A Whirlwind Tour of New England

And only bits of it, at that. I'd like to go back at and take a more leisurely pace through Boston, at least.

Our original reason for going was the annual meeting of the American Milking Devon Association, held annually in Tunbridge, Vermont. Tunbridge is a delightful town. We met in the Town Hall, next to the church.




After leaving the meeting in Tunbridge, we stopped at the birthplace of Joseph Smith (paging Carrie!) and visited the monument there.



At the bottom of the hill, we stopped at Dixie's. I believe there were eight tables inside, they only took cash, and they had the best turnovers I have ever eaten. Which cost $1.25. It is good Dixie's is not nearby, or I fear I would develop an addiction to her raspberry turnovers. Yum.



Continuing our (completely unintended) religious education theme for the day, we stopped at the Enfield Shaker Museum. Our guide was pretty funny, and tried to draw us into a discussion of national and local politics. Having no knowledge about the latter and being pretty tired of the former, we politely declined. In fact, I believe we played dumb, which is a more useful tool than you might believe.



The next morning, after church, we drove to Walden Pond, and saw a replica of Thoreau's house, and the pond itself. I was most struck by how quickly I could clean that house, leaving plenty of time for knitting. Of course, I'm not sure my yarn stash would fit. Or I'd have to choose between Paul and the yarn. So probably moving is not a good idea.




Sunday evening, we arrived outside of Boston, and the next morning we went on a whirlwind tour of the city. We saw the harbor



and the aquarium



and the Old Burying Ground



where Sam Adams is buried



and then a swan napping on the Boston Common.



We left the next morning, after deciding that the 12 hour trip home would be better split into two days. We stayed overnight in Seneca Falls, New York. (Thank goodness there was one hotel room left. One. We didn't have a reservation, and ended up in the handicapped access room, which is the same except more room between things and a very large shower. In fact, we liked it a lot.)

After breakfast in Seneca Falls, I realized that one of my favorite yarn dyers is in the Finger Lakes region. I couldn't remember exactly where, but I thought if we were really close, I'd never forgive myself for not trying. Figuring we were probably a couple of hours away, I decided to give it a shot anyway. A friend at home found their phone number on their website (thanks, Big Daddy!), and I called. We were only 15 minutes away. I was very excited, and Paul was very tolerant. :)

Here's a picture of one of the stockrooms at Schaefer Yarn. I nearly had the vapors.



The company operates out of an older yellow farmhouse, and I was able to watch some of the employees dipping yarn, and hand-painting yarn. I was asked not to take any pictures of the process, so I can't share any here. Lovely, friendly employees. I enjoyed myself very much.

We drove back to Seneca Falls later that morning, and went through the national park for women's rights. Here's a picture of me next to a likeness of Sojourner Truth.



If you've never read her famous "Ain't I a Woman?" speech, delivered in Akron, Ohio, you should go do that right now. (That's a link, for your convenience.)

That's about it. Hope you enjoy the pictures. I'm off to bake cornbread and chocolate chip blondies, and then take a nap.

P.S. Picturs? Ain't I an editor? Thank goodness for the edit function.