HUDSON VALLEY .. HYDE PARK & WEST POINT

10/7/12 - 10/8/12 - HUDSON VALLEY

Driving around this area is a real treat, even if it’s steely grey and wet!  The country roads leading to the Village of Rhinebeck are sooooo pretty!

Rhinebeck, in Duchess County, is about 100 miles north of NYC.  It was settled in 1686 by the Dutch crossing the river from Kingston and the purchase of 2200 acres from a Iroquois tribe.  In 1703 the King’s Highway, known as Albany Post Road (today’s Route 9) was constructed.  In 1706 Traphagan bought a tract of land, building a tavern and house on the trail a short distance from King’s Highway which was the start of Rhinebeck.

The village grew and in 1733 the Reformed Dutch Church was built.  After the Revolutionary War the village continued to grow and the Town of Rhinebeck was incorporated in 1834. 

By the 1850’s it grew further with a reputation as a woodworking center.  It was also becoming a location for the country estates of the Guilded Age wealthy.  

By the end of the 1800’s it became an industry center in the cultivation of violets.  During the “Gay Nineties” approximately 20% of the village’s population was in the violet business with crops estimated to have exceeded a million dollars in value some years.

The historic district hasn’t changed much from the 1890 map of the village.  It is just charming and pretty.

HYDE PARK & FDR

We decided to head to Hyde Park, also located in Duchess County, to visit the FDR National Historic Site.  Before going, however, we stopped at the local brewery for lunch!  Couldn’t get our passport stamped, though!

The FDR library was in the process of renovation so we were only able to view a small portion with family and political photographs.  “Public Figures, Private Lives” is a photo immersion through the lives and times of FDR.

FDR was the first president to give his papers to the American people.  The library has since acquired additional collections and is the busiest research operations in the entire Presidential Library system.   This is the first Presidential Library ever established.  Previously  presidents took their papers with them or donated them to existing libraries. 

 Roosevelt was involved in the project.  The building is built in the Dutch Colonial stone.  After FDR was elected for a third and fourth term, the study was used as his office away from the White House, used for his fireside chats and meetings with world leaders. 

Family Wing (Sara Delano not far away!)

Wings added on each side to accommodate the enlarged family.

Springwood was his childhood home.  He was born and raised here, a family of privilege, and strongly influenced by his fifth cousin Teddy Roosevelt.  When he graduated from Harvard, Teddy was elected President.

He continued to come back to Springwood after marrying Eleanor and having his family.  The original house was much smaller, he added wings on both sides to make room for his family and all their servants.    

Even at that, it is a modest, homey place; not as elaborate or ostentatious as many of the “Guilded Age” mansions (e.g., Biltmore House in Asheville). Apparently that was because they were "old money" and didn't need to "show off".  When Sara Delano married FDR's father, he told her not to associate with "those Vanderbilts"!  They were "new money".  

Money is money is money!  At least with "new money" you worked for it as opposed to "old money" that just came to you because you were born into the family!  Any of us could have been born into "old money"...... couldn't we?

Eleanor had a place called Val Kill in the area which was her retreat (probably got her away from M-I-L Sara) and they had the home on Campobello Island off of Maine and then FDR’s mineral springs in Warm Springs, GA.

About four years before he died, he signed the house over to the National Park Service and left it with all the furnishings as well as his clothes.  He didn't want it to look like a museum but rather to look as though he would be arriving for a weekend.

It was fascinating to see his clothes hanging in the closets and shoes on the racks.  Of course, his mother Sara also lived in this house along with Eleanor and their five children.

Property goes back to the Hudson River

There were a lot of interesting quips and stories.  I guess I never put it together that his face on the Dime was related to the March of Dimes which was related to his establishing Warm Springs as a rehabilitation center for polio victims.

Who knew?!  I’m sure everyone!

Whether you agree with the politics or not, you have to admire the man.  He lived with tremendous physical hardships, was tenacious and determined and despite his lofty life of privilege he recognized the need to help the less fortunate through public service and put it into action.  

He wanted to be buried in his mother’s rose garden at Hyde Park.  The monument was executed to the president’s design by the Vermont Marble Company in Proctor, Vermont.   FDR specified that a plain white marble monument without carving or decoration be placed at his grave.  Eleanor Roosevelt is interred here also.

