TRAVEL BENEFITS OF CAT-SITTING--Summer 2015

TRAVEL BENEFITS OF CAT-SITTING
SUMMER TRAVELS--New York 2015


The Halls Mills Covered Bridge in
rural Grahamsville had undergone
recent repairs.

Cat-sitting for Tara at her house in New York State has its benefits. Never before would we have believed that New York had so many "travel" and historic sites. And never would we have dreamed that we would see so much of our neighboring state.  Because of our summer cat-sitting stints, Andy and I have traveled to many of these obscure and quiet places of interest.  And because of our chaperoning for FFA state competitions, we have also seen many of the rural towns and agricultural interests so unknown to those outside of New York. What a treasure house of travel this state has to offer!

Willowemoc is actually
half a covered bridge.

This year we explored more than ever before. One day-trip took us to a series of bridges.  The Halls Mills Covered Bridge on Hunter Road Spur in Grahamsville was built in 1912.  Following the directions in the New York Guide Book of interesting places, we had no trouble locating this old wooden creek crossing.

The Vantran Covered
Bridge accents the
entrance to a local park.

The Covered Bridge in Willowemoc wasn't so easy to find. It was built in Livingston Manor in 1860 and cut in half. One half that survived was moved to its present location in Willowemoc by the Doodledoo Camp Ground in 1913.
In Livingston Manor a little searching helped us find the Vantran Covered Bridge. It was built in 1860 and is one of four towne-lattice-truss and queen post style covered bridges in the Catskills.  It was originally called Motts Flat Bridge and later renamed.

The beautiful Roeblings Suspension Bridge, oldest of its
kind in this country, connects two states.

             We walked across the Roeblings Suspension Bridge and Aqueduct. Although not a covered bridge, this river crossing also has a claim to fame. It was built in 1823 by Roeblings, the designer of the Brooklyn Bridge, and is the oldest of its kind still standing.

Andy reads the history
of the Minisink Memorial.

It spans the Delaware River in upstate New York. The bridge connects Lackawaxen, Pennsylvania and Minisink Ford, New York.

A mansion by modern standards, the
Deyo House of 1692
dominates Huguenot Street.

On another day-trip Andy and I drove to the Minisink Battlefield Memorial Park.  This little remembered Revolutionary War battleground commemorates the sacrifice of 50 American rebels who were ambushed in a woodland skirmish and massacred by Mohawk Indians in July of 1779. The Native American warriors were led by Chief Joseph Bryant.
That day we also stopped in New Paltz.  Here Huguenot Street features stone homes that date back to 1692, the oldest authentic museum street in America.


The Abraham Hasbrouck House
hosted cock fights in early days.

In 1677, twelve Huguenot men had secured a land contract of 40,000 acres in the New Paltz vicinity from the Esopus Indians.  The religious immigrants from France settled in the area soon after the land purchase, and by the early  1690's they were constructing more permanent dwellings of natural stone.  Six homes built before 1720 still stand.  These include the home of Louis Bevier, a 1698 patentee; the Deyo house, home of Pierre Deyo from 1692 as one of the 12 original patentees; and the home of Jean Hasbrouck, built in 1712.

A monument marks the
center of the old town
where North Front Street
meets Huguenot Street.

Another patentee, Abraham Hasbrouck, once a soldier in the English army, died in 1717, but his wife Virginia, lived in their house until her death in 1741. It is said that their kitchen was the scene of local cock fights.
We walked the street and meandered through the old cemetery at Our French Church, a beautiful old stone church built in 1717. The city of New Paltz itself was founded in 1678 and was governed by La Dusine, a body of 12 men who were elected by the whole town. The Dusine existed as a governing body for the next 100 years.

The old French Church shows the beautiful stone
architecture of the early Huguenot immigrants.

The culturally diverse group of early settlers came together to build an enduring community. Nestled between the Shawangunk Mountains and the Wallkill River, this National Historic Landmark in the heart of the Hudson Valley is one of National Geographic's top 100 worldwide destinations.