Cousin Eddie moved west and spent a night in the driveway of friends, Robbie and John Stanley. We have known Robbie through her visits to Mt. Dora over these years to visit her parents (George and Barbara Pearson) and sister’s family (Rose, Juan, and Luca Cardenas.)
Robbie and her family live on the eastern shore of Lake Champlain in a small town called Charlotte—-quaint town and simply beautiful lake—–up to 9 miles wide and over 100 miles long. Look at the size of it from the map. Also, the dotted line down the middle of the lake is the New York/ Vermont border.
Robbie was a wonderful tour guide and host for cousin Eddie. We had to take in a Vermont favorite—creemies (soft ice cream). A favorite here in Vermont is maple creamies, made from Vermont maple syrup.
Robbie took us to the nearby Shelburne Museum. This is a very unique museum that covers 45 acres and has a total of 38 exhibition buildings, of which 25 are historic buildings that were moved to the museum from nearby locations. The museum was founded in 1947 by Electra Hevemeyer Webb. Ms Webb was one of the first people to recognize that the applied and decorative arts of rural America were of value as collectable. She started moving historic buildings to her museum to showcase and house her collectable items in an authentic manner. It is truly a showcase of the rural American way of life. One of my favorite buildings of interest was an old apothecary (pharmacy). This case was full of medicines and remedies that were at least 100 years old. I had a good time reading many of these labels.
This caught my eye.
I also enjoyed this advertisement on the wall. Notice the prices.
Here are some of the buildings on the property.
They have a rare two lane covered bridge built in 1845. Notice the walking path on this bridge. It was used on the nearby Lamoille river for over 100 years.
I loved these signs on this bridge.
This barn is called the horseshoe “barn.”
This round barn is my favorite building. It reminds me of the octagonal two story threshing barn that George Washington designed and built at Mt Vernon.
This museum has the most amazing collection of old carriages and sleds that you can imagine. Here are a few of my favorites.
This first one is called a conestoga wagon. This wagon is one of a few remaining ones in existence, built in 1834. These wagons were built by German immigrants in the Lancaster, PA area from about 1750 until the railroad took over in 1850. They could hold up to 5 tons of cargo. They were the primary means of carrying heavy loads during this time.
A smaller version was used by settlers moving west—-called a prairie schooner or covered wagon.
Guess what this next one is.
This is a sled used to pick up school kids and take them to school.
NYC taxi
NYC street food wagon called a pop corn wagon. It really does look like a pop corn popper!
Authentic stage coach
The museum moved a huge steamship here that was used on Lake Champlain for over 50 years. This unique ship was used as a ferry but you could eat great meals here and could even spend the night in a few state rooms. It has a huge part in the history of Lake Champlain. The museum saved it from destruction by purchasing it and moving it over land for about 2 miles to get it here. It is named the Ticonderoga.
This is the elegant dining room
The next morning, Robbie and her husband, John, took us to Shelburne Farms. This is a 3800 acre estate and farm that was established by Dr William Webb and his wife Eliza Vanderbilt Webb. They were the parents of Electra Webb who established Shelburne Museum. This farm was intended to be a model agricultural farm —– doing everything in an exceptional manner. The mansion on this estate is now open as an inn and the farm is a non-profit educational organization. We ate breakfast at the dining room in the inn.
The inn is situated on the shore of Lake Champlain. This is the view from the gardens behind the home/inn.
This is a view of lake side of the home/inn.
Shelburne Farms runs a dairy that has a totally grass fed herd of 125 registered Brown Swiss cows. You can purchase cheese products that come from this dairy herd.
Check out this beautiful barn on the estate property. It is used for one of several educational purposes.
One interesting thing about Vermont that I had not noticed in other states. We noticed several farmers who use their land to install acres of solar panels and sell the power to the power company. Here are a couple that we saw.
One afternoon, Robbie took us to the nearby town of Middlebury, home of Middlebury College. John and one of their sons graduated from Middlebury.
Middlebury is one of the oldest liberal arts colleges in the US, founded in 1800. It has a beautiful 350 acre campus that is laid out with a series of open spaces and quads. Also, the campus buildings are built with very attractive granite, marble and limestone.
Lastly, I will close with this beautiful Vermont farm scene. This fertile farm valley with the mountains in the background—- it doesn’t get much prettier than this!
Thank you Robbie and John for letting cousin Eddie park overnight. Off to New York!
thompsonsonthego 