Last Christmas my sister gifted me a “mystery road trip,” so I knew my adventures would only continue now that I am again living in the US. On the website for the company Alex obtained the itinerary from (https://guesswheretrips.com), you identify your location (US or Canada) and they send you a mystery trip via snail mail, contained in 4 envelopes. As it was Juneteenth, my sister had the day off and since the weather was perfect, we decided to open the first envelope and see where we were going. The trip was called. “Hudson River Hideaways.” As we both have/had lived here for many years, we were worried we would be sent to places we knew well. We were pleasantly surprised that nearly all the spots we were sent to were new to us.
Our first stop was The Sleepy Hollow Cemetery. This well-known repose is connected to the Old Dutch Church, founded in 1685 by the Philipse family (who, by the way, fled to England after the Revolutionary War). It is still a functioning church. Washington Irving, a prominent American writer, lived in the area and immortalized the hamlet in his famous fable of 1820, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” with its Headless Horseman.
This cemetery has graves dating from 1685 to the present day. I was struck by the various ways names are represented. There are family sections. There are names on top of the tombstones. They are tombstones very low to the ground, and some standing tall. There are simple slabs as well (mostly in the older section). I wondered whether the variety is due to finances, the styles of the times or creativity of the undertaker. I was also surprised by the in-ground crypts nestled in the hillside. In general, the grounds were park-like, geographically varied and, overall, extremely pleasant to walk through with modern and old tombstones standing side by side. Of equal interest is how some old gravestones were carved so well and so deep they still look new.
The information we had indicated the oldest graves had tombstones written in Dutch. We almost gave up trying to find a Dutch tombstone, but thanks to Eagle Eye Alex we found one!
The writer Washington Irving’s family plot was fenced off but included his tombstone in a prominent location.
As we travelled to the rear of the cemetery, the tombs of the rich and famous began to take prominence.
The photo below is the crypt of Harry and Leona Helmsley, real estate moguls who towards the end of their lives had legal issues that were sensationalized (Google it!), especially when Leona left $12million to her beloved dog(!) However, of more interest is a beautiful stained-glass representation of the NYC skyline in the tomb which I could not photo.
Elizabeth Arden, of the cosmetics line, is buried in the tomb below under her real name, Elizabeth Graham. Factoid: at one point she was one of the richest women in the world!
Next is the Bronze Lady statue you see below. This statue was commissioned by the wife of General Samuel Thomas for their family mausoleum. Upon its unveiling, Mrs. Thomas was furious due to the sculptural depiction of her hands being oversized and her gaze (overly?) mournful. Nonetheless, the artist refused to change it. As a result, there are many scary stories associated with the statue and the crying sounds that can be heard on dark nights.
William Rockefeller, the founder of the family dynasty and Standard Oil, had this tomb built, with ‘lesser’ family members being buried at its side.
After viewing all the large tombs, crypts and mausoleums, we sought out the grave marker for Andrew Carnegie, which was a clear testament to his philanthropic nature. The pennies left on his marker are due to his quote, “Take care of the pennies and the pounds will care of themselves,”
The grounds of the cemetery were such a pleasure to stroll. Below is a recreation of the famous bridge where Irving’s character, Ichabod Crane, encounters the Headless Horseman.
There is probably more to explore here, but it was time to move on.
stop number 2
The next envelope gave a choice: an arboretum or a dam. We opted for the Jane E. Lytle Memorial Arboretum and decided we will return to the dam another day. The arboretum is named for a local civic activist and is arranged so you have a boardwalk trail that lasts 15 minutes and is lovely and at the same time informative.
The beginning of the walk saw us engulfed in greenery and feeling the positive vibe of nature.
The walk took us through a swamp with signs, teaching us about the trees and bushes we saw. I was enamored by the various shapes of leaves and how certain leaf shapes are associated with a breed of tree.
Below is a tree which is the most abundant in any northern hardwood forest. It is the sugar maple – yes, the kind from which maple syrup is made. It is also a good wood for cabinets and finishing interiors. It is also a joy to behold during autumn with its red and orange leaves that splash the skyline (stay tuned for a future post when I experience my first Autumn in NY in 30 years!).
Instead of peacock calls that resound in India, here it is a bullfrog croaking loudly, encouraging me to sit in a gazebo on the path and listen to those distinctive drumbeats.
Stop Number 3
While also a nice walk, this constitutional contained an historical component: it is the West Point Foundry Preserve. This location was a Civil War foundry and metal works, where much of the Union Army’s bullets, tools and other metal items were made. It was considered the Silicon Valley of its day due to the innovative items being developed and built here. One such item was the Parrott Cannon which gave the Union Army a distinct advantage. (For non-US readers, The Union Army was the North, and the Confederate Army was the South). The foundry was started so there wouldn’t be an artillery shortage like there was during the 1812 War, thus playing a prominent role during the Civil War. The location was also chosen due the nearby Hudson River which provided a great transit connection.
The Parrott Cannon had its own display, showing how it was aimed and how it worked. Practice shots were done here, brought to life as we heard shots from West Point cadets participating in exercises across the river.
Most of the buildings from when the foundry was active were gone, or in ruins. The 1865 Office Building however, seen below, is the sole remaining building. We also learned that 1911 saw steel take over as the metal of choice, making ironworks redundant and that an industrial archaeologist played a key role in creating and restoring this site.
When the foundry was active, water was the key power source for all machines. The foundry had a very large waterwheel that was able to power all of them. As part of a gesture to honor this era, the wheel was recreated as a sculpture.
While today we were able to walk through a lovely, wooded park – when the foundry was active there were no trees and the area was filled with many buildings. The photos below show some of this.
The walk back to the car was lovely.
When we passed these mounds of dirt, our imaginations had fun thinking what it could be: a garbage pile? a buried building? something else?
interlude
Lunch was in a local town called Cold Spring. It is a charming, touristy town with a lot of small, quaintly restored Victorian homes (a lot of New York City residents come up ‘north’ to spend weekends and enjoy the beauty and recreation offered by the Hudson Valley). We ate at a restaurant that was a converted train station, next to a working railroad line. It was fun to eat as a commuter train came by; our joy was shared with a 5-year old boy, his loving father watching nearby.
Lunch and a train!
stop number 4
Our next stop, Madam Brett Park in Beacon, NY, had us walking along a path towards a waterfall, the sound of running water beckoning us with a sense of deep calm. We decided to stop our tour here since it was such a perfect ending to the day, deciding all that all the places we did not get a chance to see will be visited soon.
On the way home we stopped in downtown Beacon, established in 1708, to buy some water for the ride home. Many local towns pay homage to local fallen soldiers. I share some of Beacon’s heroes with you.
I can’t end this first US blog post on a somber note! In Beacon, an eclectic, creative community, I found a store for witches…yes: “real” ones, as well as a store owner who is all about people rather than profits…. hence her sign drew me in, and I purchased from her! The ride home had us cross over the Hudson River on the Bear Mountain Bridge where you can catch a glimpse of how beautiful the river is here.
