All public pics are at
http://picasaweb.google.com/greeksquaredSomehow I am 26 years old. I am sure my parents have had the same sentence cross their minds today. Seriously though, I never thought I would ever be this old. I actually remember in high school not being able to fathom any year beyond 1999. It just strikes me as odd that I am 26. I came to the Bronx this weekend to go out in the
city for my birthday. My Aunt and Uncle fixed me a special Greek dinner and even got me a cake.
Before leaving upstate NY I visited the home of former president Franklin Roosevelt. His family has this massive 30 room, 3 floor house on about a 2 mile strip of land that overlooks the Hudson river. The president grew up there and would take many of his esteemed guests such as the King and Queen of England over for some Bar-b-qued hot dogs.
He is buried with his wife in this fantastic garden that has about 20 different kinds of roses that were all blooming.
A couple interesting facts about FDR. He had an affair for a good part of his marriage that his wife didn't know about until his death when the woman showed up at this funeral. Apparently FDR's daughter helped keep his secret from her mother. FDR is the only president to be physically disabled. He became paralyzed from the next down when he was 35 from infantile paralysis after a weekend vacationing on a small island off of Maine. It is extremely rare for someone of his age to get this type of paralysis. After becoming president he started the
march of dimes foundation dedicated to his disease.
My family in Marlboro has been over the top ridiculously nice to me. My laundry has been done, folded and even put in a dresser. My bed made. Spontaneously taken to places around town. Given superb food every night. I actually got yelled at and called "a pain in the ass" for not taking as much food as I wanted out of the fridge.
I went out this weekend in the west village in the city with my cousin and his racous group of friends.
I was cleverly nicknamed Texas Teddy at some point during the night and it stuck for the rest of the weekend. The bars don't close until 4 a.m. here which would seem excessive except that we didn't leave the Bronx until 1:30 and stayed on the train for an hour and then spent another half hour carousing around once we got out. We didn't step into a bar until a little after 3.
The past couple of days I went to see The United States Military Academy at West Point and hiked up and through Mohonk Mountain. The only thing I knew about West Point before visiting was that it is the home for Army football. I had no idea it was in New York. The idea of the Military Academy was first conceived in the late 18th century and was recognized as an educational institution in 1803. It is situated just along the Hudson river at a point where the river bows westward an extreme amount. It was strategically placed here to maximize its area around the Hudson and give it a superior edge against enemy forces that wanted to pass through the river. Unfortunately since 9/11, visitors who do not come through by bus tour are not permitted on campus. But, the museum was open.
