Saturday, August 11
This
morning we woke up fairly early so we could see two presidents in New York.
First, after a trip to Duncan Donuts, we boarded the downtown subway to find
the birthplace of Theodore Roosevelt. The book we had said it was open on
Saturdays but it wasn't. So, we just took a picture and headed on. We then
took the subway (can you tell I liked the subway?) down to the southern most
point of Manhattan, Battery Park so we could see the Statue of Liberty.
On our way through the park, we found a nice old man who gave us a nut and had us sit really still. Before long, a squirrel would come and take the nut from us. What a treat that was. The man was really nice and we gave him a dollar. We learned quickly that everyone offering something was hoping for a little contribution in return. We passed up the sunglasses and "Rolexes," though. The statue was neat, but we were not able to see the Empire State Building or Central Park. We will have more time to do those things next time we come.
The
one other thing we did see though was our next president at Grant's Tomb.
Known mostly for his role in the Civil War and helping to secure a confederate
surrender, he is entombed (not buried) in a lovely memorial building on the
northwest end of Manhattan. There was an impressive display about his life,
military career, and presidential terms. After our brief visit, it was time
to depart the Big Apple. We cruised north to visit the home of Martin Van
Buren. A quick stop and then,
we went to see the gravesite of Chester A. Arthur. He has a nice above-ground
sarcophagus with a large angel statue to guard him. In the Rural Albany Cemetery,
we met a nice couple of gentlemen who shared a similar quest: they were visiting
presidential gravesites, and they gave us some fine tips for our travels.
Finally, we went to a good dinner at Applebee's and struck out for Boston
where we will stay the night - and arise early to start our day with the Adams
Family site. We are all really looking forward to it.