The rain hasn’t kept us from doing anything yet. It seems to miraculously stop every time we set up or break up camp and it slows or stops while we are at events. About the only activity we haven’t been able to do because of rain is burn the “deal” we got on firewood by the side of the road in NewYork and enjoy grilling outside. BUT some sunshine would definitely brighten both the leaves and our dispositions!!! Please don’t comment about how sunny it is in Charlotte… I do hear its cold, though… but please comment… we wonder… is anyone reading these blogs?
As we were pulling into the campsite in Burlington Sunday, a couple in a rented RV waved and walked by. They are visiting from England and seemed nice. Later when we came in from supper, (in the pouring rain!) I told David to stop by their RV and I’d invite them over for wine. We had a very nice evening talking to them and polishing off 2 bottles of Paso’s best. I had been hungering to “talk to peoples” (to quote my granddaughter) and this was a pleasant evening. It was fun to hear Alan’s frustration of driving a large vehicle on the “wrong” side of the road, and we shared campsite possibilities in Boston and New Hampshire. They have a thirtysomething daughter still living with them, though she is engaged and saving for a house, so we share empty nest stories.
In between arriving and wine, we stomped around the Shelbourne Museum. Wow it is BIG and well done! After the Kellys description, we expected a couple of barely cleaned up “picker” barns, not the Vanderbilt- funded site we found. Our tickets were good for 2 days and we needed an extra day to even scratch the surface. This collection of 28 buildings is dedicated to all things Americana. There is a circus building with thousands of miniatures, a carousel building, a complete side driven steam paddle boat, 7 or 8 art museums, a special exhibit of clothing (but nothing like Jean Paul!!!) , a re-creation of their Park Avenue apartment, and that is just what we could get in from 3-5 pm on Sunday. On Monday we went back and split up to “divide and conquer”… but every time we would meet we would have to take the other person to see what we had seen on our own!! You might want to check out their website at http://shelburnemuseum.org/explore/collections/ . I sent Bryan a post card and said it would be a great resource for an American History paper. Dave has more pix on his blog.
Having had enough of history and museums we stopped and wandered through a contemporary furniture store. Luckily for Dave we don’t “need” anything right now… but we tried out a few sofas, coffee tables, and a great lamp. Deb wrote down the name of a few accessories she might search on the internet.
On Sunday night we searched out a brew-pub for supper. The Farm House Tap and Grill had a beer selection that was like a book! We had some very good beers and I had a lamb hamburger with grilled apples and goat cheese. All of the food was locally sourced and very good. Dave said the concept was similar to his ideal: really good beer and really good food. On Monday we visited Magic Hat. They’ve been bought out by Genesse and have gotten commercial… but their Circus Boy Hefferweisen and IPA are still outstanding. Deb especially liked the taster glasses.
Dave was able to build a fire and grill sausages Monday night, but as soon as we finished eating and settled down with feet propped on the fire ring, the drizzle started again! Four young men from Germany have moved into the British couple’s site, so I might get to “talk to peoples” again, but with this rain, I doubt it... I'm not about to offer beer to a bunch of German twentysomethings!
A few comments on the local “cultures” we’ve experienced…
· Many of the houses from NY through Montreal and even here in Vermont lack foundation plantings. It distinguishes the architecture as much as anything. Is it because of the cold?
· Vermont is very “green conscious”. Solar panels everywhere and a few windmills.
· Understanding French in Montreal was definitely a barrier (and my French has eroded in the last 30 years ! I couldn’t remember many of the basic words or syntax), but unlike Paris, everyone we met was very nice and would switch to English as soon as they heard us speak.
· Next time I’ll bring about ¼ of the clothes I’ve crammed into drawers and the closet. I basically need 2 pairs of jeans and a variety of tops. My best purchase has been a rain jacket with a hood. My lined raincoat has been too heavy and this one is “just right”… and was on sale in 1000 Islands!
· Today we observed a Vermont mail carrier: socks, TEVA’s, shorts, postal shirt and a knitted toboggan!
· There are no billboards in this area, but before every intersection are street type signs with several businesses named on them: “Costco ½ m.>”…. We wonder what they pay to be included. It does keep the environment clean and quaint.
· I wondered about the derivation of the term “Yankee”. According to Wikipedia (Bryan, this is NOT an approved source for your papers!) it probably comes from the Dutch “Jan Kees” meaning John Cheese… or slang for the Dutch who made cheese in the area. Linguists generally dispute the theory that was Cherokee for “white man who takes our land and brings diseases”, though that is a popular theory. I like this the best:
· A humorous aphorism attributed to E. B. White summarizes these distinctions:
· To foreigners, a Yankee is an American.
· To Americans, a Yankee is a Northerner.
· To Northerners, a Yankee is an Easterner.
· To Easterners, a Yankee is a New Englander.
· To New Englanders, a Yankee is a Vermonter.
· And in Vermont, a Yankee is somebody who eats pie for breakfast.
Tomorrow we move to Stowe and will pass by a cheese factory and Ben and Jerry’s… stay tuned!....
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