Vermont and New Hampshire

The Maple Museum

August 23

Maple Museum Sampling

Leaving New York, we stopped for one night in Vermont so we could visit two museums in the morning – the New England Maple Museum, which took us through the whole process of making maple syrup and the Vermont Marble Museum, an intriguing look at the importance of this industry in Vermont (did you know the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was sculpted at this location?) We bought samples from the former, but not the latter!  

The Marble Museum

 
Earlier in the morning we drove to the Robert Frost Wayside Nature Trail and took a short meander through the woods, complete with poetry and places to stop and contemplate what it means to take the “road less traveled,” which, in a sense, is exactly what we are doing this year. It was a lovely way to start the day!

        


      Our curiosities fulfilled, we drove on to New Hampshire to begin a month-long visit (off and on) with my brother and to find out what life in small town New England might feel like.  One of the things we’d been missing on this trip was the opportunity to savor the culture and everyday life of wherever we were staying at the time. We were too busy sight-seeing or moving on to the next item on our itinerary. Here we could relax and enjoy.

 We started off with a lecture on Sunday morning, which, coincidentally was held at the Unitarian Universalist church in Peterboro, NH (of Our Town fame). Mike invited us before we could tell him it was where we wanted to go instead of church (this UU church runs a summer Lyceum for 8 weeks in lieu of services and he’s been attending these for years). The speaker, Lauret Savoy, a professor of environmental studies and geology, has written a book entitled Trace: Memory, History, Race, and the American Landscape. A product of African, European, and Native American People, Savoy explored how this country’s unfolding history, and its ideas of “race,” have marked both her and the land. She laments the fact that the paths of her ancestors lie largely eroded and lost. It was such an outstanding lecture that we bought the book and look forward to learning more.

UU Church, Peterboro, NH

  In the afternoon, we attended a fabulous performance of a classical string quartet at the Peterboro Town Hall. In one day, therefore, we got a good taste of the cultural activities in this area that attracted by brother to Wilton in the first place. Later in the week, we saw A Doll’s House II – a follow-up to Ibson’s original play, another example of the wealth of cultural opportunities available in this tiny community in New Hampshire.

Not everything we did was so “high-brow”!  One day we hiked up Pack Monandoc Mountain

Pack Monandoc Summit

Pack Monandoc Trail

– small by western standards, but very rugged (New Hampshire is, of course, the Granite State and this trail lived up to its nickname). It was tough on my knees, but I enjoyed the views from the top. A few days later Lew hiked/scrambled up the larger Mt. Monandoc, the highest peak in New Hampshire, with an elevation gain of over 2000 ft in less than two miles, hence my decision of sit this one out!

Atop Mt Monandoc

  Much less difficult was our walk/hike through a local wilderness preserve where we encountered the effects of the retreat of the glacier 12,000 years ago. We also walked (through fields and forests with poison ivy) to breakfast at a local café and Serafin (my sister in law) and I walked to their local CSA and picked cherry tomatoes and green beans for our supper. And, best of all, since my brother had TV, I was able to watch a great deal of the US Open Tennis Tournament.

RV Parked at Mike's

The most interesting excursion of the week was our trip to the Lowell (MA) National Historic Park. Founded in 1826 as a planned community around the factories and mills, Lowell was the cradle of the American industrial revolution. “Girls” from rural towns were enticed to Lowell, given room and board at Boarding Houses, and then worked HARD. On our tour we heard 10 looms and it was deafening. During the heyday, over 100 looms would be working simultaneously. I can’t even imagine how anyone could bear the noise or the conditions in these factories. Mid-century, Irish, German and French-Canadian immigrants – and later Portuguese, Polish, Lithuanian, Swedish, and Greek – swarmed into Lowell, settling in small ethnic communities. Lowell was, and is, a very diverse city. This Urban National Park was quite unique and we appreciated the education we received by visiting. A most enjoyable day!

