Making Cents Of It All

William Vanderbilt  II loved to travel the world and he collected thousands of specimens over the years. He displayed some of these collections at his summer home. They are still there today. YD, her friend and I went to the Vanderbilt Estate recently. You can read about  part 1  and  part 2 .  One of the things I love about the mansion is that they really focus on preserving the past. They take excellent care of all of the different collections. Something is always being restored to help keep its original beauty.   On the main floor of the main house are all bird, butterfly, shell and bug collections. I have lived on Long Island my whole life. I have traveled but not all over the world. Now a days you can see almost everything on the internet to learn about other places. In the early 1900's you could not. Imagine people's awe when they would see all of these species of creatures that they didn't even know about. Mr Vande...

Hubby wanted this as my first item this week. Our neighbor gave it to him because they are moving and will no longer have a garage to store it. He was very excited about it. We got free admission to The  Vanderbilt Mansion  thanks to our  library . I also grabbed a bunch of movies from the library. Something for everyone.  I picked up last weeks Friday Freebies from Stop & Shop. The chocolate is gone and I gave my friend that has 2 cats the cat food. I got some free samples in the mail. My son will be happy to try out the coffee. Oreo  is happy to try out the dog food. My sister dropped off some goodies when she picked up Lip. I grabbed this from the sample basket while hubby had his teeth removed. He grabbed 2 more when he went for his follow up. I never pay for toothpaste.  CVS was doing a free 8 x 10 photo for father's Day. I got  a great picture that I am giving to Hubby.   H...

The  Vanderbilt Museum  is one of my favorite places on Long Island. My  first  part is here. The architecture is amazing. There are arches everywhere. I wish they still made homes with the details of the past.  This is the court yard after you walk in.  This massive gate would keep out any trouble. It has the family crest over the arch. It is seen throughout the property. This is a favorite nook of mine. It leads from the courtyard out to the back of the house by the water. What a view! This is some of the stone work on a pathway.   There are all different designs. There is still some of the original cobblestone on the roads and in the courtyard. It makes for an interesting walk. I always were sneakers. They do have golf carts that they will drive you on if you have walking issues or you are a guest at the wedding pavilion. High heels would not go over well on the stones.  I love the old man sitting on ...

If you are ever traveling in New York and make your way to Long Island I recommend going to the Vanderbilt Museum  in Centerport NY. I have lived on Long Island my whole life and it is one of my most favorite places. Youngest daughter, her friend and I spent a wonderful day there. The grounds are amazing. We always bring a picnic lunch and eat our lunch on the great lawn. They do have picnic tables throughout the property but we like to eat on a blanket. They only have vending machines to sell snacks so you do need to bring your own. We brought our reusable water bottles and our free  museum library pass  and we were ready. The pass is good for 2 adults and up to 4 kids. You can go anywhere on the grounds, throughout most of the buildings and you get to watch one planetarium show. I could spend the day just walking all around the grounds. They are wonderful. This was the Vanderbilts summer home so they have so  many magnificent gardens. Every corner you...