Cabot is kind of in the middle of nowhere. It is a teeny town/village with one landmark company - Cabot Creamery, maker of one of the finest cheddar cheeses in the world (and this is not just my opinion). The creamery was founded in 1919 when a group of dairy farmers joined together to form a cooperative. They started by just making butter. The cooperative and the company have grown tremendously. They process over one million gallons of milk a day in Cabot - there are three other processing areas, too.
We watched a video about the cheese production. They no longer do tours because of health and safety concerns. I am disappointed that I cannot see the cheese being made, but I get the food safety issues. After the video Dennis and I wandered around the gift shop area and managed to sample all of the cheeses. Delicious fun! We left the creamery and retraced our route to I89 to drive to Rutland VT. Along the way we stopped to take pictures of a couple of covered bridges. Vermont has more than 120 covered bridges and many are quite photogenic.
Martin Bridge
Coburn Bridge - still in use
We continued our journey toward Rutland on one of my many "alternate routes." What fun would it be to just travel on interstate highways? Despite our misgivings upon seeing it for the first time, we visited the local Norman Rockwell Museum. This is NOT the one in Stockbridge MA! It is housed in an old building that is being sold and has not been really well maintained. But the folks who run it, clearly loved their subject. The displays of Rockwell prints are arranged in chronological order - he began his career as an illustrator in his teens and continued to work until he was in his eighties. I loved seeing the progression of his work, especially how it became more detailed and almost photographic. He used humor in many prints and his ability to evoke emotion in the viewer is amazing. Some of his work was in advertising. He exemplified the ability of advertisers to instill in their viewers the "need" for the product. We were glad we stopped by this place.
Rutland is a lively town but had a much more blue-collar feel to it. However, we did find a brew pub that had some delightful brews and really great wood-fired pizza - the real surprise was the salad! A lot of places do a sketchy job with salad - it's an afterthought - but not at Hop'n Moose. The greens and veggies were fresh and beautifully arranged. The pizza was so good that we took the leftovers back to the hotel and ate pizza for breakfast this morning.
We drove across Vermont and into New Hampshire, stopping for a new map. We discovered that some states do a better job with road signage than others. Vermont, for example, does a great job; New Hampshire - not so much. When we reached Portsmouth, we had our real challenge. They were working on several roads with lane closures everywhere! And Portsmouth was jammed with visitors and tourists! We traveled in circles, but finally found our way around - not pun intended.
We reserved a motel room on the seashore in Rye NH. But, before we went to check in, we visited the Odiorne State Park and the Seacoast Science Center. The park is on the ocean with stunning vistas and walking paths and some historical displays. The science center was fun and interesting. The anemones were waving at me, so I waved back. It was a very enjoyable stop.
The motel we booked is called Pebble Cove and it is terrific. It is small and old fashioned. The room is neat and clean with a seaside cottage vibe and includes a kitchenette. Normally that would really delight me since I have not cooked a meal in a week (!), but I really came here for lobster, so we're going out to dinner. Maybe I'll content myself with breakfast preparation.
We're headed back to Vermont tomorrow to visit Bennington and it's famous pottery.
No comments:
Post a Comment