WEST POINT

Our last day in New York before heading down to Gettysburg was a visit to West Point.  It was a lot farther away than we thought!  We got there around 1PM and the next tour was at 2:30 but would get us back late in the afternoon and we still needed to get back (before rush hour) so took our own tour of the West Point Museum.

It was interesting but somewhat disappointing.  There are several floors of exhibits tracing the history of American military.  However, it stopped short! 

The last exhibit was Vietnam and not much beyond that.  Even at that, the Vietnam and Korean War exhibits were very small with only a few artifacts in comparison to the other exhibits; however if you wanted to know about the War of 1812, it took up practically an entire room!  Maybe it coincides with the 200th anniversary.

 

The museum covered the War of Independence through the World War II, then it  just kind of petered out!  I was happy to see a nice exhibit about women in the armed services; nurses who served during the wars and it was actually larger than the Vietnam War and Korean War exhibits. 

Not sure what that was all about.   I worked with many West Point graduates and they served long and hard in the Vietnam War, Gulf Wars, Iraq and Afghanistan. Juss sayin!

In the weapons room there was the model for the bomb dropped on Japan.  Who would think something this benign looking would create such devastation!

Then the nuclear rocket launcher.  Dave thinks Fred H. maintained this equipment in the Korean War.  I'll have to ask him!

One of the last exhibits was in a room devoted to the battle of Fort Sumter, Charleston SC which is celebrating 150 years.  Our trip started in Charleston touring Fort Sumter.  In Vermont there were Civil War exhibits commemorating the sacrifices of the Green Mountain Boys and now as we approach Gettysburg, we see a special exhibit in the West Point Museum commemorating Fort Sumter.  When we get to Gettysburg we’ll tour the battlefield of that last bloody battle of a very bloody war.  We didn’t start out with this theme in mind (other than bourbon and beer), but it was the thread that seemed to follow us through the summer.  Interesting……

BEAT AIR FORCE WRITTEN ON TOP OF THE BUILDING

West Point is an impressive place.  As we climbed up Route 9G we came to an overlook which had a great view of the campus.  You can see the Army on the football field!

Getting ready to Beat Air Force!  Maybe!

We enjoyed our stay here.  New York continues to impress; it is really a beautiful state.  We’re heading south in the morning.  Going to meet up with Barb and John Alden who are waiting for us at Artillery Ridge CG.  Can’t wait to see them. 

LIFE IS GOOD!!!  ARF! ARF!

GOING....GOING...ALMOST GONE!

LEAVING ISN’T THAT EASY

Our final day at Mt Ascutney was spent running around getting in everything we wanted to do before leaving this wonderful area.  Originally we  planned on leaving Monday but pushed it off to Tuesday so that we could visit Stella’s one last time for lunch.   I started the morning off my washing the remaining items one last time before we left and Ed came over with Cooper, his four month old Golden Retriever that he had gotten when we first arrived.  Cooper was a little butterball of fur when we first met him at 8 weeks and now at four months he’s a beautiful 40 lb lanky puppy, very light colored, and will be a beautiful dog. 

We then headed over to Stella’s for our last lunch.  From Stella’s we went to Simon Pearce where I had to purchase something to bring back and found two beautiful candle bowls that will light up like snow cones.  These were my most expensive purchase of the year!  Nothing at Simon Peace is a bargain but it sure is beautiful. 

From Simon Pearce we went over to the Farmstead Store and bought up Vermont cheeses to take home as well as some special Maple Syrup aged in bourbon barrels.  Yum!  On to Harpoon Brewery to see if we could find IPA Rye but they didn’t have any more. 

We drove over the Cornish Covered Bridge one last time to Claremont, NH.

This is where it got interesting.  As we drove toward Claremont along the Connecticut River on the NH side, the cars came to a stop and some guy, in a road crew vest with a shovel in his hand, was following a bull across the street. Then I noticed there were cows in the cornfield behind a house

At this point traffic was backing up and I saw someone lying in the street.  Apparently the bull gored its owner and he was down.  That was why the guy with the shovel looked like he was about to beat up on the bull! 

Taken in June after a St Gaudens visit.

This was in the same spot where I watched a farmer direct his cows across the road.  I think it was the same guy.

