Tuesday, October 1, 2013
Traveling to Londonderry, Vermont
This should be peak week for fall colors
Winhall Brook COE Campground - no cell phone service and no internet service available – how refreshing!
With the federal government in
shutdown, this US Army Corp of Engineers park remained open.
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
Bennington, Vermont,
a town of about 9000 people and nestled in a valley between Mount
Anthony, part of the Taconic Range, and the foothills of the Green Mountains,
has several noteworthy attractions. Included in the attractions are covered
bridges, Bennington Battle Monument, Hemmings Filling Station and Exhibits,
Bennington Museum, the Old First Church and the Old Burying Ground.
A bustling downtown even for a midweek day
Street
Art Festival – Catamount Prowl theme exhibited May through October 2013
Lunch at Benner’s Bagels, Pizza ‘N Whatnosh on Main Street
Pizza and salad for Darlene – delicious!
Meatball subs for Michael and Earl – scrumptious!
The Bennington Battle Monument commerates the Revolutionary
War battle of August 16, 1777 between British general John Burgoyne’s forces
and a group of Vermont, New Hampshire and Massachusetts volunteers led by
General John Stark who kicked British butts. The stone obelisk completed in
1880 at 306 feet tall is the tallest structure in Vermont.
From the upper lookout chamber, reached by elevator, three
states (Vermont, New Hampshire and York)
can be seen.
Hemmings Filling Station and Exhibits
Old First Church (Congregational) organization, dating from
1762, is among the oldest in Vermont.
The church, built 1805-1806, is regarded as one of the more
beautiful in New England.
Among the graves in Old Burying Ground, on the Old First
Church grounds, are founders of Bennington, soldiers killed in the Battle of
Bennington, six Vermont governors
And the poet Robert Frost
Driving the western segment of Molly Stark Scenic Byway provided
great views of the colorful fall foliage. Bettye stayed at the campground to rest an angry back.
Thursday, October 3, 2013
West River Hiking Trail from Winhall Brook 4.5 miles to Bald
Mountain Dam was exuberant, but only for Earl. The others were busy walking the dog.
First 2.5 miles of West River Trail is old roadbed. Last 2
miles of trail is walking path over mountainous terrain to Bald Mountain Dam.
West River
Bald Mountain Lake on West River
and Bald Mountain Dam built in 1961 for flood control
Water level has to rise about 40 feet before water will
spill over the dam.
The eastern segment of Molly Stark Scenic Byway proved to be as scenic as the western segment.
Vermont dairy farm
Hogback Mountain where three states – Vermont, New Hampshire
and New York – can be seen on a clear day.
Creamery Bridge 1879 Brattleboro, VT
and Dummerston 1872 Covered Bridge
Friday, October 4, 2013
Rained all day, stayed indoors while Darlene made jambalaya
especially for Bettye.
Saturday, October 5, 2013
Per friend Judy Carroll’s recommendation we visited Plymouth
Notch, Vermont and the President Calvin Coolidge State Historic Site.
We were
not disappointed and thoroughly enjoyed touring this historic site.
Lunch at the Wilder House on Calvin Coolidge State Historic
Site
Wilder Barns
The Plymoutn Cheese Corp started by Calvin's father
Union Church
where the Coolidges attended church
Plymouth Notch Cemetery – burial site for President Calvin
Coolidge and seven generations of Coolidges
Tuesday, October 8, 2012
Back to Bennington, Vermont for lunch at Benner’s and a tour
of The Bennington museum. Benner’s specialty calzones were superlicious!
A highlight of The
Bennington Museum was the Grandma Moses gallery of paintings and artifacts. She
started painting at age 78, so there is still hope for Bettye to start writing
novels or song lyrics.
Wednesday, October 9, 2013
We traveled to Proctor, Vermont to see the Wilson Castle and
the Vermont Marble Company factory and museum.
Wilson Castle
Restoration work in progress at Wilson Castle
Marble exhibits were quite interesting, especially the slab samples from Tennessee and North Carolina marble quarries. Marble is calcium carbonate which is also used in foods to provide calcium in our diet. We played marbles as youngsters but we never ate them. When we got mad, we took our marbles and went home where our parents were losing their marbles.
Marble for The Tomb of the Unknown
Soldier was mined in Colorado, shipped by rail to Vermont for cutting,processing
and polishing then shipped by rail to Arlington for final sculpting.
Having spent two weeks in Vermont enjoying
the fall foliage colors, the quaint villages, the hospitality and good food,
fantastic scenery and many other adventures, it is time to move further south.
So it is back to New York state where our next stop will be Tall Pines
Campground near Bainbridge, NY.
Happy trails!
