FDR Did This While Vacationing at Westport’s Horseneck Beach

Many famous people find southeastern Massachusetts attractive and enjoy spending time here. Sometimes we take the area for granted and don't appreciate it.

After traveling the country extensively in recent years, I came to appreciate how beautiful our corner of the world is and what it has to offer. Our local region is really quite nice and it's no wonder many people want to be a part of it.

A-listers such as Harrison Ford, Bill Murray, Tia Leoni, Michael J. Fox, Oprah Winfrey, Geraldo Rivera, Harry Connick Jr., Carly Simon and many others are frequent visitors or have part-time residences here.

Former President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle own a home on Martha's Vineyard. However, Obama is not the only former chief executive who has frequented the area.

Grover Cleveland, the nation's 22nd and 24th president, liked to sail in Buzzards Bay and had a summer home in Marion.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, our 32nd president, had family in Fairhaven and visited Fairhaven and New Bedford regularly as a young man. FDR proposed to his wife Eleanor in 1903 while having Thanksgiving in Fairhaven.

Roosevelt was also a fan of Westport's Horseneck Beach.

The Westport Historical Society says, "Franklin Delano Roosevelt came to Westport in 1924 and 1925, staying for several weeks with his close advisor Louis McHenry Howe in a cottage nestled on the edge of the dunes at the far end of West Beach."

The Society says, "FDR spent his days sitting in a tent at the edge of the ocean, building model boats and 'working' on a movie script."

According to the Society, "FDR entertained friends with stories whilst sipping an orange blossom cocktail."