Traffic was directed around and we headed into Claremont to the NH Liquor Store purchasing enough liquor to get us to FLA … maybe!  

Came back and picked up laundry.  Gave a bottle of the bourbon aged maple syrup to Mark and Lucy and Mark gave me a case of Harpoon beer samplers which included IPA RYE!  THANK YOU!!!

For dinner we wentto the Weathersfield Inn to get a light dinner in Lucy’s Tavern.  During dinner, a woman came into the lounge area and introduced herself as the new owners (as of today) of the Weathersfield Inn.  

She was born and raised in Southern California and lived in various places, most recently Boston, and they just bought the Inn.  

I said, “So, you’ve fulfilled the dream of running an Inn in Vermont?”  She laughed, “Just like Bob Newhart!”.  Hope they are successful as it is a very, very nice old inn and the food is superb.

FINAL GOODBYE TO ASCUTNEY

Wednesday morning we packed up and moved out, in no big hurry.  Our only schedule was to be in Bennington by 6:30 to meet my cousin Sharyn and Mike for dinner.   It was rainy and foggy and the whole trip over to Woodford State Park was in the fog, especially when we got off I91 and headed west on Rte 9.  

Came into Woodford State Park around 3:00 and made our way slowly to our campsite down by the water.

This campground is on the Adam s Reservoir and is at 2400’ in elevation, the highest state park in Vermont.  It is a large park and very pretty especially once the fog clears and the rain stops.  The colors are beautiful but very, very wet. 

Wednesday night dinner was wonderful.  Catching up with Sharyn and all the family news was great.  When we parted, we vowed to stay in touch .. this time!  Not let 20 years go by without seeing each other!!

Thursday we woke to rain and it didn't look like it was going to stop so headed down into the Berkshires.   The ride down was enjoyable and even in the rain and low hanging clouds, I could see how beautiful the area was.  My memories were correct  …. It really was a beautiful place to live. 

Once we approached Pittsfield, I had to think about where we were as new roads and intersections had been put in over the last 30 years!  Wound our way down into the area where I last lived and passed through the neighborhoods looking at the house I lived in.  

Caution -- houses appear larger in your rear view mirror!!!!  As usual, it looked smaller than I remembered, but still charming.   Drove over to Dalton where I had a home and was surprised at the build up of houses in that area as well as shopping centers and stores in the town.  Pittsfield has grown up. 

FULL SERVICE …. WOW

We stopped for fuel at a gas station that was probably there when I lived here.  A young man came up to the car and asked Dave if he was paying by credit or cash.  Then the guy proceeded to pump our gas.  Hadn’t had full service gas in years and years!

Since the weather wasn’t clearing we decided not to continue on to Stockbridge but to swing north  towards Adams and North Adams and was surprised at how pretty those towns looked now.   Some of the old mills have been turned into artist workshops and galleries.  They  seemed to have figured out how to put their best face forward.   

Drove over to Williamstown, through Williams College campus,  one of the seven Ivy League schools, and picked up Route 7 north back to Vermont.  It was a fun day of walking in the past.  It’s always nice to go back and find your old areas improved rather than depressed.  Berkshires are still as beautiful as I remembered them.

 

 Adams Reservoir 

 Sun came out on Friday so we headed north to Manchester VT.  Driving with Dave, most everything is viewed at 50 mph....... so we were already through Arlington when I saw the Norman Rockwell Museum.  

Dave doesn’t like museums so he probably sped up as we went by!  

We flew through Shaftsbury and Arlington but when we got to Manchester I saw Orvis and gave him plenty of warning to pull over.  After telling him three times that, yes, I wanted to go into Orvis, he pulled into the parking lot.  I was just glad to get out of the car. 

 I LOVE THE FALL ARRANGEMENTS.  

Since we don’t fly fish and most of the clothing is too warm for our climate, we just breezed through the outlet side of the store.  I found a unique gift for my Great-Niece Natalie so felt it was worth the stop. We kept going north and there was major construction going on in the center of Manchester that was creating havoc.  Don’t know how they are going to deal this weekend when the peekers arrive in full force.

The colors on the mountains were beautiful, however there has been so much rain lately, many of the leaves are on the ground.  Still, the mountains look alive with reds and yellows.

On our way home we hopped on Route 7 (bypass) and made our way back into Bennington, heading for the monument park to give Billy an opportunity to run.  

