My human sidekick is busy
with some project or other this morning, so I thought I’d take this opportunity
to sneak in here and write a blog post for her. I know my fans are always
anxious to hear more about my background, so I’m going to share some pictures
of my hometown.
I chose to live in the best
place suited for a teddy bear—Theodore Roosevelt’s hometown of Oyster Bay. What could be more perfect than to reside in a
place associated with the man who helped make us teddy bears the
well-loved creatures we’ve become (especially me).
Our whole town is filled
with history related to our 26th President, so it’s hard to focus on
just a few things but I thought I’d pick out some of my favorites. To begin
with, you’ve read in this blog about my human sidekick’s mania for “henge”
places (Stonehenge, Foamhenge, Carhenge, Woodhenge). Well, here in Oyster Bay
we have our very own henge—Teddyhenge, as I like to call it.
Down by the waters of
Oyster Bay they’ve dedicated a park to T.R.; in this park you’ll find a
grouping of stones set in stones, along with some larger boulders. Each stone
represents some milestone in T.R.’s life and they come from all over the
country and the world.
My favorites are the ones I
can climb on like the boulders from T.R.’s ranch in the Badlands of North
Dakota, one from San Juan Hill, and another from the Panama Canal zone.
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| From San Juan Hill |
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| From Elkhorn Ranch, ND |
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| From the Panana Canal area |
After playing on the rocks,
I sometimes pop into Teddy’s estate, Sagamore Hill.
The house is closed for
some needed restoration work right now, but you can still stroll the grounds
and often find a regiment of T.R.’s Rough Riders parading around and
practicing their military skills.
When the house reopens next
year, I look forward to again hanging with the President himself and listening to more of his rousing speeches delivered straight from his porch.
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| Fourth of July several years ago |
No visit to Sagamore is
complete without stopping to chat with my good friend and neighbor who is a
Ranger there. As you can see from this picture, he has designated me to be an
honorary Ranger. When the house opens, he’s going to finally let me sit in one
of T.R.’s chairs for a photo op.
Just joking Howie, I know I’m
not allowed on the furniture. And you’ll be glad to know that your friend, my
human sidekick, also prevented me from following in the footsteps of T.R.’s
sons and climbing the windmill.
All that fun sure does work
up an appetite. And I know just the restaurant to go to for a great meal—it’s
called “Wild Honey” and it just happens to be located in the building that was
T.R.’s Summer White House.
Hmm, come to
think of it, writing a blog post works up a good appetite, too. I’m off to
lunch. And oh, if you see my human sidekick you didn’t read any new post in the
blog this morning and you don’t know where I went with her charge card. . .
2 comments:
The Moore Building, Teddy Roosevelt's summer house you have pictured here, was also my dad Ken Juers' family's home for many years. My grandmother Helen, lived on the 2nd floor above (what's now) Wild Honey, from the late 40's until the late 70's/early 80's.
Helen Juers, & her sons Harry, Don, Ken, Gerry, Roy & Bobby... all crammed into that 2nd floor apartment. Have great memories of that place from when I was boy... thanks Cathy, for showcasing it in your blog... cheers!
Roy Juers II
Apopka, FL
Wow, that is so interesting, thanks so much for sharing your story! And as a history buff and a big fan of Teddy Roosevelt I have to admit I'm just "a bit" jealous that your family history includes the building where T.R. had his offices. Imagine--you literally walked in T.R.'s footsteps when you had family gatherings!
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