Notable Travels

The New York State Capitol is the Empire State’s grand fusion of architectural styles from Romanesque to Renaissance. It took several teams of architects 32 years (1867-1899) and a staggering $25 million to build.

Albany and the Hudson Valley are a treasure trove of art and architecture, history and heritage. Evidence abounds of the influence of Native Americans, Dutch settlers, and those who followed, like the artists and writers who developed an all-American style for an emaergingf nation.

THE HISTORY

Four centuries ago navigator Henry Hudson set sail on an expedition that took a surprising turn. He had twice sailed north into Arctic waters and failed to find the Northeast Passage for his native England. With no more sponsors in sight, he signed with the rival Dutch East India Company to find this shorter route to the sought-after spices, silks, and other luxury goods of the Orient.

Fearing mutiny in the frigid and stormy waters, he violated his contract and turned his ship the Half Moon toward the eastern coast of North America. He sailed from the Grand Banks to Chesapeake Bay in search of a Northwest Passage. Sailing his ship about 150 miles up the waterway that now bears his name, he found it too shallow to continue and turned back. Never would he have imagined that another disappointing journey would be something celebrated four centuries later.

Hudson’s logs had revealed a fertile and forested area with natives eager to trade furs, in particular the beaver pelts needed in the manufacture of fashionable European hats. The Dutch sent other navigators to investigate and established a trading post and settlement, Fort Orange. After the British gained control, the Fort Orange area was renamed Albany.

THE HUDSON RIVER SCHOOL OF ART

The Rip Van Winkle Bridge leads to a region from which the legends and literature of Washington Irving and James Fennimore Cooper and the landscape paintings of Thomas Cole and his followers gave a new nation international recognition. Here the inspiration for these new American literary and artistic movements is revealed.

Traveling wasn't always as easy as it easy today, and most folks could only draam about exotic or other faraway lands . Their impressionss were shaped by what they read in books or saw in paintings.

It was through artistic expression that the message of the beauty of nature and the wilderness was spread. One such artistic movement became known as the Hudson River School of Art. With it came a heightened awareness of the need for preservation within this rapidly expanding nation.

Cedar Grove

The Thomas Cole National Historic Site, Cedar Grove, includes the home, period furnishings, art and artifacts, and a restored studio of the founder of a new uniquely American art.

In an age when most successful painters were creating portraits for wealthy patrons, Cole found little financial success in this. He moved to Catskill, New York, and closely studied and painted the natural scenery around him.

Cole's magnificent landscape paintings often featured dramatic light and religious or allegorical themes and revealed his awe and appreciation of the beauty and majesty of the natural wonders of the American wilderness. His work became the foundation of the 19^th century American landscape tradition known as the Hudson River School of Art.

Many of his masterpieces were created from the glorious views of the Catskills from his own west porch. Cole would also walk for miles, sketching what he saw, collecting specimens, and returning to his studio to paint.

His work came to define the American frontier and brought attention to its beauty. It attracted tourists to the region and inspired an environmental preservation movement that led to the National Parks system.

Self-guided trails lead to the views that inspired the Hudson River School artists. This year, on selected Saturdays through October 3, guided hikes are led by docents. ($15, includes hike, 48-page Art Trail guidebook, and guided tour of Thomas Cole Historic Site.)

Catskill

The grand home of another artist is just across the river. For a pleasant break between tours, stop in Catskill’s Main Street area for lunch or to browse the shops.

Olana

A wealthy New Yorker impressed by Cole’s landscapes sent his son, Frederic Church, to study with him for two years. Church went on to travel the world and to amass a fortune with his artistic talent and business and marketing acumen. His travels took him to such faraway places as Newfoundland, Labrador, Lebanon, Syria, Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Egypt, Equador, Jamaica, as well as to Maine. Some of his works were sketched from Cole’s porch or with Cole from the hill where he eventually built his home, but he is best known for his portrayals of Niagara Falls, the Andes and icebergs.

He became the most popular American landscape painter of his time and charged a handsome admission to see just one of his magnificently staged paintings of places most people could only imagine.

His Persian-style palace, Olana is filled with original furnishings collected in his travels and looks much as it did when he lived there. It is considered to be one of the most important artistic residences in the United States and its authenticity makes it one of most visited sites in the state.

Like his friend Fredrick Law Olmstead, designer of Central Park, he had an artistic eye for landscape design. Church created visual experiences in popular Picturesque landscaping style with a foreground, middle ground, and background to highlight the elements of the area, and carefully planned the visitor's view, with glimpses and vistas as guests approached. This was his masterpiece and he wrote “I can make more and better landscapes in this way than by tampering with canvas and paint in the studio.”

Olmstead so valued Church's talents that he consulted his friend him on on where in New York City to situate an obelisk given by the Egyptian government. It was placed, and remains, by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. A model of the obelisk made by Tiffany is on the mantle in the studio in Olana.

