Finally in Vermont !

After four days of travel, I arrived in Vermont on the fifth morning, crossing from Whitehall, New York, to Rutland, Vermont in the Green Mountains this morning.


Before heading to Norwich University for my residency conference, I stopped at the Calvin Coolidge Historic Site in Plymouth Notch to see the small town where Coolidge took the oath of office after learning of the death of President Warren Harding in San Francisco.  Coolidge won a term as chief executive in his own right, and he presided over much of the "Roaring Twenties" from the White House.  Not far from the home site is the community's cemetery, where Coolidge is buried.

Here are some shots of the Green Mountains...

I arrived at Norwich around 3 p.m.  After registration, I unpacked at my dorm in a steady rain, then went to supper.  Afterwards, the school administration hosted a reception in a big armory (it's a school with a military tradition), and several administrators gave inspiring talks.  No good pics of Norwich so far; the weather was too dreary.

The Hudson Valley

Much of Sunday was spent in the valley of the Hudson River in Eastern New York. 


I visited the United States Military Academy at West Point, stopping at the West Point Museum and at the Battle Monument at Trophy Point on the Academy grounds.  The museum had exhibits about the history of warfare, American wars, the Academy itself, and ancient and modern weapons.  The Battle Monument, erected by Union Civil War veterans, overlooks the Hudson River.  All around it are collections of cannon from different wars in which the United States has been involved.

From there I traveled north to the Franklin D. Roosevelt historic site at Hyde Park.  In addition to the family home, Roosevelt's presidential library is also on the grounds.  Franklin and Eleanor are buried in the rose garden not far from the house.





About an hour north, near Kinderhook, was the home of the eighth president, Martin Van Buren.  The first president born as an American, van Buren was descended from the Dutch who settled the Hudson Valley as part of their colony of New Netherland (before the English changed the name to New York).  We had a great guide on the house tour, and he waited for me for just a few minutes as I arrived at the last minute and his was the last tour of the day.  I also visited van Buren's grave in the cemetery in Kinderhook.









Continuing north, I saw another president's grave in the Albany Rural Cemetery.  Chester Alan Arthur of New York succeeded James Garfield after the latter was assassinated in 1881.  I spent the night in the Albany area.

Battlefields and Jim Thorpe

From northern Virginia, my trip moved into the eastern tip of West Virginia and then into western Maryland.  This is where Antietam is located.

The sunken road known as Bloody Lane

Antietam (or Sharpsburg) was the bloodiest battle of the Civil War.  More men died there than had died in all previous American wars combined.  The three-part battle included a back-and-forth struggle across cornfields, a rifle pit that came to be known as "Bloody Lane," and a bridge across Antietam Creek which was defended against thousands of Union soldiers for hours by a small contingent of Georgians.

"The Angle" as it must have looked

to Confederates approaching it

Moving northward into Pennsylvania, I visited Gettysburg for the second time.  This time, I specifically wanted to view the "high water mark" of the Southern incursion into Northern territory, near the place called "The Angle" on the battlefield.  There is an "official" monument to recognize the terrible fighting that took place here, and the North Carolinians erected a monument near the angle in the low stone wall to mark where their soldiers reached that day.  From this point, you can look out over the large open field where "Pickett's Charge" took place.


The remainder of my day was spent passing from Harrisburg to the northeastern corner of the state near the Delaware Water Gap.  This is a mountainous section of small townships and coal mines.


One of the little villages was re-named for the Olympic and football hero Jim Thorpe.  He is buried there, and a beautiful monument was erected to honor his achievements.  This was apparently a big controversy in its time, as Thorpe's third wife was accused of "shopping" his remains to a town that would "properly honor" his memory.  Other members of his family in Oklahoma still want his body moved to Native American lands for what they consider a proper burial.



Ended a long day near the place where Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York meet.