Heading to Maine 2

Sunday

We started the day by taking  a drive into nearby Waterbury.  The location where Waterbury now lies was once the frontier between the Mahican and Pennacook people. European settlement of the area dates from 1763, when King George III granted a charter for land in the Winooski River valley.

We visited the train depot/visitor center then continued on to a couple of antique shops, skipping the factory tour of Ben & Jerry’s.  I did walk out with a couple of  “finds”.  The book is an older book on Lakota culture (and was on sale at 1/2 off) and I found this old stopper in a box of other not so old stoppers.  After I bargained with the proprietor to get my price, I acquired it.  It is a ca. 1810 pressed glass stopper from the Boston & Sandwich Glass Works.

After spending the better part of a day in Waterbury, we headed back to the Stowe area, specifically to get to the Saturday Farmers’ Market before it closed at 3:00. We made it by 15 minutes, there was still plenty of time to spend money!

Cathy found some homemade Worcester Cheese, made with goat milk.  It was dry and wonderful.

Next Cathy picked up some homemade jams and a couple of bottles of local pickles.

Heading to Smugglers’ Notch, a very narrow (single lane narrow) and very steep (check out the sign) roadway that is only open for part of the year.

Bouldering is very popular in the Smugglers’ Notch area.  This is even more popular locally than traditional cliff climbing.  We were wondering why a lot of athlete types were carrying these very large pads so we had to stop and watch.  Crazy!

We watched this climber make several attempts, using different routes to get to the top of this boulder.  He did not make it on this attempt, but his friends were ready to guide him as he fell to the mats.  They had special extension tools to apply chalk aka magnesium carbonate powder to handholds on the rock and to their hands to aid their grip.  You can see traces of the white powder on the rock and on their hands.

On this particular rock, the climbers faced a negative angle rock face, and we watched many fall until finally, this one guy made it to the top.  He is the same guy that is falling in he previous photo.

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The Bingham Falls area, near Smugglers’ Notch State Park, was a short, very steep and muddy trail and is accessed via an unmarked trailhead.  After failing to loacte the trail, we stopped and obtained details and directions to the trailhead from a local lady a few miles up the road.  A stream made use of the last hundred feet of the trail climb down to the base of the falls, making the rocks slippery.  Evidently there are a lot of injuries getting to the base and I could see why.  In climbing down there, there were gaps in the boulders that you could fall into, and they would go down ten to twenty feet.

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There is a Stowe gondola crossing the highway.  This lift will take you to the top of nearby Mt. Mansfield for only $29 (each).  No thanks, if we want to get to the top of this hill, we will walk!

Here is a wild turkey on the way down a dirt road, just exploring.  Actually there were six of them but by the time I got my camera, this slow poke was the only one that hadn’t reached the woods.

Our next stop was the Trapp Family Lodge, located just outside of Stowe.  We passed the road on the way to Smugglers’ Notch so there could be no excuse to miss this place.

A little history . . . The von Trapps, fleeing Nazi Austria in 1938 went by train to Italy in June, later to London, and by September were on a ship to New York to begin a concert tour in Pennsylvania.

When their six months visitor visas expired, they left the U.S. for a short Scandinavian tour and returned to New York in October 1939. They were held at Ellis Island for investigation by the Immigration and Naturalization Service, apparently because when asked by an official how long they intended to stay, instead of saying “six months,” as specified on their visas, Maria exclaimed, “Oh, I am so glad to be here—I never want to leave again!” The Story of the Trapp Family Singers notes that they were released after a few days and began their next tour.

In the early 1940s the von Trapps bought a farm near Stowe and opened a music camp. The family (with the exception of the Captain) applied for U.S. Citizenship in 1944 and received it in 1948.  Captain von Trapp died in 1947 and is buried on the property.  The family opened their lodge to the public in 1950 and officially stopped touring as the Trapp Family Singers in 1955.

Cathy is on the croquet green waiting for her duet with Julie Andrews.  Julie was a no show, so we skipped the croquet.

Here is the view of the main entrance to the lodge.

The Stowe Arena, home to the Vermont Champion Stowe High School Raiders (1995, 1997, 1999, 2014 & 2015) and is home to the North American Hockey Academy Winterhawks, in the Junior Women’s Hockey League.

This is a mixed adults pick up game and was fun to watch.  Brings back memories . . .

Monday

Today we drove into Stowe, about 12 miles from our campsite.  After parking, which is less of an issue on a Monday morning, we decided to walk the main street.  We came across this home, built in the early 1800s on the corner of Main and Mountain Road.

About a block up Mountain Road we walked over the Lamoille river on a covered bridge built for pedestrians and on the way back, I crossed the road to get this photo of the river, downstream from the bridge. The traffic was very light and I could not have done this on the weekend.

Back in town, we crossed over Main and walked up the other side of the street, visiting shops that happened to be open, as it appeared that some of the shops were closed on Mondays.  This is the Green Mountain Inn, ca 1833.  The Inn and its outbuilding are listed as #13 and #14 on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Inn has played host to many famous people over the years, including President Chester A. Arthur who acted in a theatrical production at the Inn as well as Gerald Ford who was on assignment as a model for a Look magazine photo spread in Stowe.

Below is the Municipal Offices building in Stowe

In 1818, a plot of land was obtained for the erection of a building to be used as a church for all religious groups and as a town house for various civic meetings.

In 1918 the three existing religious groups, along with members of the Baptist society, recognized the need for a more cooperative effort.  It was decided to federate and hold joint services with a single minister.  Thus, the Stowe Community Church became one of the first non-denominational churches in the United States.

On the way down school street, I came across these flowers in full bloom.  I picked a couple of weeds and Cathy instantly knew that I would be there a few minutes.  I did not stop until I had a handful and caught up with Cathy, who had just befriended a dog down the block. I missed some of the weeds as you can see in the photo.

The earliest libraries in Stowe were subscription or membership libraries, as was popular in the beginning of the nineteenth century. In 1866, the Stowe Free Library was founded with a donation of 51 books from a group of visiting summer artists and supplemented by a town appropriation of $100.  Stowe was the first town in Vermont to appropriate a sum of money for library purposes under the state law of 1865.

After occupying several locations in the village, the library finally found a real home in the “new” town hall, the Akeley Memorial Building, in 1904.  Seventy-seven years later, the library moved to this renovated old High School building at the corner of Pond and School Street.

We saw the Book Sale sign on the front of the library from Main Street and HAD to make a visit.  I left with a hardcover of Never Call Retreat by Newt Gingrich for $2.  While taking this photo, I was approached by a local woman who recommended the site for the next shot, of the Stowe Community Church and a spot to take a photo of the downtown area, near Pinnacle Ridge.  Interesting enough, Cathy and I had hiked up there last night but were turned back because of the dark woods, scantily marked trail and it was quickly becoming dark.  Unfortunately, it is supposed to rain this afternoon so we will not make the trek on this trip.

Recommended photo-op:

Next stop:  Bar Harbor, Maine