It is August 2 and the car is now headed for the west. We did make a return visit to Ruth in Buffalo (Williamsville actually) when we left Ottawa as she had suffered accidental second degree burns to her right hand and was happy to have us stay with her from July 28 until today. Both Ron and I enjoyed our return visit with Ruth even though it was very hot and humid. Ruth has air conditioning and part of her treatment was rest so we all rested in front of the TV watching movies.
Before I begin our travels west I will send along the notes from our side trip from Ottawa to Connecticut.
Jean, Ron and I got off and running right after breakfast on Sunday July 15 and decided that we would cross to the States at Cornwall. It was an easy crossing with only 4 cars ahead of us. We travelled thru Northern New York to Lake Champlain and the Islands in Vermont. Lake Champlain is a huge lake being 120 miles long and 12 miles wide in some places. It is connected to Montreal and the Great Lakes by the Hudson River and the Champlain Canal. It was interesting to read in our tour book that in 1998 Lake Champlain briefly became the 6th Great Lake when Bill Clinton signed a Senate Bill reauthorizing the Sea Grant Programme but 2 months later the designation was rescinded. WE had our lunch on the Islands at North Hero—a delightful stop with a bakery, cafe, and craft shops right on the lake. It was interesting that the only washroom was a portapotty outside so Jean and I opted to wait for the next gas stop.
Once we left the Islands we travelled south on highway 7 with the Green Mountains to the East and the Adirondack Mountains to the west. Our next stop was Middlebury which is a typical New England college town with wonderful old homes and a beautiful campus that was established as early as 1800. We did take time to stretch our legs and wander on the campus—so many trees and beautiful buildings—even the new buildings are built to fit in with the old stone ones.
We carried on to Rutland which is the closest city to the ski area of Killington in the Green Mountains. We did find an excellent restaurant—Jean noticed the full parking lot and sure enough it was a fantastic seafood place—the Weathervane Seafood Restaurant. WE all enjoyed our seafood and left room for a Ben and Jerry’s for dessert. On our way back to the motel we discovered a concert in the Park—the oldest Municipal Band in America—the Rutland City Band was setting up for their Sunday concert. They have been in existence for 131 years. It was a beautiful evening to sit in the park and enjoy all the people as well as the music.
We opted to stay on Hwy. 7 as we proceeded south towards Connecticut. Our first morning stop was in Bennington which is a delightful village in southern Vermont. It is the site of the Battle of Bennington on August 16 1777—the Americans defeated the British. There was a monument built and completed in 1891 to commemorate this battle—it stands 306 feet high and is the tallest structure in Vermont. We did not go to the top but it is said that you can view 3 states from the observation level. The grounds were beautiful and we met a very informative woman who told us some of the history about the monument and also information on the area. The national Christmas Tree will come from Bennington this year. We did have to carry on, so missed the Michigan Fife and Drum Corp concert at noon. WE did however, take time to visit Bennington Potters which has created handmade pottery for more than 50 years. The store and potter’s yard are located on 41/2 acres of gardens and historic buildings. The gardens and the floral tubs were magnificent—we spent as much time admiring the gardens as we did inside the store.
Two hours later we were on the road again but stopped at a busy diner for our lunch. Again it was a good stop with homemade soups and delicious BLT’s. We had our tea and coffee break in Stockbridge which is in the Berkshires in Massachusetts. This was a beautiful town with many luxury summer homes that are still very well maintained. There were also many interesting shops that Jean and I explored briefly while Ron enjoyed his coffee and cookies (found at a little bakery on Main street). We drove pretty much non- stop from this break along hwy 7 until we got to Danbury Connecticut. We then followed the directions our friend Nancy had given us and we found her home in New Canaan without much difficulty.
