We finished our drive along the Atlantic coast with the Kennebunks, Maine and Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Kennebunk had a plethora of old majestic homes with side-facing entrances and large garage/stables to accommodate the old horse-drawn carriages. Many of them had a widow’s walk, also known as a "widow's watch" - a railed rooftop platform often with a small enclosed cupola frequently found on 19th-century North American coastal houses. A popular romantic myth holds that the platform was used to observe ships coming into the harbor. Kennebunkport is home to the Walker Estate, summer home for Pres. George H. Walker Bush.
On our way to the White Mountains in New Hampshire, we stopped at Concord to see the state capital. Very basic working capitol building and while it had a dome, there was no rotunda. There was a display of flags that were ones carried into battle by New Hampshire regiments. The state motto of New Hampshire is “Live Free or Die” and is probably the best known state motto. The motto appears on the state emblem, license plates, and commemorative coins. The phrase comes from a toast written by General John Starke, New Hampshire’s most famous soldier of the American Revolution at the Battle of Bennington on July 31, 1809 for an anniversary reunion. The toast is: Live free or die: Death is not the worst of evils.” A statue of him is on the front lawn of the capitol.
The White Mountains, part of the Appalachians , have 14 peaks that exceed 5000 foot elevation. The highest is Mount Washington (elevation goes from 2700’ at the base to 6288’). The peak is accessible by hiking, an auto road, or by cog train. We stayed on the side of the mountain where the cog train was, at Twin Mountain, and since the weather was clear, we thought we had better get to the summit. On our previous trip to New Hampshire we saw snow on the peak in October and were unable (unwilling) to go to the top. The Cog Railroad up Mount Washington reached as high as a 37 percent grade during a section aptly named Jacob ’s ladder. The summit touts being the “worst weather in the world” and claims the record highest wind recorded and witnessed by man (231 mph.).
We stayed in the Franconia Notch area which is home to the “old Man on the Mountain.” The old man’s face is a representative of New Hampshire on coins and license plates. The Old Man’s profile was visible on the side of a mountain and was formed by strata protruding from the rock. Visitors came from all over to see this, to explore the Franconia Notch, and to start tourism in New Hampshire. The strata was so cantilevered that efforts had to be made to stop erosion from causing the face to crash to the ground below. All efforts failed and in 2003 the face no longer existed. However, since the face means so much to New Hampshire history there still are viewing areas to see where it was, a museum to show what it looked like, and the history of the face.
We left the White Mountains to go to and to follow the Connecticut River, which is the largest and longest in New England. This is a pretty river that is the border between Vermont and New Hampshire and continues on through Massachusetts and Connecticut to the Long Island Sound. After taking time to stop at Hanover and explore one of the prettiest campuses (the Ivy League college of Dartmouth), we were in Vermont and the Green Mountains, also part of the Appalachians. Vermont not only takes its nickname ("The Green Mountain State") from the mountains, it is named after them. The French Verts Monts is literally translated as Green Mountains. The University of Vermont is referred to as UVM, after the Latin Universitas Viridis Montis (University of the Green Mountains) We have always found it interesting that many people, especially those west of the Mississippi, cannot identify which of the states is New Hampshire or Vermont.
We saw that Calvin Coolidge Homestead was in Plymouth Notch. Since we couldn’t think of a thing that was accomplished during his presidency, we thought that we should go. Vermont preserves many of the historic buildings that Coolidge knew in his youth: his birthplace & boyhood home, the church that he attended, the homes of relatives and family, and the hall above his father’s old store which he used as his office during a few summers. Coolidge and his wife lie amid seven generations of Coolidges in the town cemetery. When we asked the docent what Coolidge was most known for, it was for stopping a policemen strike in Boston when he was governor of Massachusetts and nothing of his presidency at all. It is stated he worked on the economy and on reducing taxes. Sound familiar?
In the capitol of Montpelier, we learned that Vermont was not one of the original 13 colonies and that the land in Vermont was given by NH Grants to local residents. The British overturned this and gave the same land to New Yorkers. The famous “Green Mountain Boys” were organized to resist the New Yorkers. They, with Ethan Allen, turned their objective toward the British during the American Revolution. The land ownership was resolved in favor of the locals after the American Revolution and when VT became the 14th state admitted into the union. We were surprised to learn that the Civil War was fought as far north as St. Albans, Vermont when a raiding party of 21 Confederates held up 3 banks, killed one citizen and attempted to burn down the town. They were pursued to Canada where they were captured.
You can’t be in Vermont without seeing how “sugaring” is done to make pure Vermont maple syrup. Some still harvest with a bucket attached to a tap in the tree. Vermont is the largest producer of pure maple syrup in the US and has strict standards, which Aunt Jemima sugar syrup does not meet. This industry started in 1850 when abolitionists wouldn’t use sugar as they connected it with slave labor. In the same rural area is a large apple cider industry. Cider mills and presses displayed how they produce the apple cider and gave free samples. As Vermont is a huge dairy and cheese producer. Ben & Jerry’s original ice cream factory started in this area. They give tours of their factory, their history, how they develop new flavors, and how they make their ice creams. And more free samples.
Located in the same area is the Von Trapp Inn. This is the same family as the famous Von Trapps from “Sound of Music” fame. They fled Europe after the Nazis chased them and ended up in Stowe Vermont. The entire property (now an Inn, a restaurant, tours) is still owned and operated by the Von Trapp family.
In the Green Mountains we started seeing autumn colors. The Greens are lower in elevation than the White, with Mt Mansfield being the tallest, but none are above 5000 feet.
In Burlington, Vermont, we stayed with friends who we first met there six years ago on our first trip after starting this vagabond lifestyle. Burlington houses the Shelburne Museum and Farm. Besides a tremendous art collection, the museum includes houses, barns, a meeting house, a one-room schoolhouse, a lighthouse, a jail, a general store, a covered bridge, and the 220-foot steamboat Ticonderoga. The land came from William Seward, of Auburn New York, and his wife Lila Vanderbilt Webb who shared a vision for innovative agricultural land use practices. For a brief time, Shelburne Farms was renowned as one of the foremost model agricultural estates in the country.
Burlington was hard-hit from Hurricane Irene in 2011. The bike path that goes out into Lake Champlain is one of our favorites and we were sorry to see it still closed on the causeway. We saw much destruction from Irene with trees uprooted and taken for a ride down the hill..
Lake Champlain divides Vermont from New York. We took a one-hour ferry from the Green Mountains of Vermont to the Adirondacks of New York. The Adirondacks are part of the Laurentian Mts. that we saw in Canada, are higher in elevation, and had the autumn colors further along. We were surprised to learn that Lake Champlain has been signed into law since mid-1990s as the Sixth Great Lake since it flows into the St. Lawrence Seaway (as do the other five Great Lakes surrounding Michigan.)
In the New York Adirondack mountains, Whiteface Mountain has the North Pole that Ron remembers from the year it opened in 1949. This was the very first “theme” park. Nearby is the Adirondack’s tallest peak, Mt. Marcy and Mt. Algonquin both above 5000 feet. Lake Placid (home of 2 Olympics in 1932 & 1980), remains a viable ski area and resort area. Lake Placid also is home to the abolitionist John Brown who bought land there, which later became known as the "Freed Slave Utopian Experiment," Timbucto. Upon his execution in 1859, John Brown asked to be buried on his farm, which is preserved as a State Historic Site.
Fall is definitely making an entrance with more colors daily, shorter daylight hours, and cooler temperatures. Happy Autumn Equinox to you all.
Now we are off to catch the St Lawrence River from the US side.
