My 13-year-old niece was here visiting us for the last week. On Saturday I needed to get her back to her family, who live in Massachusetts. We agreed to meet somewhat in the middle in Tarrytown, NY. I Googled to see what was there and came up with the Lyndhurst Mansion. This Gothic revival summer house is about four minutes from the Tappen Zee/Cuomo bridge. So that is what we chose, meeting for the 1 p.m. tour.
It was a little different after touring old fancy dwellings like Versailles and Chambord in France…but the grounds are quiet and serene — a contrast with the frequent bridge traffic — and there’s a lovely view of the Hudson. The architect, Alexander Jackson Davis, actually got to work on the house twice (originally, then a renovation for a later owner) and he designed a lot of the furniture to match it. Much of the furniture is still there, along with art collected in the Gilded Age era. I probably would not have driven 2.5 hours to see Lyndhurst for itself, but having passed it so many times while going over the bridge, I’m glad to have visited. Now perhaps we’ll need to make a Halloween visit to the area for Sleepy Hollow related lore!
Other than that, it was a fairly usual summer weekend. We took the 3 kids that were with us on Friday night out to our favorite Mexican place, and were able to sit outside. I went for an early morning run on Sunday. I took the 5-year-old to a birthday party on Sunday afternoon. I supervised a lot of time in the pool, but then on Sunday evening I got a little treat. My daughter had been asking to go see How to Train Your Dragon. They were talking about this at dinner last night, and so my husband decided to take her and the two other kids who are here (10-year-old and 5-year-old) right then. So all of a sudden I had about 2.5 unexpected hours to myself.
So I decided to go in the pool solo! I floated around for about 30 minutes, then read for 30 minutes. It was very relaxing, and a nice way to end the evening (well, until they all got home and I needed to put the 5-year-old to bed late…but still!).
Unexpected “found” time like that is wonderful. Like when a client calls to reschedule but in a personal context. Well done for enjoying it rather than finding something “useful” to do.
@Katherine B – oh, I felt a little guilt about not using the time to work…but I got over it. I figured I’d be at my desk at 7:45 a.m. this morning (and I was!) so it would eventually get done during my work hours…