1 We stayed at a lovely property in Palm Beach, which was located right on the edge of the Intercoastal Waterway, facing Singer Island and Peanut Island.

2 As we were preparing for our trip to Peanut Island, some friends rode by in their boat, waving.

3 Our hostess, Lis Barron, Alexis, the children, the nanny, and I were picked up at Lis' dock for the very short trip.

4 Beverly, the nanny, was very excited to see Peanut Island and visit the Kennedy Bunker.

5 The water was still that morning, and the approach to the island was smooth. Peanut Island was the home of the U.S. Coast Guard in Palm Beach, and the place where it was decided a bunker would be needed for President Kennedy while he used Palm Beach as his "Winter White House."

6 This beautiful building was built in 1932 for the U.S.Coast Guard. It now houses the Coast Guard Museum.

7 The big cranes in the background are on West Palm. Container ships load and unload using these cranes. Alexis is carry Truman from the dock to the museum.

8 Jude went exploring along the shore, looking for shells, stones, and plants.

9 We all admired these beautiful cast stone sand dollars. Our guide said he had found them at an estate sale where they were used as pavers.

10 In the old Coast Guard Station one can purchase tee shirts, beverages, and snacks.

11 Our guide was Anthony Miller, the director of the museum.

12 There are many old photos depicting life on the island in the early to mid 20th century. The island was verdant and busy when this photo was taken.

13 A view of the boat house in the 1920s with ramps from the boat house into the water. There was no bunker at this time.

14 Many historical photos are on display, bringing back fond memories of the days of President Kennedy's short presidency.

15 There are cats on the island. Three are most important: President Kennedy (pictured) and Jackie and Marilyn.

16 You can guess who this beauty is.

17 She's very photogenic.

18 At one time, the island was completely forested in Australian long-needled pine trees—most were cut down when this invasive species got too numerous. There are a few survivors.

19 This seal says the Coast Guard was founded in 1790.

20 The porch of the house where the museum is located—the old sign was right on the porch.

21 The interior of the museum is full of examples of rescue materials and gear, uniforms, and safety gear.

22 More gear.

23 The days long gone by of short wave radios and wool uniforms.

24 Histoic photos—this one of signing the peace treaty with Japan.

25 A lovely chart depicting the history of the Coast Guard—the first of four parts.

26 Second part...

27 Third...

28 Fourth and final part of the chart.

29 And then we were escorted to the entrance of the bunker.

30 An explanatory sign.

31 The entrance itself, built into the hillside—the bunker is entirely underground.

32 Jude and Truman were intrepid, entering the long entrance without any hesitation whatsoever.

33 The entry is a long metal-lined pipeline, embedded in several feet of concrete and sand.

34 There are more photographs, magazine articles, and newspaper articles recounting war, etc.

35 The bunker was run entirely by underground generator. It was built to house 30 people for 30 days in clean, filtered air.

36 The air purifiers look antiquated now.

37 The signs are frightening.

38 Special old gauges that were used for reading radioactivity.

39 The Cuban Missile Crisis was the reason the bunker was constructed in Palm Beach, where the President spent winter weekends and holidays.

40 The New York Times issue announcing the blockade against Cuba.

41 Everywhere in this bunker, which never had to be used to protect the President, are memories of days gone by.

42 Valuable signed letters and documents are on display.

43 A model of the famous PT boat on which JFK served during the war.

44 And of course, many articles and pictures of one of America's most glamorous and famous first ladies!

45 Another radio set up for communications from the bunker to "outside."

46 The tunnel to the outside. We enjoyed the visit very much. This is a great way to spend a morning while visiting Palm Beach.

47 Anthony certainly was a wonderful guide and teacher. He is very excited about the bunker and the island as a museum and academy.

48 On our way across the Intercoastal, we had time to reflect on the Kennedy Years and the time that has elapsed.

49 And now I have to find out what type of commerce and industry is going on across the way. There is a lot of activity.

1 All of this stuff was in the big closet in my brown dining room. The closet had become a catchall for things that came home with me from the office, things I bought but didn't know where to put, and "valuables" that needed a safe hiding place.

2 The crystal bowl for example was a gift to me from Olana, Frederic Church's magnificent home on the Hudson River. I had stashed it in this closet with no plans for displaying it.

