Tourist in Vermont

We wanted to spend a couple of days in Burlington because there were so many cool things to see and do.  This was a good idea, but it may not have been quite enough time!  On Tuesday morning we drove into the center of the city to the waterfront park.  It was such a beautiful morning - warm and sunny - and we know there are not many more days like this before cold weather strikes.  We walked along the boardwalk and watched the birds and the boats and the other walkers.  We had arrived early - before noon - and found a good parking place and it was not busy yet.  We commented on the boats and the apartments that were right on the waterfront park with great views of the water.  That was the place to live!  We took pictures and sat in the bench swings along the boardwalk and just enjoyed the place.

But we had places to go.  We went to the visitor center for Shelburne Farms next.  They make great cheddar - one of my favorites.  So we sampled the various cheddars: one, two, three and four year aged - all awesome.  We also sampled mustards.  Dennis persuaded me that we should not buy cheddar because it would be too hard to ensure it's quality while we were travelling.  I will order some online! Then we went down the road a bit to the Shelburne Museum.

I don't think most of us spend three hours walking three miles in most museums.  This was a great experience.  Electra Havemeyer Webb founded the museum as a way to collect and preserve art and history.  She favored Americana and recognized the value of collecting items that were not viewed as "art" but that were distinctively American.  She was prescient when it came to valuing various collectibles such as cigar store Indian sculptures, duck and avian decoys and Impressionist paintings.

The reason why it took us three hours (and three miles) is that she brought buildings to the "museum" and restored them to house various collections.  For example, she bought the Dorset House and brought it to the museum property specifically to house her collection of over 1200 duck decoys.

Dorset House 

 

The docent at the Dorset House loved his job and talked about all of the duck decoys on the first floor and the second floor.  I went up to second floor to see the displays - but really, I went up there to see the layout of this beautiful house.  it is a beautiful building.  The decoys were cool, too.

 

Electra brought many unusual items to the grounds - 39 building in all!  She even collected the Ticonderoga - a paddle wheel steam ship.

 

 

I volunteered to photograph a young family so they could all be in the picture and they, in turn, photographed us so you can see that Dennis is, indeed, on this trip with me.

 

Before we walked around the grounds and tired ourselves out, we went though the building with current art displays.  One display was called Playing Cowboys, and it was a display about Buffalo Bill Cody and how his popularity influenced the American image of cowboys (good guys, saviors) and indians (savages).  It was fascinating and disheartening and a true example of how we are so influenced by media and "product" promotion.  The second display was of paintings and photographs from contemporary artists portraying New England and how it is changing - giving up its agricultural past and morphing into the "modern" world.  The images were stark, haunting, ugly, beautiful and absolutely riveting.  One picture brought me to tears.  My reaction was so surprising to me.  I had to walk away from the painting and wait for other people to leave before I went back to study it and try to identify my emotions and their trigger.  This huge, diverse museum was a fairly expensive adventure - $46 for both of us - and worth every penny.  The ticket is a two-day ticket in recognition of the fact that you cannot see the whole thing in just one day.  Vermont residents only pay $15 per person.  Their admission is underwritten by a benefactor.  If I lived in Vermont I would be a member and go regularly.

 

After that awesome adventure, we were thirsty and drove down the road to Shelburne Winery. The latitude of this area in Vermont is 44.38 degrees - very similar to the latitude of Leelanau County wine country, so we were optimistic about finding good wine.  Our optimism was justified.  We sampled wines, mostly white with two good rose wines.  After the tasting, we bought a glass of wine each and went out to the covered seating area where we joined two other couples who had tasted wines.  As we walked out to sit down, we heard one of them say "but that's not how we are.  We find people are good and reasonable everywhere we go."  Dennis and I joined right in to the conversation and the six of us had  a great time talking about the world and the country and health and education.  It was great fun.  One couple, Joann and David, said that we should come and stay with them if we visit Washington DC.  Since that is on our traveling list, we agreed that it would be great to have someone to stay with and tour the city with.  We exchanged contact information and agreed to stay in touch.  This is one of the things we love about traveling.

Today and tomorrow are travel days with short stops in many places.  I'll post a travelogue with highlights tomorrow!