Tuesday, May 10

We went on a little jaunt to see 3 covered bridges that Vermont is famous for...they are quite cool. This one is called the Silk Bridge. Can you tell it was a beautiful morning in Bennington?

Insides are interesting.

A different one...the Henry Bridge. Also saw the Paper Mill Bridge.

Bennington Battlefield Monument.

Famous first old church in Bennington...First Congregational. There were lots of churches of this faith in New England...that's the church I attended as a child.

Grave stone marking the burial plot of Robert Frost. You can't tell from this angle, but the dark splotches are actually pennies standing on end in the engraving.

Spring blossoms in Vermont.

Robert Frost lived and wrote poetry here.

Cow Moose. There were quite a few of these fiberglass moose painted in very creative ways all around town...like the buffalo in Davis County or salmon in Anchorage.

Here is an interior shot of the cheese factory we got to visit...cheese molds. We got a personalized tour since we were the only tourists there. The guide was full of fun facts and information. Crowley Family Cheese has won awards, mainly for Colby Cheese, particularly sage flavored. They still it all by hand. We brought home some wax-covered bricks of sage and muffalata (yeah!--the green olive spread we've enjoyed on Po' Boy sandwiches in New Orleans.)

This is the factory from the outside.

We ate a very tasty lunch here at the Bridgewater Corners Country Store (old-fashioned with old wooden floors.) We had home-made ham and cheese. Oh, I'd like another one right now.

Another covered bridge seen while driving along.

Old farm/barn. There were so many old buildings that added to the charm of the countryside.

We visited Sharon, Vermont.

They have a full-blown visitors center complete with a missionary couple to show you the grounds and tell you the stories.

The actual doorstep from the Smith home.

The monument.

The original hearthstone, inside the visitors center.

Next it was on to Waterbury and the Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Factory!

Goofing off...there's Ben and Jerry.

Oh, yeah.

Flavor Graveyard. They had signs/headstones for many of their "retired" flavors of ice cream. Baron, we did ask about Wavy Gravy and were told it went away because the price of nuts rose too high to make a profit. The guide also said a few of the old flavors would probably be coming back this summer. We can hope.

We got to watch the intriguing process and sample the flavor being packaged that day...Americone Dream...vanilla with chocolate coated cone pieces and caramel swirls. Delish.
One of their secrets is to immediately freeze the cartons to -90 degrees.

Goodbye, cows.

Yes, we bought some pure Vermont maple syrup.

Beautiful farm.