Over the gap...

Friday morning saw us indulging in pancakes, bacon and maple syrup before driving over the steep mountain pass (Lincoln Gap). We descended on the other side and called in at Bristol which was a nice little town. Weather started to turn grey and cloudy( though still sit outside warm) with a few spots of rain as we drove along to Burlington. Sadly a rather below par Airbnb...and we are here 3 days. Also not in a very handy part of town (not like us to get that wrong).

Oh well...have to make the best of it ...but won't be giving a good review!

Mists and mellow fruitfulness...

The day started misty but beautiful. 

Most beautiful overnight motel stay near Manchester with fabulous views and lovely accommodation. We did a walk through the woods which was excellent (and no bears) before driving, via Vermont Country Store,  to the delightful Griff Inn for the following night.

Excellent flatbreads in lovely place either outdoor fireplace.

Onward and Upwards...

So today was a driving and stopping day. Travelling north into Vermont (much better road surfaces!). Travelling was fine..stopping less easy...too many times did the passengers see beautiful things, but too late for the driver to pull over, or there was nowhere to stop. We did back track to a lovely lake though. We have decided we should call out 'Photo' should we see anything we would like to stop for (rather than 'Stop') to avoid driver alarm!

Alarm was caused in the middle of the afternoon when suddenly claxons went off in the car...turned out to be a test of a state alarm system on our phones.  

We had coffee in a typical County Store in Bennington then followed a circular route on 'back' roads, some unmettalled. We found several vovered bridges and accidentally found beautiful gardens in the former governor's House. A teacher there was engaging children beautiful in an outdoor classroom. We sheltered from the sun, found a community garden growing veg for a food bank, a historic iron bridge saved from a scrap heap and brought here.

Another stop later in the day was alongside a reservoir, followed by a photo stop at an 'overlook' where T'Other One's  love of ice cream was satisfied. Trees are beautiful and just everywhere! Literally as far as the eye can see, also boulder strewn rivers...no doubt torrents when the snow melts in spring. Day ended in beautifully situated Manchester View Motel followed by dinner, much better quality and cheaper than the previous night's in Lennox.

Museums...

Breakfast was lots of ways to eat bread basically, though I did find a hard boiled egg! An extremely large lady decided she needed to show us a photo of how she had made her breakfast into a face (likebyou might for a child) ..bizarre. Disappointed tobsee that, despite huge amounts of car parkin space around the motel, somone had opened their car door into the side of ours leaving a considerable dent...more bother to be had with carhire people. 

Curly was very pleased when original plans for the holiday enabled us to visit the Norman Rockwell Collection. Curly has loved these illustrations since the days of working in Psalter Lane art library...they did not disappoint. As a nostalgic look back but also as a commentary on social issues. Shocked that Saturday Evening Post stipulated people of colour could only be shown in servile job roles...one of reasons Rockwell eventually broke from them. Interesting and sad video by with Ruby (black 6 year old girl famously escorted into a previously segregated school by police). The accuracy and attention to detail was tremendous.

We then drove 20 mins to Hancock Shaker Village (previously visited in 2008 by Curly & Shiny)..it was again amazing. Had lovely talks on Shaker's Music and Dance, the Barn and Medicinal plants. Watching the making of a steam bent box with the distinctive swallow tale joins was a highlight. 

Evening meal at a 'gastro pub' was disappointing for the price.

We can't understand why it seems to be the norm here to hand over your credit card to your server for them to take away to the machine to charge...we don't...something that stopped being done in UK 20+ years ago. Also you pay with your card, then are given your receipt and asked to select which level of tip...then sign that. Presumably they then enter that against your card. 

We move into the hills tomorrow.

Wheels...

Today we picked up our hire car...with Californian plates for some reason. Always a fraught experience...so many pitfalls and irritating extra charges.

Anyway we drove away, with only a slight detour when we took a wrong exit from the Boston tunnel and ended up in a concrete road section with all exits saying buses only ...it looked like a scene from a dystopian film after the apocalypse...fortunately we found a way to turn around and rejoin the highway. We drove through some lovely wooded hills and valleys, beautiful blue skies and very hot. We found a lovely lunch spot at Shelburne Falls, and a short stroll across the Flower Bridge...a converted old tram way (turned into a flowery walkway 100 years ago. Drove on to our Motel at Lennox for 2 nights..amid much grumbling about the frequency of speed limit changes from Shiny. A swim in the Motel was good, though our meal ended up being a microwaved one cooked in our rooms.

MIT and beyond

We caught the 'T' out to MIT on a glorious sunny morning. Campus is massive but so impressive. A mixture of old traditional and massive stone edifices along with some quirky odd buildings and more traditional modern ones, including a beautiful Chapel. From there we walked over the bridge across the Charles River and into Back Bay. One of the main roads was closed off and was full of street food, performers, restaurants and much general jollyness...fantastic atmosphere. From there we went to the massive public library building then back to pack. In the evening we went down to Boston Harbour (of tea fame) for a meal in Serafina's Italian restaurant followed by drinks on the rooftop bar of a nearby hotel...fabulous views.

Boston City Walking...

Walking around the Freedom Trail with a few diversions. Louise B Alcott's House, followed by a fabulous coffee/breakfast stop below a book shop. Seemed to be a known destination and well booked up, but we walked almost straight in, fabulous pear on sourdough toast with maple butter and fresh tarragon. A lovely park area with grown up swing seats, ridiculous  length of time finding somewhere to eat, ended up back close to home...where we all ate too much. Paul Revere's house visited. Grey day but no rain!