Our October jaunt continued

 

We enjoy going up to Weston,Vermont every couple of years to visit the Vermont Country Store. I say visit because we love looking at all the unusual items, many which are blasts from the past. Some would be fun to buy, but most we just don't want to spend the price. So, it's more a window shopping experience, but still fun. And sometimes we do buy a little something.

If you go to the this store, you must also go to the store across the street who claims to be older than the Vermont Country Store and although it is smaller, I found a couple of the same items a little cheaper and their prices in general were a little more tolerable for us. Also of note, their fudge was delicious and weary travelers can have a cheap little bag of popcorn too which was  a good tied over for us.

From there we took a nice ride up Mount Greylock. Although a cold and dreary day, it still was beautiful.

 

I took this on the Appalachian Trail, so I have proof that I hiked the Appalachian Trail. (Okay, not the whole thing. Okay, maybe just a few yards--but I also did part in Connecticut too.)

The roof is of a shelter for hikers on the Appalachian Trail. I have seen other shelters on the trail in other states that are just lean-to's but this was a nicer shelter.



Another day of our travels we went to North Adams, MA. This is the former railroad yard that has been transformed into several buildings, one of which a restaurant where we had a nice lunch. The building with the flags in front is the Heritage State Park Museum. There we saw an interesting video and displays about the Hoosac Tunnel. This 4.75 miles of tunnel took 25 years to build and 200 men lost their lives building it. It connects Mass. to Albany, NY. Evidently the train still uses it but there is no way to go see the tunnel except for taking the train.

For our final day, I will make a separate post. Stay tuned.

Omin Globe, Fairbanks Museum

 
 
 

Looking at my pictures I realize I have to backtrack. I told you about the bug art, but I did not tell you about the Omni Globe at the Fairbanks Museum. We were fortunate, since it was late in the day to be the only ones to "play" with this fantastic "toy"--a very expensive, informative globe. By the push of a button, you can get this globe to highlight the people population of the world, the tree population, the path of hurricanes and so much more. We pushed the button many times and could have stayed there a lot longer.

If you are not interested in bug art or a planetarium or the other displays, this is definitely worth the visit.

Cabot Creamery, Cabot, VT

 
 
 
 

From granite to cheese. Next stop was the Cabot Creamery in Cabot, Vermont. This tour which only charges a modest $2. starts with a video about the history of the Cabot Creamery. Afterwards there is a nice tour of the factory. At the end they are very generous in all the different types of cheeses and other products that you can sample. The sizes are small, but that is good because there are so many to try! (And we did!). Of course, we bought some too. This tour rates 5 yums!

Rock of Ages Quarry, Graniteville, VT

 
 
 

Our second day of vacation started with a tour of the Rock of Ages Quarry. We were shuttled by bus to the top of the quarry to look down the 600 feet into what they claim to be the world's largest quarry hole. We had an informative tour guide who explained the process. It is impressive to see the cut blocks and the depth of the quarry.

John Hampson's Bug Art

 
 
 
 

This was quite an unique display. The Fairbanks Museum hosts the complete collection of the nine Bug Art creations by John Hampson. Born in England in 1836, he came to America at the age of 26. He was a mechanical genius, inventor and entomologist. He worked in 13 different states and at one time worked with Thomas Edison. It is said he left that job when he learned that he had to milk a cow.

He ended up in Newark, NJ in the 1870's. He had a passion for collecting insects and saw the aesthetic potential of the many colors and shapes which led him to start creating bug art. Each one of these pictures is made up of 6,000-13,000 common insects, mostly butterflies and beetles, and took him years to complete each one painstakingly with pins and glue. He was a machinist by day and created these artworks in his spare time.

When you first look at these pictures, you don't think much of it, but when you look closely and realize those shiny things are beetles, the first reaction is "eeewww"!
Then you look again and you realize the years of work that had to go into each image. It is amazing. I feel sorry for the butterflies. Yes, I'm the type who wouldn't harm a fly and wish I could say, "no insects were harmed in the making of this artwork."

John Hampson collected and exchanged bugs with people from foreign countries amassing such a great collection that it is now at the Smithsonian. After his death, his daughter searched for a museum to take his artwork and found that the Fairbanks Museum would take it. It is said that people have travelled from all around to see this display--it's one of those things that makes one say, "And now I've seen everything."

An interesting antidote is that when he was 73 years old in December 1906, he fell from a trolley and tried to sue the North Jersey Street Railroad for $10,000 because he could no longer pursue his favorite hobby of butterfly and insect collecting. He claimed before the accident that he could travel 40-50 miles a day. And we thought outrageous lawsuits were new to our century!

Dog Chapel--Making it Personal

 
 
 

Now if you look closely at the walls of this chapel, you will see that people are encouraged to post pictures in memory of their beloved dogs. There are notes and pictures covering almost every inch. I knew about this ahead of time and came prepared with a picture of our dear friend, Patches. It was our honor to post his picture in this beautiful chapel. Stepen thought of everything--even a box of kleenex, which was needed. I encourage any dog lover to visit here. It is an amazing tribute to dogs and to a wonderful artist.

The Dog Chapel

 
 
 
 

These are pictures of the beautiful stained glass windows in the Dog Chapel designed by Stephen Huneck.

The Dog Chapel

 

 

 

 

This was a scheduled stop. I first heard about the Dog Chapel from one of my customers. She explained what it was and I knew it was a place that I would like to go. The Dog Chapel is on Dog Mountain. After artist Stephen Huneck recovered from a coma, he had this dream to make this chapel dedicated to dogs. The grounds are a place to walk dogs with ponds and trails--a heavenly place for dogs. The Chapel (where dogs are also welcome inside) is a tribute to beloved dogs who have passed on.
These are pictures of the outside. Next up...the beautiful inside.