Departing for New York

            On our journey down to the wonderful New York City we made a few stops along the way. We visited Philipsburg Manor and Sunnyside. Philipsburg Manor is a working farm where a lot of trade took place. My favorite part of the tour was learning about slavery and what a typical day consisted of. Slaves were self-efficient and prepared food for themselves and their owners. Our tour guide really made it easy to enjoy and understand what life were like in the late 1600’s, early 1700’s. I enjoyed learning how they churned butter and the demonstration our tour guide gave us. It consisted of a rhythm motion that lasted for 30-minute intervals. It was extremely tiring which could be why you were considered a senior citizen by the age of 40. There was work other than slavery that took place on the manor as well. There was gristmill work, medicine work, and farming work that all played significant roles during this time period. Everyone was severely hard working during this time period and the work seemed really long and tedious. I am thankful for those who came before me to improve technology to where it is today. After leaving Philipsburg Manor we traveled to Washington Irving’s home known as Sunnyside. When we arrived Sunnyside reminded me much of Olana. The landscape was shaped to show the beautiful river as approaching Irving’s home before seeing the house itself. Irving’s home looked cozy but seemed small for all of the people that stayed there. He was accompanied by his brother and five nieces, four of which attended Emma Willard. I found that interesting because Emma Willard is right by my house in Troy. It’s hard to believe that troy was such a wealthy and prominent city that famous author’s nieces would go to school there. Overall today was a good day but I was eager and anxious to get to the city which I felt got in the way of the stops we made prior to New York.