Home again, Home again Jiggity Jig

Sorry to be so long in getting to this post. We've been home for a month now and Wow! have we been busy. We told the grandkids we'd be home by Halloween and we made it! These were our only trick or treaters this year. For those of you who don't know, these are Jaime's children who live next door. I've made a Smilebox of our trip home. We thoroughly enjoyed the trip.

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Signs of Vermont

Although we've been home now for over a week and life is flying by at its furious pace again, I still have some things I want to share. While we were there I saw many signs that I'm pretty sure I'd never seen in Washington. Sorry for the lopsidedness of the signs, I had to snap them real quickly from the car.

I never did find my favorite sign when I was able to snap a picture. We saw it in a rather snobby neighborhood in Manchester, NH. It read: DOG FOULING NOT PERMITTED IN THIS NEIGHBORHOOD. It then outlined the steps to be taken if this heinous crime occured.

Have a great day.

Naked Warrior, et al

When we first moved to South Barre, my sister asked if it is a "quaint New England town like you read about in all the murder mysteries". I assured her that it wasn't. Quaint, yes, but Barre is a town with some problems. Barre is an old town and full of interesting buildings and "characters". I would have loved to take pictures of some of those characters like the grizzled paper boy who carried a bag of newspapers on both shoulders. The warrior always interested me because of the various patterns the rain and snow made on him. In a snowstorm he always wore a little tophat. Please excuse the church pictures. The originals looked okay but I couldn't make them all fit. There are many churches in Barre.

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Mount Washington Otra Vez

Some of you will remember that we rode The Cog to the top of Mt. Washington, the highest point in New England. Long before we had heard of the cog we had heard of the road to the top of the mountain. Tom & Julia (my sister) had regaled us with tales of their harrowing ride to the top in wind and rain. Mt. Washington boasts of having the worst weather in the world. However, my sweet husband was determined to get the This Car has Climbed to the Top of Mt. Washington bumper sticker so we went on Labor Day weekend.

At first it was an easy climb to the top.

A little harder.

At the ticket booth there were signs warning that the wind was blowing at 65 mph at the top, but undaunted we continued. It was a lark for the driver to whose arm I was clinging for dear life. I couldn't even look down--I pointed my camera in the general direction of the window and clicked. My heart was hammering as we continued to climb and the conditions worsened.

At the top, visibility was zero or next to it. The parking lot is about 100 ft below the observatory and you have to climb up--and I do mean up! Garth was hurrying up the stairs because the wind and rain were so bad and I wasn't far behind. To say it was a breathtaking experience is a gross understatement. I finally made it into the observatory, but had to sit for nearly fifteen minutes to get my breath back. Of course, we couldn't take any pictures because of the thick fog. The ride down was a breeze--I kept my eyes closed.

This view at the bottom reminded us of our adventure.

Bumper sticker in hand, we treated ourselves to lunch at the historic Mount Washington Hotel built in 1902. A very formal wedding was taking place and we felt a little out of place. Not for long, however, because there were others in the dining area who were also in jeans. We felt transformed to the 20s and the view of the White Mountains was spectacular. This was a day to write home about.

In Pursuit of the Wild Goose

Between the suggestions of our good friend Connie, tourist brochures, and something in the records we often go on little trips on Saturday. Texas Falls, which you see in the picture, is the most photographed spot in Vermont according to the Internet. Connie has suggested several times that it's the perfect picnic spot. Nearby, she remembered was the house where Robert Frost, New England's favorite poet, wrote his famous poem Stopping By the Woods. So, off we went. Texas Falls is certainly in a beautiful location but we didn't get to see it because the bridge from which you view the falls is currently being rebuilt. The roads in the area were being repaved and we never did find the Robert Frost house.
Last week, we made a trip again to Bennington on official business and discovered that the aforementioned home is actually in Shaftsbury which is a hop, skip and jump from Bennington and in our mission.

Old First Church in Bennnington where Frost is buried.

Robert Frost's grave. The trees shaded this headstone.

We often notice the inclusion of a pew at the local church in a will or inventory. Notice the cushions and pillow.

The high podium is used for special occasions.

Robert Frost's home in Shaftsbury.

It was exciting to see the actual first draft of the poem which was written on a very hot July day, incidentally. This is the most widely read of his poems and he said he didn't like teachers to find special, hidden messages in the poem. The site is beautiful. Robert was a gentleman farmer who loved the thought of farming, but not the work. He and his son planted 1,000 apple trees on this farm.
We're on the downhill run of our mission--seven weeks left. We're trying to finish our current project. We will miss Vermont when we have to leave, but we are anxious to be home.

Fort Ticonderoga

Before we came to Vermont on a mission, my knowledge of the state had come from the books I read by Robert Newton Peck, a Vermonter through and through. His works include A Day no Pigs Would Die, the Soup books, and Hang for Treason the story of the raid on Fort Ticonderoga by Ethan Allen and his Green Mountain Boys. Ethan Allen is a true Vermont hero. We were excited to learn that Fort Ti is in our mission so we went to this historic site with Greg, Janeen, Millie, Christofer, and Trey.
Fort Ti, originally Fort Carillon, was built by the French between 1755 and 1759 and is strategically located on Lake Champlain. At one time it was connected to nearby Crown Point by a cleverly built floating bridge. The British occupied the Fort in May of 1775, when Ethan Allen and his Green Mountain Boys along with Benedict Arnold bravely captured the Fort for use in the impending war. They claimed their authority to do so came from the great Jehovah and the Continental Army. The Fort fell into ruin after several battles and occupations and was restored in 1909 by a wealthy patron. The Fort has been continuously visited by tourists every season since then. We enjoyed the short ferry ride to the Fort.