This is Columbus Day weekend and it’s a big event here.  All the motels and B&B’s were full with leaf peekers heading up Route 7.  

We walked around the monument and then headed down to the Covered Bridges.  

Route 7 Pilgrimage by the Flatlanders to leaf peek!!!!!

The buses are arriving!!!

(We don't count the RVs)

Now this is where it got funny.  There were so many people congregated around the covered bridges getting pictures, there was hardly a place to park!  Figured I had enough pictures of covered bridges, so didn’t even stop.  

Ate at the  Madison brewery  in Bennington  for dinner and got another stamp in our Brewery Passport.   

Spent our last night in Vermont cozy in the MH listening to the rain fall.  The weekend could be a washout for the leaf peekers.

October 6^th RHINEBECK NY

Saturday morning the sun was trying to shine.  We packed up and left Woodford around 10:30AM heading over to NY down Route 9.  It was a very pretty drive, would have been prettier if it wasn’t raining!  Picked up the NY Thurway heading to Kingston NY with the ultimate destination of Rhinebeck.   

What a beautiful area this is.  We have been continually surprised at how beautiful New York is…..from Niagara Falls through the Finger Lakes …. Up to the Thousand Islands and through the Adirondacks and now the Hudson Valley. 

We are staying at Interlaken RV Park in Rhinebeck, about 6 miles from the village.  This is their Halloween Weekend and the park is going all out for the kids this weekend with haunted houses, games and trick or treating.  Most of the campers are here for the party and have their RV’s heavily decorated with Halloween decorations.  Our site is below the Recreation Hall and we could hear the kids screaming and yelling all evening.  By 10:00, though, all was quiet. 

We drove into the Rhinebeck Village for dinner and ate at a very good Mexican restaurant.  We are only 100 miles north of NYC and you can feel and see the difference.

Rhinebeck is a small town with limited parking.  As we drove around looking for a spot, I noted that just about every car had NY plates.  Just a smattering from NY or MA.  Guess the southerners have already headed home!

Hopefully the weather will hold and we can explore this area over the next two days.

Miss You.......Vermont!!!!

Life is Good!

MT ASCUTNEY - OUR LAST WEEKEND

September 30, 2012

Vermont 50 Mountain Bike and Run

It’s about 48 degrees and raining this weekend but we are at full occupancy Saturday night for the Sunday Vermont 50 Mountain Bike and Run.  This is half of the Vermont 100 Endurance Race and yet another opportunity to see if you can survive another year.

The Vermont 50 Ultra Ride or Run is one of the premiere mountain bike and running races in the US with 650 riders and 500 runners challenging themselves on the mountain.  The proceeds benefit the Vermont Adaptive Ski and Sports organization which is a non-profit providing sports and recreational opportunities to individuals with disabilities.  The organization offers year-round daily sports programming to people with disabilities.

The race course is top secret due to the numbers of people participating and the fact that much of the race course is over private land.  It begins at the Ascutney Mountain Resort in Brownsville (we look down on that resort from West Peak and Brownsville Rock).  It has about 8,900’ of vertical in 50 miles and the first time you are on the course will be when you are participating.  The course is divulged with the race packet you receive just before the race.

Mark is participating in this race so we have a special interest in its outcome.  He called around mid-morning to say he was 20 miles into the race so we’re looking forward to a good finish!

 FAREWELL

This is our last weekend working here.  Hard to believe the summer has gone by so fast.  Guess it’s true, time flies when you’re having a good time.  This summer would not have been as special as it was if it wasn’t for Mark and Lucy, the two best rangers!  They are perfect for this park.  Young, energetic, live and love the mountains, outdoors, biking, hiking … you name it.  They are great ambassadors for the Vermont State Parks and Mt Ascutney .  They really made our summer.

In addition, you can’t top working with Ed, Al and Kelly. We are going to miss these friendships when we leave.

We’ll be spending the next couple of days getting things cleaned up; laundry, site, hopefully getting rid of the mice and going to our favorite haunts to eat one more time and just an all-around good-bye to this side of Vermont. 

From here we are heading over to Bennington where we’ll catch up with my cousin Sharyn.  I have a few places to visit on that side of the state before leaving Vermont entirely.

