A View to a Life

Flexibility is a part of living with family. You adjust and accommodate so that you can do life together. Visiting family with a young child, I knew that I had to make accommodations as to what I could and could not do with family. Upon hearing about the world’s longest elevated pedestrian bridge in the world in Poughkeepsie, NY (pronounced Puh-KEEP-sie, though I originally pronounced it as POW-keep–ees 🙈), I knew I wanted to go on that bridge and see the views from it.

But in talking with family, we decided first that we would go see the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library & Museum in Hyde Park, eat lunch, then go see the pedestrian bridge.

FDR Presidential Library & Museum

We walked around the property, which includes primarily of three main buildings: a visitor’s center, the Presidential library and museum, and FDR’s childhood home. In addition, there are several acres of forests and grassland on the property, as well as FDR’s final resting place.

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After briefly walking around we went on the National Park Service tour of the property and FDR’s childhood home. Our tour guide, Kevin, was excellent, showing and teaching a ton of knowledge about the United States of America’s 32nd President.

For example, I learned from him that FDR loved taxidermy, especially of birds, as a kid, but his mother found out that he was using arsenic to preserve the birds, so someone else did it for him after that.

Inside the house, it was hard to take pictures because of low lighting and flash photography was prohibited. I saw pictures of naval history, one of FDR’s notable interests, and this really neat piece of furniture with all sorts of animals

The FDR Presidential Library and Museum features all sorts of interesting items, including FDR’s customized vehicle, spectacular views of the forests next to the Hudson River, and a mosaic in the visitor’s center detailing the Roosevelt’s property. Perhaps the most interesting display on the property to me was this sculpture detailing the Four Freedoms FDR laid out in his 1941 State of the Union address.

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The Four Freedoms are Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Worship, Freedom from Want, and Freedom from Fear. These, according to FDR, are the four essential human freedoms that the world should be founded upon. Those sound pretty good to me!

One other thing to note. Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th President of the United States of America, and probably my favorite President, is related to Franklin D. Roosevelt. Teddy is Franklin’s 5th cousin, once removed. More succinctly, Franklin married Teddy’s niece, Eleanor. Teddy’s side of the family was based on Long Island in a part called Oyster Bay. Franklin’s side lived in the Hudson Valley region. There’s so much more I could tell you on what I learned, but I must move on to another topic.

Hyde Park Brewing Company

After completing our visit to the FDR Presidential Library & Museum, we headed to Hyde Park Brewing Company nearby for lunch. And I started off the meal with a Nine Pin hard apple cider, local to the Hudson Valley region.

I’ve found that I like hard ciders more than beers, wines, and other adult beverages. Perhaps it’s my sweet tooth that makes me crave the ciders the most, but I had to try a local brand since the restaurant had the option.

I also had the Rough Riders BBQ Chicken Sandwich with Brewer’s fries (basically steak fries). Before becoming President, Teddy Roosevelt led soldiers in the Spanish-American War, and his group was called the “Rough Riders.” So once I saw that sandwich, I knew what I’d have for lunch.

The World’s Longest Elevated Pedestrian Bridge

After a great lunch, we went to the Poughkeepsie elevated pedestrian bridge. By this time, the young child in our cohort felt sleepy, so not all of us went up on the bridge. Flexibility is part of going on road trips, so my sister and I went up and walked on the bridge.

The bridge stretches 1.28 miles, which indeed makes it the longest elevated pedestrian bridge in the world. Due to time constraints, we walked about a third of the way across. In addition, the middle portion of the bridge has gated barriers several feet high, making photos and videos difficult or unsightly to take. Despite the limitations, the views were amazing!

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Reflecting on those views from the bridge, I realize that while I can continually push myself to accomplish things in life, I also realize that my life is not lived alone. It’s lived with other people. There’s a line from the movie Into the Wild that’s so packed with wisdom–happiness is only real when shared. I’m glad I went to the pedestrian bridge, but I think the part I most enjoyed from the day was being with family. That’s a view to a life–doing life together in relationships where there is mutual love.

In my next post, I’ll talk about how a surprise encounter at a farmer’s market led to more than one surprise treat.