The Green Mountain Boys are a symbol of much pride in Vermont. Vermont's National Guard Unit in Afghanistan have taken this historic name as their own. Fort Ti is well maintained and its history well-documented. We thoroughly enjoyed the demonstrations and lectures and the gardens which were beautiful. A vegetable garden was to die for--not a weed in sight.

Vermont History Expo

Late in June, we went to a truly remarkable celebration in Tunbridge, VT. Scott, the Archivist, had told us about the Vermont History Expo which, he claimed, would be attended by 6-7,000 people. The Archives here would have a display. We were skeptical but had seen posters everywhere we went. What a treat!
Many, many of the little towns had displays arranged by their local historical societies celebrating the town's accomplishments or specialty. These people knew their stuff and every display was beautifully done. Re-enactments both Revolutionary and Civil War occured. You could get your ticket for half price if you wore a costume. One man even dressed in nightshirt and nightcap! Everyone marched in the parade.
The military was well represented. We'd never seen such enthusiasm from re-enacters of WWI and II--jeeps, equipment, medals, etc. The Civil War soldier was friendly and knowledgable.




There were wonderful displays in every building--all involved with the unique history of Vermont.



We spent several hours and talked to many remarkable people doing and displaying what they felt passionate about. I loved the little girl who was patiently waiting for her mother to explain the next step in her lace making, but felt duty bound to pose for our picture.
We were witnesses to a delightful little episode. We'd noticed a wonderful family beautifully dressed in costumes of the late 1800s. Mom in a beautiful bustled-dress with a lovely straw hat and high button shoes; Dad and 2 little boys in knickers, newsboy hats. As we approached the school, we saw the littlest boy running lickety split around the corner with mom coming as fast as she could restrained by her shoes and petticoats. The little boy, Eli, ran into the one-room classroom and started to climb out the window, but stopped just before he jumped out because it was too big a drop to the ground. Mom caught up just in time. Fun, fun day.

The Maritime Museum

Last Saturday we were finally able to visit the site of our first tourist pamphlet when we came to Vermont--the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum. We had actually tried to visit three different times thinking it was located in Burlington on the lakefront. Every time we gave it up because of the ferocity of the rain. It is actually near Vergennes and was well worth visiting in a drizzle.

The museum is a working museum with several buildings such as the one pictured above. Every building smells of the sea itself and is meant to provide you with every sensation of various ships, shipmen, and sea life. most importantly it showcases the history of Lake Champlain. Our favorite however was the dockside delights. At dockside is the replica of an 1862 steamer, Lois McClure, a replica of a gunboat, the Philadelphia II, captained by Benedict Arnold (Displays point out that he was a wartime hero before commiting treason) and several longboats built by students.



We were given a wonderful tour of the Lois McClure by two volunteers, Ernie and a lady. Ernie was wonderful! A seasoned seaman he explained the ship will be sailing on the 4th of July down the Erie Canal to the Hudson River. He showed us every inch of the ship. We found out from the lady whose name I've forgotten that Ernie is a famous painter who has painted many pictures of the Lake and ships. The first picture is one of his paintings and depicts another important function of the museum. They've charted the entire lake bottom and have pinpointed all the sunken ships. I didn't take a picture of the longboats.
We're enjoying Vermont and its rich history. We're hoping to soon visit another feature of Lake Champlain--Lake Ticonderoga.

Third Time's a Charm

On Memorial Day we decided to return for the third time to Windsor. This trip was to visit two museums which had been closed on our previous visits: the Old Constituion House and the American Precision Museum--a tribute to precision toolmaking in the US. We also visited Bridgewater a small town where our brother-in-law's Vaughn family once lived.
Garth took lots of pictures of the tools, but I took what I was interested in like the bicycle pictured above. The building which housed the tool museum had been a gun factory where they made guns with interchangeable parts--Sharps rifles to be exact. Then it was a bicycle factory and a sewing machine factory. The displays were very interesting (I say that tongue-in-cheek). Hubby loved it.


At the Old Constitution House, we learned from a master. Our guide had written a book on the subject and knew her Vermont history well. She explained that Vermont's constitution was well thought out and planned because the delegates were forced to pay special attention to it because of a thunderstorm. Ira and Ethan Allen, the famed leaders of the Green Mountain boys, were in Windsor as delegates when they, as well as other delegates, learned of the attack on their lands in northern Vermont. Their first inclination was to hurry home, but thunderstorms prevented that perilous ride. At Old Constitution House, Vermont's constitution was signed and they were the 14th state and the first which did not touch the ocean.




We drove through Bridgewater and couldn't find the cemetery. We stopped at the fire station which was like old times for Garth and asked directions. One fireman said, "Which cemetery? There are 20." There were only 4 and we had lots of fun tromping through them. They were in beautiful settings. However, we learned that the one we wanted was only accessibley by 4-wheelers. We are intrigued by the many rock walls throughout New England.



We're, on the downhill run but still have much to do here. We're looking forward to summer--if it ever gets here. I thought you'd enjoy this picture of Dawniella. I think she inherited some of her Grandpa's reading-on-the-toilet genes.