We’ll be heading up Route 7 to Arlington and Shaftsbury where my mother lived after graduating from Castleton and taught in a one-room school house.  My mother taught grades K-12 and skied to school.  Them were the days! I don’t know if we’ll be able to find that little building, it was a museum many years ago.

Norman Rockwell drew subjects from this area and my mother recognized many of his characters.  The model for Santa Claus was my “Great Great Uncle Nips” …. I haven’t really figured out where he fit into the family genealogy.  The doctor who is giving the little boy a shot in the butt was my mother’s family doctor.  So, we’ll see what’s up there.

Going south, I would be remiss if I didn’t at least take a run through the Berkshires where I lived for many years and my kids were born.  One of my favorite places is Stockbridge, MA and that has a large Norman Rockwell museum as well as the Red Lion Inn which was a favorite place to eat.  My front windows of my home were adorned with “Country Curtains” from the Red Lion Inn, for any old New Englanders who know what I’m talking about!

Saturday we’ll head down through Rhinebeck NY to check out West Point and Hyde Park and then on to Gettysburg where we’ll meet up with the Aldens as they sweep through Michigan and head across Pennsylvania for their RV trip this fall.  Looking forward to seeing them again.

Leaving Gettysburg we’ll be in the last leg of the trip home heading into the land of blue grass and moonshine! 

As we reluctantly leave New England, we are looking forward to rejoining our family and friends in the south.  It has been one helleva summer and we are blessed.

OUR TAPESTRY .. A VERMONT STORY

As our time of leaving draws closer, I had one last trip to make to walk in my family’s steps.  As I’ve written, throughout the summer, Vermont is where my history began.  It’s a funny story, a family story.

My mother is a Vermonter.  She was born in West Rutland, Vermont February 15, 2013 to Elizabeth Brodeur Noyes and Earl Franklin Noyes.  Elizabeth (Lizzy) was a first generation American from Quebec, Canada and one of four siblings.  Earl Noyes came from a long line of Vermonters who settled in the state in the 1600’s.   When I was twelve, my mother took me to a cemetery where I was able to trace my Noyes family back before the Revolutionary War by reading the tombstones.  Unfortunately, I could not find that cemetery this summer.

My father teased my mother about “taking you off the mountain and putting shoes on your feet”.  He, however, loved Vermont and spent as much time up here as possible.

My Grandfather (POP POP) was employed by the Vermont Marble Company and my mother graduated from Castleton College through a scholarship provided by the Vermont Marble Company.  This was during the beginning and height of the depression.   Pop Pop remained employed with the Vermont Marble Company throughout the depression and he grew his own food as did many of the residents of Rutland, Vermont.  The depression may have been a different experience for my Mother than for folks in the cities.  Everyone helped each other out, and that is the characteristic of Vermont that has not diminished with time or circumstances.

VERMONTERS EMERGE

Now for the funny story.  Back in the 1960’s, my cousins (Fairbanks) started a genealogy of the Blood family.  Back then, this research was done by hand, traveling to locations and reading the books.  My father, a history buff, was first to order “The Story of the Bloods” when it was completed.  He settled into his office to read about his family, that he was convinced sprang forth from the grounds of Illinois…..perhaps arriving, centuries ago, in space ships directly to the mid-western soil without passing through any other parts of the US. 

He emerged from his office with the book in his hand.  At first he didn’t say a word, then laughed the big hearty laugh that so easily came from him.  He was bigger than life. We sat down to hear about

“The Story of the Bloods”

Two brothers arrived from Scotland in the 1700’s to settle in…wait for it…Vermont. 

Robert Blood had several large dairy farms in Rutland where he raised his family.  He married Thankful Proctor and had Johnathan Blood who had Horace Blood, all farming in Rutland.

Imagine his surpise …… to find out he was a VERMONTER!

The threads of the tapestry become more tightly woven over the years, but essentially Horace ended up migrating westward, fifty years after the Declaration of Independence was signed, setting up dairy farms in Aurora, NY as part of the “western movement” and eventually the family settled in Illinois …. becoming, what my father was so proud to boast, “THE FRIENDLIEST PEOPLE ON EARTH”.   The threads don’t end there, though, but weave back to Vermont.

