On Saturday, October 22, 2011 Ellen, Eileen and I headed up north the the home of Martin Van Buren, located in Columbia County. He was our 8th president and even though he only served one term (1937-1841) we was a good statesman. When he left office, he lived for another 21 years and his advice was sought by several leaders. Many well known people visited his estate, including Henry Clay.
The estate was named Lindenwald (Linden Woods) by President Van Buren and located in Kinderhook, New York. He purchased it while still in office from Judge Peter Van Ness. He had the original red bricks painted yellow, and had a tower added to the rear of the building. When the modifications were completed, the house was a combination of Federal and Gothic architecture.
When we arrived on the grounds we went to the visitors' center and saw a film showing President van Buren's political life. When it was over, I had a greater respect for the former president, and felt that history should hold him in higher regard. We then walked over to the mansion and after going in through the rear door, were shown the dining room, master guest room, and the main parlor (with two pianos and a harp inside). We were also shown the library that had portraits of Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson on the walls, as well as a bust of Pres. Van Buren. The ranger then took us to the basement where the servants lived. There was a laundry room, as well as a kitchen and quarters for the maids (all Irish immigrants). The entire house had running water, a real innovation in the mid 19th century, even though it had to be pumped by hand and the water was cold. When we went upstairs we were shown the bedrooms, used by his sons when they visited him, as well as the President's own room with the sleigh bed.
After the tour I spoke with the ranger about the connection with President Van Buren's nickname, "the Red Fox" and the names of Marist College's sports teams, also called that. It turns out that Marist's teams were named after the president's nickname!
I also had a chance to talk with other visitors on the tour with us, including 2 couples from Danbury CT. They were all originally from the New York City area but moved up there. We spoke about schools and the Danbury Whalers, the Federal Hockey League team that plays in the Hat City.
The 3 of us then headed south to have dinner. We thought about eating at one of the places in Poughkeepsie that we visited last year, but decided to go to Rhinebeck instead. So we headed down Route 9H, Route 9 and NY 308 to a Chinese restaurant on East Market Street. However, when we got near the place we found that parking was a problem so we crossed Route 9 to West Market Street to a side street and then into an alley with a group of shops. One of them was an Italian restaurant called Puccini. I looked at the menu and it seemed interesting. So we opted to have dinner there. It is a family run establishment, where the wife is the hostess, her husband is a chef, and the 3 daughters are the wait staff. The hostess was from Brooklyn and we discussed how yuppies are ruining neighborhoods in Brooklyn and Manhattan by displacing entire communities, businesses, and families. As for the meals, Ellen had sea bass, Eileen had chicken, and I had linguini with shrimp, asparagus, and tomatoes (washed down with a good Italian beer). The restaurant was excellent and we recommend it highly if you are ever in Rhinebeck. It's at 22 Garden Street.
We then headed south on Route 9 past Marist College (it's gotten more built up since I was there 40 years ago) and through Poughkeepsie to I-84, I-684, the Hutchinson River Parkway to the Whitestone Bridge and home. It was a great day trip and it certainly gave our 8th president some respect that is long overdue.
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