Sagamore Hill

It's Labor Day and the day just begged for an outing. For years I have vowed that I would visit the homestead of my hero Theodore Roosevelt on Long Island. Today was that day.

Yes, TR was a Republican, but he was also a crusader for multiple social issues including women's rights, social security, civil rights and poverty. He was also pivotal in the establishment of the National Parks System. His home in Oyster Bay, NY (Sagamore Hill), was his heart and soul and it's a place I've often longed to see.

I drove through the Cross Bronx, made my way across the Throg's Neck Bridge and the Cross Island Parkway. I veered onto small backroads and before I knew it, I was winding through tree lined roads through small towns with names like Muttontown and Cold Spring Harbor. I drove alongside the Bay, brilliant blue and teeming with sailboats. And suddenly, the glorious facade of Sagamore Hill came into view. It looked exactly like it did in every photograph I've ever seen.

I visited the museum and walked the grounds, admiring the wizened apple trees that lined the orchard. In TR's time, Sagamore Hill was a working farm where they raised apples, eggs, hay, wheat and rye for the family. The grounds were still dotted with a hen house, worker facilities, a windmill and a barn. I visited the family pet cemetery which was the last resting place of multiple dogs, a badger and two horses. I explored the woods and hiked the trail leading down to Oyster Bay. It was incredibly serene.

The house was as magnificent and rustic as I expected. Simple and unfussy and chock full of family memorabilia, I found it charming. Our guide, dressed as a rough rider and channeling TR, was so well-schooled in Roosevelt history that even I couldn't stump him with a question.

And as I wandered out onto the path, a family of wild turkeys wandered in my way. As a good pedestrian, I waited patiently as they meandered across the path into the meadow beyond.

Prior to his death, Roosevelt wrote to his wife Edith, "I wonder if you can ever know how I love Sagamore Hill." After today, I think I understand why.