Touring Vermont

We always try to visit state capitols when we are nearby. Montpelier, Vermont has a most unusual state house. We didn't have to go through security to enter the building. It has an open door and though small by most standards, it's a lovely building with a welcoming feel.

The building has been restored, but much of the furniture and most of the fixtures are original. This room is the State Senate.

The House of Representatives is slightly larger. The Speaker of the House this day was from New Mexico.

We stopped at the Ben and Jerry's factory but decided not to wait to take the tour. The place is really cute, lots of fun for children, and pure advertising hype.

Next stop was Rock of Ages. This is a granite quarry and fabrication factory. They have a big visitors center when they sell "stuff" and they give tours of the quarry. We hopped on the bus and found it to be extremely interesting.

They quarry a grey stone out of this spot (they have many other quarries) and the major business is memorials. We got a real lesson in how the large pieces of stone are removed, graded, and fabricated.

Another view of the area. The depth of the pits is over 600 feet and the slabs as heavy as 200 tons. There's a lot of special equipment to raise the slabs.

Then we took the self guided tour on the catwalk in the factory. This is just a part of the factory where they work with the stone. They fabricate the raw granite into industrial slabs for building construction, precision table tops for optical manufacturing, and ornate memorials.

This was a new industry for me but very familiar processes for Ed.

Ethan Allen was a frontierman and hero of the Revolutionary War. He was also the unofficial founder of the State of Vermont. He's a big deal here.

We visited his homestead just outside of Burlington. The house is restored to its original design.

This is what it looks like on the inside. It went through many incarnations over the years and was lived in into the 1970's. Today it's a state monument.

We're headed down to Bennington in southern Vermont. So, it's time to share some of our impressions of this state.

It's beautiful and pristine. There are no billboards, signage is no more than 10 feet tall and downsized, forests are so thick you cannot walk through them. Taxes are very high and increases on property are about 5% per year. They want to preserve this beauty and do not welcome industry to the state. People move out because they can't afford the taxes on their homes. Vermont seems to be a state for the wealthy. It appears they value those who have personal income.

Vermont - Home of Americana

We arrived in Vermont after driving in pouring rain and settled into a lovely campground in Colchester just outside of Burlington. We meet our neighbors, Maryse LaForce and Jay O'Brien, with whom we enjoyed a lovely campfire and an uncanny commonality of interests. Something tells us we will cross paths again in the future.


Burlington is a charming town. And thanks to the Colchester Library, we were able to check our email a couple of times.



We headed out for a drive to Stowe just about 45 minutes from the campground. We made a stop at a cider factory. Ed was fascinated by the old press.










Stowe looks like all the Charles Wisocki paintings and prints. Actually, all the villages in this area look like his paintings and prints. They even have the cute names he uses and quaint signs. We took this photo in Stowe.











We had one absoutely lovely day weatherwise and we jumped on the opportunity to use it at the Shelburne Museum. This is the entry visitor center.

What a special place this is! It was founded in 1947 by Electra Webb whose ancestry goes back to the Vanderbilts and Havemeyers. She was a collector of Americana and envisioned this place as a collection of 17th and 18th century buildings from New England and New York in which American art could be displayed.




Buildings have been moved to the property, restored, and now house collections ranging from quilts, Quaker artifacts, furniture, whole stores, a steam ship, a train station, a 1950s house, pre and post impressionism and more. It's set up as a village and has beautiful gardens and walkways.

This day lilly garden is outside of the circus parade building.

Here's the inside - it's everything circus. The parade exhibit is over 500 ft. long and hand carved between 1925 and 1955.

Outside is a merry-go-round on which Ed had his first ever ride.

The Ticonderoga (that's Ed sitting on the paddlewheel) was one of the last of its kind, a paddlewheel driven, vertical beam steam engine
ferry. It was built in Shelburne in 1906 to operate on Lake Champlain. We were able to visit all parts of the boat.

The old train depot looked exactly like the one in Sheboygan while I was growing up.

Whistle stopping on the old elegant train car...

The old general store is filled with items of the day. There's a pharmacy, a barber shop, and doctors and dentists offices upstairs.

I couldn't resist taking this photo of one of the cabinets in the pharmacy. Some of this stuff looks downright scary!