We spent our time in New Canaan and Bridgeport visiting with our travelling friends and just had a wonderful time. We also got to meet the husbands of Troy, Nancy and Dorie. Lois drove all the way from New Jersey to join us for lunch on Dorie’s porch—it was like we were on the road just off the back of the bus. We did miss our 8th partner, Ken, and to be sure he was very much in all our minds as we remembered the special memories we had from those trips. Dorie’s husband Jack, summed it up nicely—he said it was a miracle that we met when we did and formed such a wonderful friendship. Jean and I spent an extra afternoon with Dorie playing in her sewing room—what a delightful haven it is—we do wish that we could live closer to Bridgeport and could join Dorie for an afternoon to just sit and sew or knit. Jean came home with some exciting new fabrics and I have some new sock wool to experiment with. We hated to say goodbye.
On our trip North we travelled in Connecticut along hwy 169 as far as Sturbridge Mass. We travelled thru beautiful agricultural areas and many very old towns established in the 1700’s. Our morning drive was delightful and we lunched again at a diner that had a pretty full parking lot. We were not so lucky with the weather in the afternoon as we found the rain. We decided to take the Interstate (91) and hopefully find a dry place to stop for the evening. We did a little detour and travelled over hwy. 302 to Littleton where we spent the night at Thayers Hotel. It is a 19th Century Hotel right on Main Street. It was a perfect place for us to spend the evening—no elevator so we did lug out bags up two flights of stairs but it had everything we needed and more—even breakfast in the morning. Almost next door there was a wonderful book shop that occupied our time for over an hour. We had dinner at the Littleton Diner and much to my disappointment the menu has changed and they no longer have grape nut pudding on the menu. I did ask and the chef who made it died 4 or 5 years ago and no one was able to duplicate the taste of the pudding so.......
The next morning found us on the road to St Johnsbury Vermont and then we took hwy 2 and 15 over to St. Albans. Ron needed coffee in Johnson and lo and behold, they had a woollen mill in town. What a wonderful place to shop—again an hour of our time looking and even some buying, especially by Jean. They had a wonderful selection of sweaters and shirts so we treated ourselves. As an extra special treat this woollen mill was celebrating it’s 165th anniversary so everything in the store was 20% off. In St. Albans we fed Ron and then found the JoAnn’s fabric store where both Jean and I did buy some fabric—we did restrain ourselves but could not leave behind the special pieces that we found. From there it was on to the border thru the rain again. Our morning part of the trip was in good weather but again in the afternoon we drove thru rain until we got to the outskirts of Ottawa. The border crossing was not busy (at Cornwall) going into Canada but they were lined up over the bridge going into the States. We found some fresh corn en route home so had a veggie feast for our dinner and then early to bed.
Ottawa survived without us and Jean’s black current berries were ripe for the picking.
Once we left the Islands we travelled south on highway 7 with the Green Mountains to the East and the Adirondack Mountains to the west. Our next stop was Middlebury which is a typical New England college town with wonderful old homes and a beautiful campus that was established as early as 1800. We did take time to stretch our legs and wander on the campus—so many trees and beautiful buildings—even the new buildings are built to fit in with the old stone ones.
We carried on to Rutland which is the closest city to the ski area of Killington in the Green Mountains. We did find an excellent restaurant—Jean noticed the full parking lot and sure enough it was a fantastic seafood place—the Weathervane Seafood Restaurant. WE all enjoyed our seafood and left room for a Ben and Jerry’s for dessert. On our way back to the motel we discovered a concert in the Park—the oldest Municipal Band in America—the Rutland City Band was setting up for their Sunday concert. They have been in existence for 131 years. It was a beautiful evening to sit in the park and enjoy all the people as well as the music.
