October 9, 2017. A Day in Hyannis. Yesterday was a quiet day at Ocean Edge Resort. We walked around the community and explored the gardens and golf course. Because last night's blog was the quiz, I held yesterday's pictures for tonight. We have enjoyed our time here.
We drove 20 miles to Hyannis today. We arrived in time for an early lunch then walked the small downtown area. There is a museum honoring President Kennedy. It is nothing like the library and museum in Boston. Its purpose is to reflect upon the President's time in the family's compound in Hyannisport. We talked about whether we should return to the compound, but having been thrown off once, we decided against it. We may be on a poster there.
Joseph and Rose Kennedy bought the big house and six acres in 1928 after vacationing there two summers before. The house was remodeled and enlarged over the years. The Kennedys and their nine children spent the summer months there until Senator Ted Kennedy bought the main house. He lived there until his death. The home is now owned by an institute bearing Ted's name. Eventually, we are told, it will be open for public visitation. I will come back for that. It will be different to be on the property in some capacity other than a trespasser.
The museum tells of the President's love of the sea. He enjoyed sailing more than anything. His parents gave him a 25-foot sailboat which he named Victura. The Latin translation is "about to conquer." JFK raced the boat competitively and did very well. In fact, all the Kennedy boys used Victura. The President credited the time spent sailing Victura with teaching him the skills which made him a hero during WWII. He rescued his crew when PT 109 sank in the Pacific. The President modestly deflected the title of "hero." "If I was a hero, it was unintentional. They sank my boat," he would say.
After his marriage to Jackie, he taught her to sail on Victura. The two of them were often photographed sailing alone on the boat he'd owned for more than 20 years. The night before the President was assassinated in Dallas, he was at the Rice Hotel in Houston. When the hotel staff cleaned the room the next day, they learned of his death. On a scratch pad in the President's room was a doodle of Victura. He was thinking about his sailboat the night before his death. Victura resides at the Kennedy Library in Boston, outside with her bow pointed toward the horizon.
Today is our last on the Cape. Tomorrow we move north again into the White Mountains of New Hampshire to a condo near Lincoln, NH. We will be there for three days before moving on to Vermont for nearly a week.
Goodnight.
After his marriage to Jackie, he taught her to sail on Victura. The two of them were often photographed sailing alone on the boat he'd owned for more than 20 years. The night before the President was assassinated in Dallas, he was at the Rice Hotel in Houston. When the hotel staff cleaned the room the next day, they learned of his death. On a scratch pad in the President's room was a doodle of Victura. He was thinking about his sailboat the night before his death. Victura resides at the Kennedy Library in Boston, outside with her bow pointed toward the horizon.
Today is our last on the Cape. Tomorrow we move north again into the White Mountains of New Hampshire to a condo near Lincoln, NH. We will be there for three days before moving on to Vermont for nearly a week.
Goodnight.
1 comment:
I wonder what I will be thinking of when my time comes. My best guess: family and the mountains. My two favorite things. 😊
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