PSo I’m finally getting around to sharing my vacation with you but as I thought about it all, it was way too much to put in one post. It did, however, end up being five different mini-vacations in one big vacation (we’re not going to talk about the one day I went back to work) so I think I’ll do five posts.
Vacation Number 1
My sister has a very sweet little house in southern Vermont. I left on a Sunday morning and took a leisurely ride up the Taconic and then the smaller roads through Vermont and arrived mid afternoon. My sister, brother in law, and niece Molly were on vacation in New Hampshire so my parents and the animals were at the house. Within an hour, my other niece Susie and her boyfriend JM arrived and we were off to dinner (delicious!).
On Monday, Susie and JM left for NH to meet up with the rest of their clan and Granny, Pop and I were left at the house. I’m an early bird, so I had lots of lovely knitting time with the dog and the cats while everyone else snoozed. I actually finished a few things that have been sitting in the basket for a while.
Monday afternoon, we went to Hildene. It’s the home of Abraham Lincoln’s son Robert and is a major historic site in southern Vermont. Robert was the chair of Pullman Railroad and the irony of his father’s role in freeing the slaves and the less than ideal situation of the Pullman porters is not lost on anyone. The family’s private rail car is restored and on display at the site along with a very moving timeline of the civil rights movement starting at the Civil War. They aren’t dancing around it–they’re taking it on quite directly and the exhibit was surprisingly moving.
Pop was a carnie in the 1940s and 50s and worked on a railroad carnival so he has a thing for old trains. Real ones, not the models. He loved it.
Next stop (they have a little trolley which was great because Pop is 87 and his knees are old) was the goat farm. My parents had no interest so then went on to the house while I explored the farm. They make their own cheese there (which was delicious) and the docent when I was there was the semi-retired vet from town so he really knew his stuff. I think that was my favorite part. After that, on to the house where I met up with Granny and Pop and tootled around the joint. The family lived in the house until the 1940s. Interesting to think of the lifestyle they had within my own parents lifetime.
Came across this in the servants quarters. Do you think she was making a log cabin?
p
On Tuesday the plan was to go yarn shopping. Imagine my shock to find out that all the yarn shops in the area are closed on Tuesday! What kind of state is this??? Who are these people? So we were going to head into Brattleboro and go to The Retreat Farm and visit Carlos the ginormous bull who is gentle as a kitten but they were closed too. So we gave up and went into Manchester, had the best hot dogs ever from the hot dog truck and went to the book store. It’s one of my favorite book stores and I got so carried away that I bought an Alabama Chanin book. More on that in later in the vacation. We made a quick pit stop on the way home at the Ben & Jerry’s Scoop Shop to drop off some brownies (they were so nice), then out to dinner.
Perfect, relaxing days to gear up for my adventures to the north. More on that tomorrow!