We opted to stay on Hwy. 7 as we proceeded south towards Connecticut. Our first morning stop was in Bennington which is a delightful village in southern Vermont. It is the site of the Battle of Bennington on August 16 1777—the Americans defeated the British. There was a monument built and completed in 1891 to commemorate this battle—it stands 306 feet high and is the tallest structure in Vermont. We did not go to the top but it is said that you can view 3 states from the observation level. The grounds were beautiful and we met a very informative woman who told us some of the history about the monument and also information on the area. The national Christmas Tree will come from Bennington this year. We did have to carry on, so missed the Michigan Fife and Drum Corp concert at noon. WE did however, take time to visit Bennington Potters which has created handmade pottery for more than 50 years. The store and potter’s yard are located on 41/2 acres of gardens and historic buildings. The gardens and the floral tubs were magnificent—we spent as much time admiring the gardens as we did inside the store.
Two hours later we were on the road again but stopped at a busy diner for our lunch. Again it was a good stop with homemade soups and delicious BLT’s. We had our tea and coffee break in Stockbridge which is in the Berkshires in Massachusetts. This was a beautiful town with many luxury summer homes that are still very well maintained. There were also many interesting shops that Jean and I explored briefly while Ron enjoyed his coffee and cookies (found at a little bakery on Main street). We drove pretty much non- stop from this break along hwy 7 until we got to Danbury Connecticut. We then followed the directions our friend Nancy had given us and we found her home in New Canaan without much difficulty.
We spent our time in New Canaan and Bridgeport visiting with our travelling friends and just had a wonderful time. We also got to meet the husbands of Troy, Nancy and Dorie. Lois drove all the way from New Jersey to join us for lunch on Dorie’s porch—it was like we were on the road just off the back of the bus. We did miss our 8th partner, Ken, and to be sure he was very much in all our minds as we remembered the special memories we had from those trips. Dorie’s husband Jack, summed it up nicely—he said it was a miracle that we met when we did and formed such a wonderful friendship. Jean and I spent an extra afternoon with Dorie playing in her sewing room—what a delightful haven it is—we do wish that we could live closer to Bridgeport and could join Dorie for an afternoon to just sit and sew or knit. Jean came home with some exciting new fabrics and I have some new sock wool to experiment with. We hated to say goodbye.
On our trip North we travelled in Connecticut along hwy 169 as far as Sturbridge Mass. We travelled thru beautiful agricultural areas and many very old towns established in the 1700’s. Our morning drive was delightful and we lunched again at a diner that had a pretty full parking lot. We were not so lucky with the weather in the afternoon as we found the rain. We decided to take the Interstate (91) and hopefully find a dry place to stop for the evening. We did a little detour and travelled over hwy. 302 to Littleton where we spent the night at Thayers Hotel. It is a 19th Century Hotel right on Main Street. It was a perfect place for us to spend the evening—no elevator so we did lug out bags up two flights of stairs but it had everything we needed and more—even breakfast in the morning. Almost next door there was a wonderful book shop that occupied our time for over an hour. We had dinner at the Littleton Diner and much to my disappointment the menu has changed and they no longer have grape nut pudding on the menu. I did ask and the chef who made it died 4 or 5 years ago and no one was able to duplicate the taste of the pudding so.......
The next morning found us on the road to St Johnsbury Vermont and then we took hwy 2 and 15 over to St. Albans. Ron needed coffee in Johnson and lo and behold, they had a woollen mill in town. What a wonderful place to shop—again an hour of our time looking and even some buying, especially by Jean. They had a wonderful selection of sweaters and shirts so we treated ourselves. As an extra special treat this woollen mill was celebrating it’s 165th anniversary so everything in the store was 20% off. In St. Albans we fed Ron and then found the JoAnn’s fabric store where both Jean and I did buy some fabric—we did restrain ourselves but could not leave behind the special pieces that we found. From there it was on to the border thru the rain again. Our morning part of the trip was in good weather but again in the afternoon we drove thru rain until we got to the outskirts of Ottawa. The border crossing was not busy (at Cornwall) going into Canada but they were lined up over the bridge going into the States. We found some fresh corn en route home so had a veggie feast for our dinner and then early to bed.
Ottawa survived without us and Jean’s black current berries were ripe for the picking.
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