New England - Day 5 - Vermont

Mister is up first and in the shower when I open my eyes and decide to look outside.  Oh my!  What a view.  The clouds are low, but the colors are so intense.  It is sad that the camera loses that.  Additionally, my turkeys are back and so I get Mister's camera out and try to take a decent picture - oh my, I do need lessons on this thing.

When Mister goes out to warm up the car, he finds it covered in leaves  We have timed this trip perfectly - a week from now and we might not have been so lucky to see the colors we are seeing.

On the agenda today:  Bridges!  I have always loved covered bridges.  To me they exude romance and I have always wanted to experience their mystique firsthand.  We will be traveling the length of Vermont and are looking for interesting stops along the way to Ascutney, our stop for the night.  Here we go.

I have mapped out the bridges prior to leaving so we start out towards the Creamery Bridge.  Isn't it great!  This one is not far off the highway and we are not alone on the bridge trail as there are a few other "peepers" stopping for pictures.  Built in 1879, (the covered sidewalk was added in 1920) the Creamery bridge is the only covered bridge in Brattleboro to have survived.  What a treasure.

The exit sign on the interstate says that there is a Visitors' Center in Putney, only to discover that it is closed. But there is a shop next to it that says "Green Mountain Spinnery" and since I have never been in a spinnery I want to check it out.  I cross my fingers that it is not just a yarn store and in we go.  WOW -- we hit the jackpot.  It smells like wet sheep. The woman who greets us sees our interest and takes us into the back to show us the old equipment, from the soaking vats for the fleece, the carding machines, and the spinners. We are lucky enough to get to wander, ask questions, and take pictures. What a gem and I will be ordering some yarn from them when I get home.  I want brown, poppy, pumpkin, and lichen as my colors to work on a throw for the living room.  Now for a knitting class.

A resource that I use when planning domestic trips is the book "1,000 Places To See Before You Die" and it lists Walpole, NH in the Monadnock Region as one so we cross over the river into New Hampshire to check it out.  It is a quaint little colonial town with a picturesque little church and a delectable cafe and chocolate shop.  L.A. Burdicks chocolates are absolutely beautiful and yummy.  We purchase some Dark Hot Chocolate to go and oh my goodness when they said "dark chocolate" they were not kidding.

Even with the great timing we have had for color, most of the maple trees are empty and so we have missed many of the reds.  We do spot the maple syrup farms along the way with their tubes running from tree to tree and a sugar shack always nearby.

The Hall (a/k/a Barber Park, Osgood) bridge is next.  It was built circa 1870 by an unknown builder and destroyed in 1980 by an overloaded truck.  This is an authentic replacement built in 1982 by  Milton Graton, who insisted on the strictest authenticity, right down to the team of oxen used to haul it into place.

We continue on towards Rockingham and make several stops along the way for memory making.  I snap a picture of Mister taking a picture.  What do you suppose he sees that is so cool?





Ah - he is right --- Beautiful!

Since we are in Rockingham, I pull out the AAA book for the area and find Rockingham Meetinghouse listed.  Off we go to hunt it down.  It does not disappoint!  How very cool.  Built in the late 1700's, it has so much history inside -- if only those walls could talk.  The pew boxes, raised pulpit, and second level all all so fascinating and we spend quite a bit of time here.  Even the windows have original glass in them.  Great find.

 The view from the meetinghouse.  Oh my.

The next bridge is the Baltimore and even though it is not in its original location and is closed to motor traffic, it is still special.  It sits next to the oldest schoolhouse in Vermont.

We are just enthralled with the colors we are being allowed to enjoy along our drive.  I don't care if being a "peeper" puts me in the "old" category as I am loving every minute of it.

After a quick stop in Ascutney to check into the Yankee Village Motel (yep a highway motor inn -- Mister had decided to vary our stays at all types of places along this journey) and drop our bags, we continue on up towards Windsor.  Ah yes, the Cornish-Windsor bridge.  Perhaps one of the most famous of the covered bridges as it is 204 feet long and a single span that still carries traffic.  It crosses the Connecticut River and connects Cornish, New Hampshire with Windsor, Vermont.  Mister snaps me peeking out of one of the windows as I dodge traffic.  This is a busy bridge.  Is it not just way fun?

Windsor is "The Birthplace of Vermont" and where the state constitution was adopted in 1877.  The assembly met here until Montpelier became the capital and the place is rife with history.  I have located another gem in the AAA book and want to take Mister there as I am positive he will love it. I give directions to him and off we go.  It is the American Precision Museum and I am not prepared for how much I will love the place also.  This has to be one of the most fascinating places I have ever been.  I have a brother-in-law who is a machinist and I may chew him out for not exposing me to this previously.  The museum is housed in the old Robbins and Lawrence Armory where they first started mass producing parts for guns.  The gentleman that was demonstrating the various tools to a small group of men noticed that I was there and since I was the only female paying attention, he started talking to me.



He made an item and gave it to me causing the other men to request one for their wives as well.  He took me from machine to machine teaching me all about them and giving me little treats to take home.  He explained that during the war, this place was almost completely operated by female employees.  My attention never wavered and this was such an educational stop for me.  I think Mister liked it as well.

















Another cemetery catches my attention so we stop and walk around for a few minutes.

The leaves are falling from the trees like rain and I feel like I am in a movie of sorts.  It is almost magical.




Our final stop in Windsor is the Harpoon Brewery.  Couldn't really come up here and not stop in now could we?  Well, at least Mister couldn't.  It is a beautiful building complete with a sitting area outside that has a fireplace going and lounge chairs.  It looks like Summer around a pool only not.  Inside, we visit with some locals and love the way they talk about Vermont.  The mentality is similar to the one in Texas.  Don't mess too much with us -- we pretty much like to do things our own way.  We like the solution that Harpoon has come up with to fill growlers and want to share this with other places in Dallas when we return.  It is a nice time, but they close at 3 (I know, I know --- how odd is that?) and so after we finish our lovely cheese board we go back towards Ascutney armed with ideas for dinner tonight that have been provided by the wonderful people we have met.

We turn east and off we go across the bridge (yep the Cornish-Windsor) into New Hampshire and South to Claremont and the Common Man Restaurant for dinner and to relax.  We have a nice time, good food, fun conversation and soon are ready to head back to Ascutney and our room.  Another amazing day.