Paintings of the Hudson River from Olana by Church and fellow artists are in an exhibit. A computer program illustrates how windows frame the views, part of Church’s extraordinary integration of architecture, and landscape, and his art.

Olana’s grounds are open free of charge to the public 8AM to sunset. The viewshed of over 1000 acres has been preserved for generations to come. ( House tour $9, $8 for seniors. Gallery admission $6, $5 for seniors. Combination rates $12, $10 seniors. Call for reservations 518-828-0135.)

ALBANY

The capital of New York is a cultural center with one of the oldest museums in America--older than the Louvre or the Smithsonian. The Albany Institute of History and Art began in 1791, when George Washington was President.

For an overview of sights of the the city head to Quackenbush Square for an Aqua Ducks tour. For this special year, costumed Henry Hudson reenactors lead the 90 minute narrated sightseeing tour that travels along historic streets before splashing down in the Hudson River. (Adults, $26, Seniors Over 62/Active Military Personnel, $24, Children, 4 -1 2, $15. Under 3 free.)

Albany’s beautiful brownstone and granite City Hall, completed in 1883, has a 202 foot high tower. A 49 bell carillon was added to honor Albanians who lost their lives in World War I.

FREE Summer concerts can be enjoyed from Academy Park, just across the street, or Corning Park, behind City Hall.

You'll learn to look up to see gargoyles or trumpeting angels atop Albany's historic churches. Discover who is buried within one and what another bought for 25 beaver pelts.

Revolutionary War history comes alive as you pass the mansion of one of its Generals. The tour route also passes the childhood home of Herman Melville, who later returned to the area and began to write about his adventures at sea.

Learn about Joe Kennedy's role in the former RKO and vaudeville theater that is now home to Albany Symphony Orchestra and the Berkshire Ballet.

Discover why State Street is so wide, where “Legs” Diamond hung out, and where to return for the unique eateries and architecture of the “Village in the City”.

Marvel at the grandeur of the Empire State's Flemish Gothic Delaware and Hudson Building and the eclectic New York State Capitol.

NY State Capitol Tours of the New York State Capitol are FREE. Call (518) 474-2418 for tour times.

The Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller Empire State Plaza displays the most significant state collection of modern art in the USA. Fountains and benches line the pedestrian area and there’s a FREE observation deck is on the 42^nd floor of the Corning Tower. On a clear day you can see the Hudson River Valley, the Catskills, the foothills of the Adirondacks, and the Berkshires. Catch a performance at The Egg, the Center for the Performing Arts.

You'll want to return later to the Plaza's New York State Museum. It is the oldest and largest state museum in the country. Go for a spin on its restored 19^th century carousel—it’s all FREE!

Don’t miss the archaeological finds like the colonial rum distillery or the September 11 exhibit.

Disembark from the Aqua Ducks tour and it’s just a few steps to the historical exhibits, brochures, and helpful staff at the Visitor Center. This year, its planetarium presentation ($3) reveals how Hudson used the stars to chart his course.

For an inside view of early Dutch life, visit Crailo, Hendrick Van Rensselaer’s early 18^th century brick manor. It was originally on a 700,000 acre estate known as a patroonship. British and American troops camped here during French and Indian and Revolutionary Wars and it’s said that “Yankee Doodle” was written by British army surgeon Richard Schuckburgh while he resided upstairs.

Crailo reopened this month with creative hands-on exhibits featuring the early Dutch and Native Americans. (Admission $5, $4 Seniors and students, under 12 free. Call for hours (518) 463-8738. )

History buffs want to tour the grand Schuyler Mansion, where Alexander Hamilton married Elizabeth Schuyler (Admission $4, seniors and students free. Combination tickets with Crailo available), or Ten Broeck Mansion (Admission $5, $4 seniors and students). Both were homes of Revolutionary War Generals who married women from the Van Rensselaer family.

THERE'S MORE...

Albany Riverfront Park at the Corning Preserve is accessed by the Hudson River Way, a pedestrian walkway lined with a series of paintings of Albany’s past.

READY TO GO?

Dining

The Brown Derby

22 Clinton Avenue

www.hollywoodbrownderby.com

Enjoy inspired American food in an intimate setting, a recreation of the interior of the original Brown Derby in Hollywood, replete with copies and original caricatures of movie stars.

La Canard Enchaine Brasserie

25 Quackenbush Square

www.le-canardenchainesrestaurant.com

La Canard Enchaine Brasserie serves chef-owner Jean-Jacques Carquillat’s traditional French country cuisine with a side of history in the oldest Dutch Building in Albany, the historic Quackenbush House.

The Garden of Eating Tour is a self-guided culinary driving tour running from September 12 -26, 2009. Follow a trail of local cheeses, fruits, vegetables, meats, breads, wines, beers, and even Apple vodka. Restaurants will have special menus featuring these local foods.

Accommodations