Also in the pharmacy. I think they're actually using leeches again...

This was my favorite building. It's houses American folk art - at its finest. Not only permanent collections, but special exhibits as well. There are exhibits downstairs, upstairs, in closets and around every corner.

The Shelburne Museum is well known in the quilt world. They have the premier collection of historic American quilts. And there was a special exhibit as well as a good selection from the permanent collection. I was in hog heaven chatting with this docent. She was working on a red work quilt and we jumped right into "quilter talk."

The special exhibit on rug hooking was amazing! These were my favorite pieces. They don't use latch hooks, but just pull the wool strips up to create a smooth rounded surface. The finite detail achieved by this artist is incredible.

Another current special exhibit is by Louis Comfort Tiffany. It includs not just the lamps, but also pottery, furniture, jewelery, silver flatware and decorative items.

I love this photo of the grounds.

This is an important museum. We'll remember it as a highlight of the area and certainly as a cronicleer of American art history.

Soaking Wet Ottawa

I took this photo through the window. Just a few seconds later we were outside walking in it. Our umbrella blew inside out as we cuddled under it. Our feet got soaked. Not the most optimal conditions for sightseeing, but we managed anyway.

This is the capitol of Canada. Akin to visiting our capitol in Washington, D.C. It's a large complex with free tours provided by ticket/reservation. Security was similar to an airport and took a good long time.

The tour was quite wonderful and interesting. I'd be posting a photo of the capitol library but it is the one room we could not photograph. It is also the most beautiful.

Ed took this photo of the river from the back of the capitol grounds.

Our cup overflowed on this day. We were stopped by U.S. security when returning and had to wait at the border while they searched the car. We're not sure what they were looking for, but apparently we matched some criteria for suspicious persons. I suggested they straighten up our mess, but border patrol officers don't have a sense of humor...!

We enjoyed the day, but we were happy to get back "home."

On to Vermont. First stop: Burlington. The weather report is for rain daily. I think I'll start wearing my cowboy boots...!

So many islands...so little time...

We returned to Corning on our way out of this part of New York state to make a stop at the Rockwell Museum of Western Art. We didn't expect much, but found a collection of very impressive works. Could it be that we were feeling elistist being from the "real" west...


Not too shabby...

We stopped in Ithaca - ok, we spent a night at Chez Walmart - on our way up to the 1000 Islands region.

This is the home of Cornell University. What a beautiful campus. All the buildings are of this gray brick and reminded us of Oxford. Lots of grey matter here.

We met Sasha Gutfraind while doing some computer time at a local cafe. He's just one month away from a PhD in mathematics. A delightful young man straight from Russia via Israel and Canada. We may see him again in Albuquerque if he accepts a position with UNM.

We arrived on the St. Lawrence River, set up in Clayton to await our mail, and drove immediately to Ogdensburg to see a museum devoted to this man:

Frederick Remmington spent time in Ogdensburg during his life. They have received his personal collection of his own work and a large selection of Tiffany pieces. Seems the men were friends... The museum is housed in this ornate Victorian:

Ed was overcome in the gallery. I think this is his version of Heaven.

The towns along the river are really just villages. We drove through many of them and came upon this at the end of a road along the water just outside of St. Vincent.

Tibbits Point Lighthouse sits on the point where Lake Ontario dumps into the St. Lawrence Seaway. (Note - see how big Finnegan Morriarty O'Kibel has grown.)

We opted to take a boat trip on the St. Lawrence and did so out of Clayton where we were staying. This freighter passed us on the water.

Now, Clayton is a cute little town and quite friendly, but we weren't prepared to become "locals" after just a few days. We began to be recognized by some of the people who have their morning coffee on the main street each morning. They knew our yellow Jeep and remembered we were from New Mexico.

Our boat, the Miss Clayton, took us to Boldt Castle and back. Our very good guide told us about the history of 1000 Islands. (There are actually 1800 islands...but according to our guide, the first indian who saw the area said to his wife, "There have got to be to 1000 islands in here...!")

Here's a view of Clayton from the water.

We sailed past Millionaires Row. People live well on the water...

