ.“     

Grants Tomb.   A very dignified and large monument to the general who helped to win the Civil War The park ranger explained the world-famous question of who is buried in grants tomb by explaining that this was a question from Groucho Marx and "You Bet Your Life" in the 50s.    Actually, no one is buried in grants tomb , Ulysses and his wife are entombed in the tomb!   I was directed across the street and slightly down the hill to the National Park Service visitor center, which is in a building that for over 100 years was a public bathroom!  It still has the sign that says “women” over the door to the visitor center! Apparently the grant family did not want the monument to become a museum, so all the artifacts will be found in the visitor center. Riverside Park runs north south along the banks of the Hudson river and included a sign at one point saying the vegetation is being controlled by goats.

The visitor center was nice, a very quick tour, the gift shop took up almost as much room as the exhibit, but I had a good conversation with the park Ranger.     

Walked back to the number one subway,  changed trains and rode down close to Teddy Roosevelt’s birthplace     The park ranger started with the disclaimer that this is not the original house - the family sold the house after Teddy grew up. The house was later torn down, and after Teddy passed away his family bought the property and the house next door  and rebuilt it as faithful as possible, to be a shrine and museum to Theodore Roosevelt.    There were two kids who thought the chamber pot was a funniest thing they had ever seen in their life.!   Teddy’s family got rich from making exquisite glass.    

Then I went back up a number of blocks to a spot listed as a former Home of Chester A Arthur      There is not even a plaque! It’s now an Asian food store.

    Another couple of blocks over was Madison Square Park where there is a statue, almost overgrown, to the Twenty-first president of the United States, Chester A. Arthur.

    I decided to stay out of the subway and enjoy the beautiful weather and actually see some of Manhattan      Walked up the narrow part of Broadway, not the theaters, and all the restaurants and cafés had their tables set up in the street. I wandered into one place and had a delicious rice bowl with chicken and a very good avocado and several other exotic fruits, and spent five dollars for an iced tea! I was ready to spend five dollars for another glass, but they threw that in.     

So tonight, I’m trying to pack everything back in my three bags and be ready to go catch Amtrak to Boston tomorrow morning.     

Franklin Delano Roosevelt

 

I took New Jersey transit to Penn Station and took the subway one stop to Times Square and then came above ground because I didn’t know where I was.  There is a "shuttle" but I did not find it this time.

In front of the New York City Public library just so I can say I did.   The lions have been featured in children’s TV shows and books.

I am now on Metro North Hudson line to Poughkeepsie     Grand Central Station truly, is Grand Central Station! When you use that term about massive and crowded – – well it works!

This is a train of many cars, and it is full.  Sat next to a first sergeant in the New York State guard     He is on his way to his annual training.    Many people stood in the aisle for the better part of two hours. 

Poughkeepsie is the end of the line for Metro North. I’m taking a city bus to Hyde Park.      Poughkeepsie is apparently the home of Vassar and the Culinary Institute of America.    The city bus goes right into the parking lot at the grocery store as well to the hospital.   The final bus stop is in the driveway of the Roosevelt visitor center. This is a very customer-centered bus.

I signed up for the house tour and the visit to the FDR museum.   This visit was free with my military ID!

This is the Roosevelt library and museum. FDR built this on his property while he was still in office. It was the first of what are now 13 national archives presidential libraries. Up until this time, a President might throw away their papers or sell them or give them to the Library of Congress, or donate them to a university library. The law was changed during Nixon’s presidency so that all papers and correspondence belong to the National Archives.    Many of the museums I have visited wish they could become part of the national Park service or national archives.    Everyone needs the money!

The tour of the house, shown at the top of this article, was very nice, but everything was very dark, I think in order to preserve the furniture and artifacts.   It was emphasized that the house is as it was the day FDR died in 1945. All of the rooms are roped off, and we got to stick our head in and look around.    Roosevelt loved this house, he was born in this house, and he is buried just a few feet from this House.

I had very pleasant conversations with other people who are also visiting presidential libraries, but not to my extent.  I shared information about my Bucket Journal several times.

My favorite feature of this house is the rope-operated Elevator 

From the house I went to the library/museum.   I really enjoyed the exhibit on all of the reconstruction and recovery agencies he created, as it was all centered around construction scaffolding.   Great visual effect!

The museums exhibits do admit that FDR did not get us out of the depression:  It was gearing up for World War II totally rebuilt the economy!

The archives are down in the basement and are accessible only to researchers, But the library has glassed in a lot of the storage areas, so that we can see a lot of what is not on display.    There are racks full of family artwork.

At the gift shop, I bought my required coffee mug and fridge magnet, but I found another magnet. I just had to have.

Someday, when I am back on my computer at home, I will rotate this image.     

I reversed course and got back to Grand Central terminal where I was able, without assistance, to navigate the subway to Penn Station for my return to New Jersey.    When I got off the train at the airport to take the Airtrans back to my hotel, the people mover was down and we had to take buses, and it took a long time, but I made it back to my room.

My Sunday trip will be subways to see grants tomb, the birthplace of Teddy Roosevelt, and a Chester A Arthur home.     I suspect that by the time I am done, I will be a self – professed expert on Chester A Arthur as his homes are driving a lot of my schedule.     As Tigger would say “Ta Ta for now“