VERMONT MARBLE COMPANY

Our last journey through time came yesterday when we drove over to Proctor, Vermont to visit the Vermont Marble Company.   Earlier this summer, we visited Hope Cemetery in Barre, Vermont to learn about Vermont granite.  This trip was to see where my Grandfather spent his days working at a company that was so much a part of my past.  

The Vermont Marble Company is located in a picturesque town of Proctor, Vermont in the valley of the Otter Creek (unfortunately the brewery was 30 miles away).  The rail lines ran right through this town which was the primary reason the Vermont Marble Company was located here.  

CAN HE LIFT IT??  HE THINKS HE CAN!

The Vermont Marble Company was established in 1880 by Redfield Proctor and quarried from several locations surrounding Rutland, West Rutland and Danby, Vermont.  Redfield Proctor (1931-1908) was a politician serving as the 37^th Governor of Vermont, US Secretary of War from 1889-1891 and US Senator for Vermont from 1891-1908.

Many monuments in DC were produced by the VMC…. Washington Monument, US Supreme Court building, Arlington National Cemetery, Yale University, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library and the Tomb of the Unknowns.

The Vermont Marble Museum is housed in the original buildings so as I walked through the exhibits, I looked up to see the building.  This is where my Grandfather spent his working days, in and around these buildings. 

I looked past the exhibits up into the rafters to get a sense of what it was like when my Grandfather worked here.

As I was walking around, I wondered whether my grandfather imagined that one day his little granddaughter would return at 65 years old to walk through these buildings.     

This is how it looked in the last 1800's.

This is how it looked in the 1930's when my Grandfather was a foreman.

Amazes me how the sculptors could take stone and mold it so beautifully.

Vermont Marble Company provided headstones for Arlington National Cemetery.

YULE QUARRIES, MARBLE, COLORADO

Vermont Marble Company was one of the largest in the world and not all of the marble came from Vermont.  The Company owned quarries in Colorado, as well.

Here another thread of the tapestry comes together … several years ago my brother was traveling through the West and stopped in Marble, Colorado to visit the quarry museum there.  He purchased a book for me about  Marble Colorado quarries because he remember hearing that Pop Pop  had spent time in Colorado, probably during the period when they were cutting and transporting the marble to Vermont for the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. 

The book tells the history of the Yule Marble Quarry in Marble, Colorado and the acquisition of it by the Vermont Marble Company.  One of the executives from the Vermont Marble Company working the transition between the two companies was …..Robert Blood……..a future generation of the original and a descendent of ours!  So now there are two familial connections to the Vermont Marble Company!

TOMB OF THE UNKNOWNS

The Vermont Marble Company won the bid to create The Tomb of the Unknowns.  The  marble was quarried from the Yule Quarry.  The block was cut from the mountain weighing 124 tons and cut down to 56 tons, the largest piece of marble ever quarried in the US at that time. 

The Vermont Marble Company sent a special derrick to bring the block out of the quarry.  It took four days for the block of marble to move from Yule to Marble, 2/3/31.  It was then shipped to Vermont for cutting to final dimensions and carving the pilaster and bas-relief.  It was completed in September 1931 and shipped to Arlington National Cemetery.  There were issues with imperfections with the base and new bases were quarried until December when it finally came together.  Then the carving work on the die block began.  Piccirilli Brothers who carved the statue of Lincoln for the Lincoln Memorial supervised and the tomb was assembled 4/9/1932.

The Vermont Marble Company recruited immigrants to come work for the company going to Ellis Island NY to bring them up.  Housing was provided for the workers and everything they bought came from the Company store.  

In the later years, the Vermont Marble Company started importing marble from Europe.  That was Pop Pop’s last position with the company before he retired.  He would assess the marble coming in from Italy and Europe and determine the grade.

I have a beautiful piece of marble that he gave to my mother.  I grew up with it as a coffee table top and it is now a treasure in my living serving as a coffee table.  It’s Imperial Danby.  I now know its name!

THE TIES THAT BIND, THE TAPESTRY THAT IS OURS!

This was the last place that I needed to visit before leaving Vermont behind.  As we headed over to Proctor, I once again passed my grandparents home.  And, once again, in each of the windows were starfish and the very large sailboat was sitting in the top window looking down!  I cannot get over that!

The culmination of this journey was finding my cousin Sharyn.  She and I spent every summer and every Vermont vacation together.  I had not seen Sharyn in 20 years.  We met up in Bennington where she lives with her husband and has three grown children now.  Her daughter, whom I met when I last visited New England is now a beautiful woman.  Where does the time go.  Sharyn has been active in Bennington politics for 20 years as Vice Selectman of the town.

When I knocked on the door to her house and she said, "Come on in" my heart melted.  Her voice was exactly as I remembered it.  We are going to meet up again before we leave Vermont.  I feel optimistic that another 20 years will not pass before we meet again!

We left the museum, took Billy for a walk around Proctor and noticed the buildings made of marble.

An interesting note to this building .... I'm not sure the last time I was this sign on the door.  Are there still "Fallout Shelters" in the country?   It's like a step back in time.

A HAUNTED CASTLE

We emerged from the museum to a beautiful, bright autumn day.  We drove out of Proctor and came upon Wilson Castle.  It is an English-style mansion built in the late 1800’s sitting back from the road on a meadow-like lawn.  

Across the road are three buildings that formerly housed the stable, carriage house and employee residences.

It has 32 furnished but unoccupied rooms and during the summer and fall is open for tours.  The most interesting fact about the castle is that it is believed to be HAUNTED!

It has resident ghosts, turrets and towers, stained glass windows and creepy tales.  Searching for “haunted castle in Vermont”, Wilson castle comes up.  Paranormal researchers have found activity evidence, according to an internet article.  Paranormal investigators have recorded EVPs (electronic voice phenomena) as ghost hunting sessions.  (Or could this be caused by the huge radio tower used for local FM broadcasts and cell across the street??).  Visitors have reported feeling something or someone touch them when they are alone in specific rooms, others hear someone playing a game of billiards on the second floor antique pool room. 

The castle is owned by descendents of the original family and hosts murder mystery parties as well as weddings and other fun events!

Across the street stood the outbuildings and I saw a for sale sign on the street.  We stopped down there to take a look asking Dave, “Wouldn’t be fun to have a summer place like this?”   He said, “Yeah, we could spend the summer replacing bricks!”.  Oh well!

We headed back to Ascutney enjoying the mountain views. 

The color seems to be creeping up the mountain rather than the colors falling down the mountain.

Last night we had dinner at the Harpoon Brewery…..probably our last time there.  Thursday nights Jason Cann plays the guitar and sings and he is wonderful.  It was packed and we had to wait for a table, so took our IPAs to the patio and sat around the fire pit, listening to the 

music.  

Several other couples joined us out there and we had interesting conversations around the fire.  In fact, we turned down the first table offer because we didn’t want to leave the fire pit.  Eventually we came inside and had dinner.  Then, on our way out, stopped by the fire pit to chat with a couple who had been there when we left for dinner.  It was a great evening, one of the many I will miss when we leave.

GETTING TO KNOW A PLACE

One of the beauties of hosting in a place for an extended period of time is getting to know a place.  

You can travel through Vermont and see what we have seen.  

You can appreciate everything we have appreciated being here.  

But unless you spend a certain amount of time in one place, you never quite get the essence of the area.  You can come away with impressions but they will be a snapshot in time as you pass on through.

Living here for the past four months we have felt part of this community.    There are many people who move here out of choice from other areas of the US.  

It certainly isn't because it's an inexpensive place to retire...it is not.  

It isn't because there are plenty of jobs to be had...there are not.  

It isn't because the climate is moderate....it is not.

To move here is a deliberate act; people who move here are looking for and finding specific qualities they cannot find elsewhere and are willing to pay the price to do so.  No one forces you to move to Vermont. There is a special quality of life here.   

I asked the couple at the fire pit what brought them to Vermont.  They are out of LA and moved up to North Adams, MA. and settled on Ludlow, VT.   They are probably younger than us by about 10 years, us being geezers and all! 

They laughed and said, "Liberals in the woods".  

Vermont is the only state with a Progressive party.  Much of the legislation is liberal.  They are the first state to enact Single-Payer Healthcare reform.  Howard Dean is from this state!  

There are also many conservatives up here, but people generally accept each other without a lot of discussions about it.   "You don't discuss politics, religion or money."  

If you are a Tea Party conservative, you'd probably be gnashing your teeth.

In my opinion, it is a great state and I'm proud of my Vermont heritage.  

I LOVE VERMONT