...and arrived at Boldt Castle. Now here was a man who really knew how to tell his wife he loved her. He built her a castle - a real castle. She died of consumption before it was completed, he had work stopped, and never set foot on the island (known as Heart Island) again. The historical society is rebuilding it and allows visitors to visit both restored and unrestored areas. This is the front of the building:

There is also a boathouse across the river: (Jim Steckart - keep this in mind for your next boathouse. ;-D)

A Power House:

A children's playhouse and other buildings in various states of repair.

A couple more homes on Millionaires Row. The photos don't capture the elegance of these dwellings.

1000 Islands is a very interesting place. It seems to be in a time warp 50 years ago. It's way past its prime as a place to live or visit, yet the natural beauty of the place is like none other.

We took one day and drove over the bridge and up into Ottawa, Canada. It never stopped raining the entire day. We drove in the rain, walked in the rain, toured the capitol in the rain. We would have loved to do more, but the weather actually managed to slow us down. Neither of us had dressed for the cold dampness.

(I'll have to post a photo of the capitol next time...seems the blogger won't let me put in here now.)

Bath, Crash, Glass

There comes a point in every party when it's time to crash. We crashed in Bath, NY. since it is home to Camping World - and we wanted to have some work done on the RV.



Bath is in the area of New York known as the Finger Lakes Region. It's also wine country. There are vineyards everywhere. They have been growing grapes and making wine here for more than 150 years. There are bodies of water surrounded by rolling hills and little villages. Each has it's own flavor and each is unique in its own way.



We checked into Hickory Hill Family Camping Resort and were assigned this huge beautiful campsite. There was absoutely nothing to dislike about this park. Most of the people staying there were from the local surrounding area. They check in just because they like it there.

Another view of our campsite:

Finnegan and I did the "crash" thing while we were at Hickory Hill. Talk about lazy... It took 4 days of this kind of behavior until I felt like I could get moving again.

When we finally got moving, we spent the day in Corning - about 18 miles from Bath - and home of the Corning Museum of Glass and the Rockwell Museum of Western Art.

That's me in the first gallery we visited at the Museum of Glass. It was a special exhibit of art glass.

While we were enjoying the gallery, Maureen and Alan Grinsfelder walked up to us. Now what are the chances that we would both arrive - coming from different directions - at the museum within 15 minutes of each other and be in the same gallery!?!? What a delightful surprise! We planned to meet for lunch and headed into different galleries.

Most of the following photos were taken in the History of Glass exhibits. Here they have historical pieces beginning with examples of Egyptian glass from about 1500 B.C., European glass from the Middle Ages, glass from the Islamic world and the Far East, art glass from around the world, both antique and modern. It's all here, and there's no way one can absorb all there is to learn in just one visit.

Below is a photo of just one of the cases exhibiting paper weights. Each is more beautiful than the one beside it.

An example of art glass:

A Tiffany stained glass panel:

A close-up of an etched clear art piece:

A glass chess set with Jewish and Roman Catholic figures:

Modern art pieces:

A 2 ton crystal table:

Ed photographing the glass table in the history gallery:

Ed loved the carved European glass:

Samples of American cut glass and the tools used to create it:

American cut glass:

All Tiffany:

These are just some examples of what we saw. They weren't necessarily our favorites but they do give an idea of the breadth of this museum.

There was a highlight for me. It's in this case:

It stopped me dead in my tracts and got me right down on the floor to photograph it.

This punchbowl is exactly like the one that was given as a wedding gift to my maternal grandparents in 1911. We have it in our home. The cups were gone long before my parents entrusted the bowl to me, so I never had any idea what they looked like.

The Corning Glass Co. is not just the museum. There also the factory. We went to the Hot Glass Show which is held overlooking the factory. Ed descended the steps and took this photo.

We watched a master glass blower create a beautiful vase. His assistant is helping him attach the handle. He made it look so easy...and then it shattered when he put it into the fire to finish it up. Even masters have failures... We ended an absoutly perfect day with Maureen and Al at our place. They joined us at the campground for an impromptu dinner. We had crockpot meatloaf (an experiment that was a success), hotdogs, salad, corn on the cobb, sweets for dessert, and a great time with good friends.

More later...