What better symbol of Vermont than a Ben & Jerry’s? While this is not the original – it was torn down long ago – this one is the flagship store in downtown Burlington. The factory is located a few miles east in Waterbury, but the store and visitor center are undergoing renovation and currently closed. We made do with this one. What flavor did we choose? New York Super Fudge Chunk – Chocolate Ice Cream with White & Dark Fudge Chunks, Pecans, Walnuts & Fudge-Covered Almonds!
Who knew there were so many kinds of flour? I guess I did, but seeing so many varieties in one place was fascinating. Kathy & I like bread, but like so many things, we like to eat it but are happy for others’ passion in baking it! But it was the first stop after we crossed into Vermont, so we stopped in, wandered around, took a few pictures and left. It was pretty busy, we didn’t have anything we wanted to take home, and knew that we would soon have other “souvenir” opportunities – in the afternoon we stopped and purchased at (a) a distillery, (b) a maple syrup and cheese farm, and (c) a maple syrup museum (who knew?).
We’re now in Vermont, but I wanted to post another photo of some of the small amounts of fall color we’ve been seeing. This is from a spot along SR 112 – before the official start of the Kancamagus Highway. We actually had (slightly) better conditions on the west side of the “Kanc” while the Highway itself was largely socked in with fog.
We visited Quoddy Head State Park today, location of the Quoddy Head Lighthouse as well as the Easternmost Point in the US. That gives us the two easiest of the four, along with Key West. The Northernmost and Westernmost Points are a bit more challenging. 😉
Naturalist/guide on our boat cruise: “You often see these V formations with one side longer than the other. You know why that is? More birds on that side.” 🙂
We got a little wet and a lot chilly on our ride around the Desert Island Narrows, but saw 4 more lighthouses (I’ve spared you the photos), some seals, some harbor porpoises, lots of birds and some beautiful clouds. The overcast skies made for some nice photo-friendly lighting. Something for everyone!
We took a harbor cruise out of Bar Harbor today – 4 more lighthouses! During the cruise our captain arranged (likely pre-arranged) to rendezvous with a lobsterman as he was tending his traps. We got to see him pull 6 out of his trap. Our guide told us that the solo lobsterman probably tended on average 150 traps a day. That’s a lot of lobster! There are lobster traps everywhere – every harbor is dotted with their buoys.
These guys will probably be on someone’s plate in the near future!
We’re off on another adventure today, but here is a quick shot from yesterday’s travels. Maine continues to impress and amaze!
Kathy and I joined several hundred of our closest friends this morning to be the first people in the US to see the sun. I took a bunch of photos and some of them turned out OK. But it was mostly about the experience of being there, and we were there. And yes, Kathy joined me in arising at 4am to make the trek to the top. She didn’t want to miss it any more than she wanted me to miss it. It was worth the effort, for sure! 😉
Reservations are required for sunrise, and they are limited. I managed to book mine months ago, and I was glad I did. In a perfect world I would have wished for a few clouds on the horizon. But it wasn’t too cold, it wasn’t raining, and we could actually see the sun. So it was as good as we might have hoped for!
We visited Marshall Point Lighthouse near Saint George, Maine this morning. As it turned out, there was a group of people doing a photo shoot for an upcoming LL Bean catalog. We stood around and watched for a while. It was quite interesting to see how much work goes into just one photo in a catalog or on a website. Beautiful location for a shoot, however! And the people were all very friendly. The guy in charge talked to us for a while and complimented me on my camera.
We visited Pemaquid Point Lighthouse by land today. It’s not nearly as imposing but still pretty. Kathy stated it well when she said “from the sea you understand the context and purpose of the lighthouse and why it is there. From the land it is more about the structure itself.”