Post by Ella. We have an apartment on the lower level (first floor) of a three story house. Like our cabin/cottage in Randolph, this comes with a tremendous view, a nice porch with grill and hot tub, two bedrooms and a kitchen/living area. The place is heated with two heat pumps and solar panels provide…
One last escapade in Manchester
Post by Ella. We’ve been passing a nursery the last couple of days on our way to and from Manchester. We are staying in Sunderland which is just 6 miles down the road. The nursery has a splashy lawn decked out with straw-stuffed mannequins celebrating Fall and Halloween. Today, we stopped. There was a whole…
Casting back
Post by Grubb. There was an art exhibit at the American Museum of Fly Fishing we went to this morning. As i might have expected, there were paintings of people in mid-stream trying to hook the big one. Bent pole, taut line, straining angler, splashing fish, it all makes for a great field and stream…
Tie those flies
Post by Ella. “Which of you is the fly fisher?”, the grey bearded, robust man boomed as we walked into the American Museum of Fly Fishing in Manchester, Vt. “Um, neither of us fish at all, we just wanted to see what fly fishing is all about”. “Okay, let me get you started”, he said…
Book haven
Post by Grubb. On this road trip through the northeast it seems almost every town has a barn full of antiques and a white shingled house selling used books. One could promote a regional tour of used book stores modeling it after a scavenger hunt. Every old person getting on the Yankee Tour bus would…
Sculpted art
Post by Ella. The Southern Vermont Arts Center, along with its galleries, event venue, theater, and extensive trail systems has also a sculpture garden set on the rolling lawns and tucked into forest niches. Some were of the scrap metal ilk rusted by the elements, some wood carved, and of course there was the time…
Sugar bum
Post by Grubb. It’s hard to stop at any town Vermont without getting a sugar fix. Ella’s already given you a picture of the maple syrup farm we visited. Thursday when we drove through Woodstock we decided to take a break and stretch our legs. We didn’t get but a couple of blocks before we…
Contemporary time stamp
Post by Grubb There was no question about what world I was walking around today. The mangled machinery sculptures on the Southern Vermont Arts Center lawn were a vivid contrast to the sylvan background. Then there was the man walking his dog who I overheard talking into the wireless air. “Don’t worry about it. I…
Art as joy
Post by Ella. At the Southern Vermont Arts Center today. A tranquil setting. I was transfixed by the two special exhibits: Ashley Bryan and Sally Mavor. Sally Mavor has perfected the art of embroidery to stitch together her creations. Mixed media with exquisite needle work. Sally illustrated a children’s book written by Rebecca Bond, “My…
Back to the 21st century
Post by Grubb. It happened late Friday morning at the Southern Vermont Arts Center. There was the leaf-shuffling hike up in the foothills behind the center to give a nineteenth century stir to the blood. Then we took in the Ashley Bryan collection of puppets at the Arts Center. Artifacts of puppetry were kept in…
Fine dining in a furniture store
Post by Ella. And it’s not IKEA’s Swedish meatballs. Depot 62 in Manchester, VT bills itself as a furniture store with a central dining area. You can eat lunch or dinner and shop for a sofa or rug. We walked up the creaky wooden steps and into a blast of warm spice aroma with the…
Mapling at the Sugarbush Farm
Post by Ella. Maple trivia: In Vermont, sugaring season begins sometime in February to mid-March. When temps dip below freezing (ideally 20°-30°), sap is pushed up from the roots, coursing through the veins of the tree. As the temperature rises during the day, the sap flows back down and conveniently some flows into the metal…
Southward: Our route today
Heading into the last days of our trip. Today, from Burlington, Vt. To Sunderland, Vt. Although we’ve mostly been staying off the Interstates in favor of the less traveled roads, today we wanted to make a detour to Sugarbush (Maple syrup and cheese farm) and Woodstock (historical buildings, traffic jam rivaling Stowe and maple creemees)…
Backwoods revolutionary
Post by Grubb. Dateline: Burlington, Vermont, late 18th century. Ethan Allen was a hometown hero before there was even a town. People settling in the area from New Hampshire claimed it was New Hampshire, people settling from New York claimed it was New York. Ethan joined with a bunch of investors and bought a whole…
The dark side of Albert
Post by Grubb. Collecting weathervanes is one thing, but amassing whirligigs as well, who else but Electra Havemeyer Webb would have the resources, much less know the difference? But before I could immerse myself in objets d’weather, I had to check out the Bierstadt that I heard was on exhibit in another building at the…