3 This closet was also the storage place for scrabble games, cards, binoculars, and instructional handbooks.

4 Even my stationery needed reorganizing and sorting.

5 One Saturday, with just 1 1/2 hours to spare, I drove to the nearest Container Store to find some sort of "storage system" that I could use in the closet.

6 I found some very nice boxes with reinforced corners and a few baskets that fit very nicely on the 50"x 20" shelves.

7 I put smaller games and accessories in one box—chips, cards, dominoes, dice, etc.

8 One box was great for the storage of board games.

9 Where I was tight on space, the baskets came in handy, filling the gaps and offering more, deeper storage. I filled the remaining boxes with more games, hid my favorite Norwegian milk chocolate bars in another (don't tell anyone), and fitted my large Scrabble games in a wide space on the bottom shelf. I am very proud of the reorg and the neatness of my "new" closet.

1 Dia Beacon is a wonderful museum situated in Beacon, New York. The building once housed a Nabisco cardboard carton manufacturer. It was cleverly redesigned by a team of architects into a spacious, adventuresome museum.

2 The sign at the entrance to the museum.

3 Over the bookstore is this artwork.

4 In the front lobby is art, a bookstore, check-in, and a charming café that serves coffees, light meals, and desserts.

5 Everywhere one looks there is beautiful architecture or interesting art.

6 The bookstore has a terrific selection of books on the resident artists as well as other contemporary artists.

7 The vast spaces house works by Carl Andre, Sol LeWitt, Andy Warhol, Richard Serra, and many others.

8 Smaller works of art may be housed in cases, or in smaller rooms.

9 The museum has 240,000 square feet of exhibition space.

10 One gallery is devoted to 24 chromatic juxtapositions by the German artist known as Blinky Palermo. Jude loved these small paintings and practiced her color knowledge, reciting each color in each painting in Spanish, English and Mandarin.

11 Because the spaces are so generous in this former packaging factory, and because there is so much daylight, afforded by hundreds of large skylights, the art looks fabulous even on a dark and gloomy day.

12 John Chamberlain, an American sculptor, is best known for his colorful crushed automobile pieces--portions of mechanically smashed cars beautifully welded together.

13 These large pieces are wonderfully displayed in a giant gallery.

14 Truman loves cars, but he did not quite get this art.

15 I love the heavy pieces affixed to the gallery walls.

16 This piece looks like it came straight from the junk yard.

17 Our favorites were the massive Richard Serra corten steel pieces.

18 This installation is called Torqued Ellipses, also by Richard Serra. We all spent a great deal of time here going in and out and around these huge steel sculptures.

19 Jude and Truman discovered the echo like quality inside the ellipses.

20 They also loved the works of Carl Andre, Andy Warhol, and many others.

21 This massive stone block sculpture was especially interesting to the kids who counted the blocks- 100 in all!

22 The signage is very good at the museum. There are laminated explanations of the work to read as well.

23 This massive space at Dia Beacon was designed just for this Michael Heizer sculpture--four giant geometric shapes placed beneath the concrete floor. This is my favorite installation, but now rather inaccessible with the glass "fence" surrounding it.

24 A curator will accompany a viewer to the sculpture if asked. But no children allowed.

25 Jude and Truman were very excited seeing all the art. They visited every gallery.

26 The plywood boxes by Donald Judd were dutifully counted by Jude in three languages.

27 This mirrored kaleidoscope-like box with four triangular mirrors was a big hit.

28 The children loved seeing the myriad images of themselves and others.

29 Nannies Patricia and Carolina came with us to the museum. They, too, loved it.

30 Truman tried to count but soon lost count of himself.

31 It is amazing what four mirrors can do.

32 Truman and Kerry stayed by the kaleidoscope a long time.

33 This young man wore a jacket covered with unusual buttons. He happily posed for photos.

34 He told us his mother painted the icon-like image on his back.

35 Several rooms are devoted to the work of Agnes Martin--Jude liked the paintings, as did I.

36 Several galleries have "string" art installed which gives an eerie interpretation of space.

37 Throughout the museum large factory windows and skylights let in natural light.

38 This steel floor by Richard Serra intrigued the children.

39 After our lunch in the museum café (very good by the way), we went outside to see the frozen Hudson River.

40 Of course it was a great place to snap a few more photos.

41 Because of the extended cold snap, the river is almost frozen over here near the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge.