Vermont is a beautiful state. I have loved farm houses, old churches, winding roads, and small, quaint towns since as early as I can remember. Vermont is all of that, and being there in the Fall made me start to think that maybe we should just go ahead and make New England our forever home! But, there is that pesky snow come winter, which means that might not really work. Still, it’s so pretty, and it sort of makes me think that a little white cover might not be so bad.
As part of the girls’ school curriculum, we do a nature walk at least once a week, and since we were camping in Bristol, VT, right next to the Green Mountain National Forest, it was an easy choice to check it out. We got a little lost in the woods, but the dogs got some exercise, and we saw some lovely fall leaves.
I had heard about an old Quaker farm turned museum a stone’s throw away in Ferrisburgh, so we spent a few hours one afternoon exploring the property and learning about the history of the Robinson family (four generations that lived there from 1793-1961). Rokeby is a National Historic Landmark because of its Underground Railroad history.
Rokeby has a new exhibit, Free & Safe: The Underground Railroad in Vermont, which has recently won awards. The exhibit chronicles the stories of Simon and Jesse, two fugitives from slavery who found shelter at Rokeby in the 1830s. There is no record of the men after they left Vermont for Canada, for obvious reasons. Ferrisburgh is only about 94 miles from the Canadian border. There was also an exhibit on abolitionists, both free people of color and whites, women and men. I’ve always been very interested in reading as much as I can about the Underground Railroad, but, sadly, there just isn’t much documentation (again, for obvious reasons).
Also during our time in Vermont, we shifted gears some, and ventured over to Waterbury, VT to take a tour of the Ben and Jerry’s factory. While I don’t think any of us cared that much about how the ice cream is made, it was pretty interesting to learn of all the good, environmental work the company does. We also got some samples, visited the Flavor Graveyard (where there are tombstones for the retired flavors), and had more ice cream!
One of my favorite things about our visit to Vermont was a stop in Middlebury, home to Woodchuck Cider House, which makes and sells one of my favorite hard ciders. We took a self-guided tour, watched the cider being bottled and boxed, and then tasted (well, Ray and I did) some of the ciders. I really liked the raspberry, which I had never had before. I left with a six-pack of that.
Finally, we couldn’t leave Vermont without visiting Burlington, as it’s right on Lake Champlain and is the most populous city in the state (with only 42,452 residents). It’s also a really cool town with a great, little downtown area that has restaurants, quirky shops, and outdoor, live music. The pedestrianized street, Church Street Marketplace, is a fun place to people watch and hang out. We also enjoyed walking down by the lake and watching the sailboats out on the water. Vermont was eye candy for me, something beautiful to see at every turn.
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