Visiting the Culinary Institute of America has been on my Bucket List for years and now I can finally cross it off. John and I had a wonderful guide, Bo Nu, a lovely young lady from Korea who was in her senior year at CIA. I asked her why she chose CIA and she said, “It was the best culinary college that offered a Bachelor’s Degree.”
Talk about making a silk purse out of a sow’s ear. Whoever came up with the idea to turn an old railroad bridge over the Hudson River into a walkway gets an “Atta’ Boy.” The railroad bridge was built in 1889 and was in service until 1974. Through the cooperation of public and private groups, the Walkway Over the Hudson Historic Park opened in 2009 making it the longest footbridge in the world.
It had been years since we visited Franklin Roosevelt’s home in Hyde Park. Since then the Henry A. Wallace Visitor and Education Center has opened where they have a twenty-minute film, “Rendezvous with History.” The film is a wonderful overview of the Roosevelt years and brought to mind how he changed the fabric of American society. We often have trouble putting current problems in an historic perspective.
I love small one-topic museums like the Jell-O Museum. The story of Jell-O points out the importance of marketing. A gelatin product was developed by Peter Cooper in 1845 but it wasn’t a success until, in 1897, Pearle Wait added flavor calling it Jell-O. Wait then sold his formula to Frank Woodward for $450.
Returning from Ohio we decided to take Route 86 East instead of our usual way along the NYS Thruway to Buffalo and then east. The Route 86 exit is near the New York Pennsylvania border. The area in the southwest corner of New York State is called “The Enchanted Mountains.” It is a beautiful drive with rolling hills, farms and forests and scenic stops.
The Rolling Hills Asylum is located in East Bethany, south of Batavia in Genesee County. The sprawling red brick building was built in 1827 as The Genesee County Poor Farm and in the 1950s it was a county home and infirmary. For a short time it was an antique mall. Over the years people reported strange occurrences of the paranormal kind.
We learn in school that Betsy Ross designed the American flag. But did she really? Legend has it that she made the first flag but there is no documented evidence that says she did which is always dilemma for historians. However, there are several factors that made it likely that Betsy did indeed create the first American flag.
Path Through History is an attempt by Governor Andrew Cuomo to promote New York State’s history and culture through tourism and bring tourist dollars to all parts of the state. There is a website, paththroughhistory.ny.gov, so people can plan day trips and/or weekend getaways that explore the history and culture of New York State. By exploring the Paths visitors can experience a Revolutionary War battle, discover some of the state’s and nation’s greatest natural wonders or relive some of sports greatest moments.
There is no place in the world like Las Vegas. The hotels are over the top. We stayed at the Venetian Hotel which is luxurious. The really amazing part was the room price for the nights we were there was about the same the Holiday Inn Express. But the rate is sometime over $300. So, it pays to check all the hotels and look for deals.
As part of our DMZ tour we went to Dora Observatory where it is supposed to be the best place to see North Korea. First we had to go through a security checkpoint. We were told to bring our passports but no one checked them probably because the only non-military vehicles allowed are the designated buses which transport tourists from the nearby Imjingak Park into the secured area.
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