I've received some great advice here and I'm almost set. Please asses my itinerary.

Sat late morning arrival to Neuberg, head to Washington's Headquarters then south to Storm King for the late afternoon and stay in Tarrytown.
Sun. tour Kykuit and Lyndhurst dinner (yea) at Blue Hill stay in Tarrytown again.
Mon. head north to visit Boscobel, Chuang Yen Monastery and possibly Stonecrop Garden or Manitoga. Our plan will be to visit FDR's sites and Valkill and Vanderbilt Estate on Tue and Wed (possibly Poet's Walk - Millbrook Winery).

Question: Do we drive to Rhinebeck and stay there the last three nights? Or, do we find a place near Beacon area etc for Mon. night and then spend last two nights in Rhinebeck?
I'm leaning towards last three nights in Rhinebeck. Feedback greatly appreciated
Laurie

Rhinebeck is a nicer place to stay than Beacon. Cold Spring, much closer to Boscobel and Manitoga is also nice, but the distance isn't very great so you might as well stay in one place rather than check in and out. Depending on when you are coming (day of the week, time of the year) a one night stay might be problematic anyway.

Have you checked that the sites you want to visit are open on Mondays?

I vote for Rhinebeck and dinner at Terrapin.

Thank you for reminding me nyer, I did check that the sights were open on Monday but Manitoga only does tours at 11am. Glad I rechecked that.

I think you guys are right about minimizing the hassle of one more place to check in and out of. Terrapin looks like a place we will definitely be enjoying.

If you do Poet's Walk, combine it with a drive slightly north to Bard College and see Blithewood garden there. Not far from Poet's Walk is a great place for a afternoon tea or a sunset drink is therhinecliffhotel.com

If you go to the Millbrook Winery, combine it with the garden at Innisfree (about 10 minutes from the Winery). Millbrook has a fantastic takeout gourmet market (with one or two tables and an outdoor table) babetteskitchen.com

Rhinebeck definitely better to stay than Beacon. Another good restaurant in Rhinebeck is gigitrattoria.com There are also nice little shops and it's a good town to just stroll around for a bit.

If your near Boscobel on Sun or Tue evening check out the Shakespeare plays. Sun 7/12 is The Abridged works - it's a funny 90min compilation of all 37 plays acted out by a cast of 3 guys. Very funny. 7/19 is Much Ado about Nothing, and 7/26 is Pericles. I haven't seen the latter 2. You can get a nice picnic lunch right there or BYO. Show starts at 7, ends by 9. They are off Mondays.

https://hvshakespeare.org/db/index.taf

I agree with NaomiZ. Innisfree and Millbrook winery make a great combo - very close to each other. I'd get the picnic and take it to Innisfree myself - lovely picnic area overlooking the lake & gardens.

We've had some great weather in the last 10 days after a horrible June. Hopefully it'll stay this way for your visit. 80ish and sunny, no humidity, cool evenings. Occasional afternoon thunderstorm but pleasant the rest of the day.

Thanks! All this great advice is making me long for more time in the area. I'm really glad the weather has been better. I talked to my friends on Cape Cod just before July 4th. They said they were going stir crazy so I concentrated on sunshine for you folks back east. We have an overabundance here. Glad to share.

I did check out the Shakespeare Festival at Boscobel. I was sad it didn't fit into our schedule. Monday night would have been perfect for us. Ah, but it was "Not to be" (couldn't resist)
Really looking forward to our visit.
Laurie

Overall, it's a very good itinerary. Two suggestions:
1. Between Manitoga and Stonecrop Gardens, definitely pick the latter!
2. You say "late afternoon" for Storm King. Note that it closes at 5:30. Try to get there earlier to allow yourself enough time to truly appreciate its splendor.

Thanks Howard,
I was thinking that about Manitoga. For Storm King, I'm hoping to arrive about 2-2:30. I know, I'd love more time. I'm trying to be realistic in my estimations but of course travel is all about coming to terms with what your intentions are and what the universe has intended for you.

I was just at the Getty Center and they have a very nice collection of outdoor sculpture. It was the mini-me prelude to Storm King.
http://www.getty.edu/art/installatio...sculpture.html

If you get to Storm King by 2-2:30, you should be okay timewise. That should allow you sufficient time to gain a full appreciation of the site.
As for Stonecrop Gardens, you can easily do that in 90 minutes. YOu might want to try Cathryn's Tuscan Grill on Monday after visiting Stonecrop, especially if the weather is nice and affords the opportunity for dining outdoors there. It's only about a 5-mile drive from there in Cold Spring. Just head due west on Rt.301.