Boarding House at Lowell

Bonnie & Brother Mike on Trolley at Lowell

Looms at Lowell

We had been wondering what to do with the time we had between arriving on the 24^th and leaving on our Fall Foliage Tour a month later. Not to worry – an opportunity presented itself. Friends from Colorado said they were going to be in Montreal for one night and Quebec City for a week in September. Could we hook up? But of course! What’s a 5-hour drive when you’ve already put over 15,000 miles on your two vehicles?! So we made plans to drive – in our car – to Montreal after Labor Day. And that’s the subject of the next installment of the blog. 

New York

Niagara Falls

The Falls at Night

It is now August 14^th. Our first stop in New York was Niagara Falls. We had forgotten that we had been there only ten years ago, but we enjoyed our stop-over, nonetheless. It is amazing to watch, hear and feel the power of the water as it cascades over the rocks and to think about the (crazy) people who ventured over the falls on purpose. We walked along the US side and considered driving over to Canada but were deterred by the thought of long lines at the border crossing when we returned. However, both daytime and nighttime views from various vantage points were spectacular. After one afternoon and evening we had had enough of all the people, so we left in the morning and headed to our next stopping point – Finger Lakes.

White Springs Winery

We found a Harvest Host winery (White Springs) along Seneca Lake, near Geneva NY, to spend our first night and another one (Seneca Shores Winery) for our second night. The cost for the night was free, but, of course, we bought their wine so everyone benefited. Our primary purpose in stopping here was to visit the National Women’s Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls (and to visit a variety of wineries, naturally). Seneca Falls is well known for the Women’s Rights Convention held there in 1848 for the present day National Women’s Rights Historic Park, which we had visited a few years ago. The National Women’s Hall of Fame is not as widely known, but should be. It commemorates trailblazing American women from Anne Hutchinson to Oprah Winfrey who are honored for their accomplishments. The tiny museum is packed with plaques containing the biographies of these amazing women who impacted the social, economic, political, scientific, and cultural landscape of America. If only I had a few million dollars (or hundreds of millions) and carte blanche to transform this museum into something much more powerful. The women were superstars in their fields and are deserving of a museum befitting their achievements.

Baseball Hall of Fame

This became so much more apparent when we stopped next at Cooperstown to see the HUGE and ELABORATE Baseball Hall of Fame. Not to take away from the achievements of these men (and the few women they condescended to talk about in one corner of the museum – A League of their own), but it was all a bit too much for me. Rabid baseball fans, however, loved it, I’m sure! I was mostly interested in the Dodgers, the information on the breaking of the color barrier, and some of the historical information (the movie was great). Again, this stop was at my insistence and we learned for the second or third time that the idea of it was greater than the reality! And, of course, I was still thinking about how the women should have been honored in just as magnificent a museum as these sports stars.

John Brown, Abolitionist

White Face Mtn.

On we traveled after a night at the Fly Creek Cider Mill (another Harvest Host) parking lot. We spent the next five days in the Adirondack Mountains where we had a terrific time – hiking, visiting local museums (including John Brown’s house and museum) and learning that even 4,000 ft mountains can be imposing! We even rented some canoes for an hour to soak in the flavor of the riverways that make up much of the area between the mountains. 

Our last stop in New York, before heading into Vermont, was Fort Ticonderoga, where we experienced a  bit of American History. This fort was originally called Fort Carillon, built by the French in the 18^th century at a narrows near the south end of Lake Champlain. It was important during the French and Indian wars and again during colonial conflicts between Britain and France. It was captured by the Green Mountain Boys (Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold, remember?) early in the American Revolution, but lost again to the British a year later. It fell into ruin in the 19^th century but was restored by private owners last century. We particularly enjoyed the Fife and Drum demonstration and the authentic dress and activities at the fort.

Fife and Drums, Ft Ticonderoga

Our week in New York ended as we crossed Lake Champlain and headed into Vermont. However, we’ll return to New York in late October when we travel through the Hudson River Valley.