08-09 Mt Mansfield, VT

Friday we made our trip to the Green Mountains. It was a gorgeous drive over. As we drew nearer to the mountains, we understood their name. The mountains were just a mass of green. Initially we saw no rocks or houses to break up the solid green. Eventually we did see rock formations but no houses on the mountainsides until we reached our destination.

We headed to Mt Mansfield which is the tallest peak in Vermont at 4,395 feet. It is near Stowe, Vermont and includes many wintertime ski runs. We stopped for lunch at this new ski resort.

You can ride a gondola to a point near the peak of the mountain.

We chose instead to drive the car up a toll road which at $24 was half the cost of the gondola ride. Plus we got to stop when we wanted and take our own time. The road was gravel and narrow in places. It curved back and forth to the top. You really had to be on the lookout for cars coming down the mountain.

We were treated to some spectacular views, which are hard to capture in photos. One place we stopped was near a ski lift with a small restaurant next door. It is only open in the winter, but a young man who is a caterer at the resort was setting up a table with food nearby. It was to be a special 25th wedding anniversary surprise for the wife of one of the staff members. What a place for a private dinner!

This deck had wonderful panoramic views.

In the distance is the end of the Gondola ride and a high mountain restaurant. In the foreground you can see the ground covered in beautiful yellow goldenrod.

On the route up we stopped at this beginning point for some of the ski runs.

Here we looked far down below to the resort where we had lunch.

I know all of this must be spectacular to see in the winter when covered in snow. Many of the signs say you must be an expert to ski some of these runs. We could believe it. They just seem to drop off into open sky.

Either the drive up the toll road or a ride in the gondola to see the views from Mt Mansfield is a “must do” if in this part of Vermont. The views are just breathtaking.

08-09 Shelburne Museum Part 1

Wednesday August 26th we planned to take a drive over to the Green Mountains. However the weather forecast was dead wrong. Instead of sunny skies, we had full overcast skies and occasional sprinkles until mid-afternoon.

So instead we drove down to the Shelburne Museum not far from our previous trip to the Wildflower Farm. We knew almost nothing about the museum. We were surprised to find that it is a collection of 39 buildings spread over 45 acres. Twenty-five of the buildings were relocated from various places in New England. All are from the 18th or 19th century.

Each building contains various exhibits. Relocating the structures and many of the collections were the work of Electra Havemeyer Webb. Needless to say she was very wealthy. Her father started a sugar trust (monopoly) that became Domino Sugar. Her husband was a Vanderbilt. Here is a good link for more history and information about the museum.

Not all are buildings. One is the old Lake Champlain steam powered tour boat, the “Ticonderoga”:

Another is a lighthouse formerly on Lake Champlain:

Among the permanent collections are antique dolls:

including some mechanical dolls like this wonderful clown magician

or this lady pumping water from a well:

And detailed little doll houses and diorama’s:

There are wonderful antique toys:

(Click here for more dolls, doll houses, dioramas and toys)

A large barn

housed a collection of wagons and sleds (although we thought the displays at the Adirondack Museum were better)

Other buildings had collections of antique hats and hat boxes:

Jugs and pitchers of all sizes:

Various printing presses including an original Heidelberg Printing Press:

Several excellent art collections including an original Rembrandt painting:

As you can see the collections are quite varied and very eclectic. These are just a small sampling. Our tour is concluded in the next Blog Posting with more about the special temporary exhibits.

08-09 Shelburne Museum Part 2

The Shelburne Museum was so extensive and fascinating that I divided it into two postings. In addition to the permanent collections, which we only partially viewed, there were several unique temporary collections. One was called “Full Throttle” and was a large exhibit of motorcycles, especially one-of-a kind “choppers”:

(Click this link to see more choppers.)

This has been our year for seeing works by Louis Comfort Tiffany.

The Shelburne had a wonderful collection of his work and was the third place in the last few months were we viewed his art. We especially like the famous Tiffany lamps.

(Click here for more Tiffany.)

Another special collection was hoop rugs by artist Patty Yoder. They looked more like paintings than rugs:

Of course I had to photograph flowers.

In so doing, I joked with the Grandmother watching these children behind an old schoolhouse, “Ah authentic 19th century children”. She quipped right back, “Yes it wasn’t until the 20th century that children learned they could sit on swings and not just lay across them on their bellies.”

We had a delightful afternoon at the Shelburne Museum. We could easily go back for another day and see more things we missed on this first visit.