Trip to Vermont

This July 4th Weekend my husband and I took a trip up to Vermont.  I was excited to see the green mountains, breathe in the fresh air and see the sights. 

We stopped at Hildene, in Manchester.  It is the home to the Lincoln family and was built by President Lincoln's son, Robert.  It has a restored home and gardens which overlook a meadow and beautiful mountains.  There are house tours, where the history of the Lincoln descendants is discussed.  The best part of the entire tour is an exhibit on the second floor where they are highlighting Lincoln's second inaugural address.  In that room, there is a mirror which was int eh White House the day Lincoln was assassinated as well as one of three remaining top hats.  To see the mirror and hat, and to know that he could have seen himself for the last time in that mirror is chilling.  The garden is designed to be seen from the upstairs bedroom and to resemble a stained glass window.  I highly recommend stopping at Hildene, even just to see the hat.

Here are some photos of Hildene's grounds and home:

We also visited the Billings-March Farm in Woodstock.  It is a working farm which raises dairy cows, chickens and sheep.  This farm has been continuously running since the early 1800s.  The farm house is still standing and it open for tours.  The farm is committed to education and has tours of the barns and exhibits which explain the history of the farm and the present day uses.  You can even go into the cow nursery and see the babies.  The farm was once part of a larger land holding which has been divided and the northerly portion is now owned by the National Park Service and there you can hike the trails and ski there in the winter.  If you are in Woodstock, do not miss this piece of history.

We also visited Lake Champlain up in Burlington, home to the University of Vermont.  We took a boat tour on the Spirit of Ethan Allen III and had a beautiful narrated tour.  The Church Street Marketplace was buzzing and we ate lunch at one of the restaurants serving outside.  We also went to a Farmers Market at City Hall where all local produce, meats, dairy and wares were being sold.  It is a great town and you should stop by if you are in the area.

We also went to Quechee Village.  There is an antique mall there but my favorite part was the Cabot Store.  We bought many different varieties of Cabot cheese because it was local and many varieties are not available here.  We had a cooler and were able to bring the local cheese home with us.  If you like things that are not available to in your locale, bring a cooler with you when you travel and bring them back with you.  We also bought local fruit wine from Putney Winery.  This is also a local winery in Vermont that sell wine made from local fruit, instead of grapes,  I bought a Rhubarb wine and a Cranberry wine.  The Cranberry wine is going to be served with my Thanksgiving dinner this year.  The winery had tastings available so we tasted 5 wines and bought 2.  This was a great way to see Vermont - through our taste buds.  Also at the Village is the Farmer's Diner.  They serve up great food made from all local ingredients.  It is praised in Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver.  If you are in the Quechee area, stop in here.

On the way to Burlington, we stopped in Waterbury to the Ben and Jerry's Factory.  We had a great tour, free ice cream samples and saw the flavor graveyard, where unsuccessful flavors are laid to rest.  They use local dairy and the farmers are prohibited from using hormones.  We also learned that when the company went public, it only sold its shares to Vermont residents.  Talk about a local company.  They have a playground outside for the kids as well as shirt tie dying, brick oven pizza and a picnic area.  They are a great company that gives back to its community and it much what Homemade on Long Island strives for - supporting your local farmers, communities and friends to help build and maintain what is great right outside your back door.

We also visited the King Arthur Flour Store.  This is the longest operating flour company in the US.  Since flour is not locally made here on Long Island, I was excited to be able to buy some flour right from the source and bring it home myself.  They have many different types of flour in their store and many things you cannot get here on Long Island.  I bought several items to bring home , including a dog biscuit mix.  One of my followers has asked for me to post about dog biscuits, so check back soon to see them.

Overall,. we had a great trip and I cannot wait to go back to see the leaves changes and the Wassail Festival in Woodstock at Christmas time.