By now, most of the schools have welcomed eager and not-so-eager students. New routines are being established to accommodate bus stops and lunch boxes and fading summer activities. Parents have met the demands of the shopping trips for new clothes an
By now, most of the schools have welcomed eager and not-so-eager students. New routines are being established to accommodate bus stops and lunch boxes and fading summer activities. Parents have met the demands of the shopping trips for new clothes and sneakers, and about now they are shopping for the required notebooks and lined paper and required library books. The season is changing rapidly.
Once everyone has settled into the early fall programs, the invigorating days of autumn begin. This was always a time when our family hurried to take some of the âday tripsâ we didnât schedule in the humid, hot days of July and August. We are fortunate to be located in an area where the choices are many for the educational and recreational offerings. Even with higher gas prices, day trips can be part of a family budget if you take along a big cooler containing both lunches for a picnic and fruit drinks and snacks.
Most area families have visited such places as Mystic Seaport, one of the best of early day restorations, the zoo at Beardsley Park or in Bronx, N.Y., a sojourn to Kent Falls and the museum where Eric Sloan mementos are displayed.
Some of my all-time favorite day trips include the historic sights in the Hudson River Valley. The four best-known places are Lyndhurst, Philipsburg Manor, Van Courtland Manor, and Boscobel.
Guided tours of these places are available. Operated by the National Trust for Historic Places, Lyndhurst is one of the great estates in the Northeast, in Tarrytown, N.Y. Thousands of visitors find their way to this center of Gothic Revival architecture and its comprehensive collection of Victorian art.
Sunnyside in Irvington, N.Y., is nearby and Philipsburg Manor in North Tarrytown and Van Courtland Manor in Croton-on-Hudson are easy one-day trips. Boscobel in Garrison, N.Y., is an especially beautiful place when the Christmastime season is observed and there are special events. Special memberships in the National Trust are available for all of the Hudson Valley sites. It is possible to get information at Lydenhurst, 635 South Broadway, Tarrytown, NY 10591. Memberships are not necessary, however, for occasional visits.
The Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Mass., is another easy all-day trip. The new Rockwell Museum is on Route 183 and easy to find. Exhibits to this museum will remind visitors of Saturday Evening Post covers and many of Rockwellâs famous posters.
Trips to Cooperstown, N.Y., to visit the Baseball Hall of Fame can be a one-day event. But an overnight or weekend visit could also include a visit to the James Fenimore Cooper house, home of the famous novelist. The Farmerâs Museum nearby is a great place for children to get a good glimpse of early country life. I especially enjoyed a close-up of an authentic carved wagon such as many of our ancestors used to travel to the West.
Even if you are not an avid baseball fan, you will probably be impressed by the tribute to Babe Ruth and other outstanding athletes, as well as the many displays marking outstanding events in the years of this favorite pastime. If you have a picnic in your cooler, Glimmerglass Lake is the ideal place to go and relax. The baseball museum is open all year, but the other two museums are only open until the end of October. Combination tickets to all three places are available.
Close to home, September and October are times to seek out a country fair. A special old time fair is the Harwinton Fair, the beginning of October. It is a good event to take the kids for an all-day outing; food is plentiful and there are exhibits children will enjoy. Horsedrawing and oxdrawing events are fun to watch.
If you have a notion to take a couple of days and go north to see the beautiful fall foliage, donât do it unless you have a reservation at a hotel or motel or bed and breakfast. I know of two carloads of folks who had to spend a night in the car because no rooms were available. If you go early and return late, you can see some beautiful scenery, but donât be in a hurry!
Whatever your interest, try to have at least one last outing before it is time to face winter, snow, ice, and more âstay at home time.â
Last week the familiar poem was âColumbusâ by Joaquin Miller.
Who said, âThe price of greatness is responsibilityâ?