voss adventures: Vermont, Maine, and New Hampshire

During our weekends off work in August, we took some short trips. The first weekend, we took off to see the northwest of Vermont. There we stopped at Ben and Jerry’s original factory and took a tour.

The 100 year centennial celebration of the Round Church in Richmond caught my eye, so we stopped there. The postcards I got at B&J’s got a special commemorative hand stamped postmark from the post office. But the kicker is, it needed a stamp to get the postmark, but if we mailed them, it would be smeared going through the “real” postmark machine. When they sent them back to me, I put them in envelopes to send to the grands.

The Trapp family lodge, (yes, from the Sound of Music!) was a beautiful site, with fantastic views. When the family arrived in the United States, they toured and sang to earn money. After three years, they were able to find and purchase this property. It reminded them of Austria. There were pictures showing the daughters helping mix the cement for the foundation. Tours are held in the morning, but we were there to late, most of the time with descendants of the family for guides. We chose not to stay there since it was quite pricy!! (I did consider it though.)

We ate at the deli restaurant there. It would have been nice to be able to eat on the porch, but it was raining. We still enjoyed the view!

A most unique museum, that took us a day and a half to see, was another highlight.

The Shelburne Museum was started by a wealthy woman who loved collecting.... mostly Americana. With 45 acres and 38 buildings, she was able to share what she collected. Her first collectable was a cigar store Indian statue. There was a barn full of sleds, a lighthouse, and her largest purchase, a steam boat, the Ticonderanda. It took two years and $250,000 to move it two miles.

She had a circus collection, with the functioning merry-go-round, which we both enjoyed riding!

Original posters, some of which were taken from old buildings at immense time and expense!

Hand carved, full scale, restored circus animals from around the world

and 525 feet of miniature, hand carved (extremely detailed), circus parade, including 70 car circus train with people and animals. A full scale would be a 2.5 mile parade. Plus much more!!! She had a special corridored building was built just for this display.

A home with original stenciling was unique.

hundreds of wagons

housed in a special wagon barn

“The Locomotive of the Presidents” that was used on special trains to carry Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover, Franklin D. Roosevelt, And Dwight D. Eisenhower

And several buildings with many small items... from dolls, to glass canes, trivets and even hat boxes! There was literally a little bit of everything! Too much to post!! Check out the link at Shelburne Museum

The next weekend, we did day trips. The first was up into Maine, where we stopped at York, a quaint seaside town.

We drove along the coast,

had a lobster lunch across from the Cape Neddick Lighthouse,

then continued up the coastline to Kennebunkport.

There are some beautiful homes there,

Including President Bush family retreat! I did not realize it had been in the family for 5 generations.

We were surprised we could see it from the road!

Another day, we took off to the west of camp, passing through some small towns. Our destination was not reached; but like life, the fun is the journey!

Franklin, NH, caught our eye with the park across from the old train trusses,

and many large brick buildings, former factories.

It also had an old water powered turbine in town producing 750 kilowatts.

When we came around a curve and saw the Shaker Village in Enfield, we had to stop to check out the museum there.

We needed to hear the story about this Shaker village that had a Gothic church with stained class windows and plenty of imported marble in several different colors inside! When the Shakers left, they sold the property to La Salette Catholics. They built the church with a donation from one lady.

Across the street, there was a La Salette Shrine, with the stations of the cross,