Vermont - the Green Mountain state

Hello, Vermont. We are here.

We walk the historic district of Brattleboro which sits 10 miles north of the Massachusetts border and right on the New Hampshire border. Settled in the early 1700's many of the buildings date back to the 1800's.

Our stop before morning tea is a covered bridge. The first for the day!

Creamery covered bridge

We then climb the Green Mountains to the highest point, Hogback Mountain, where you can see 3 states.

We have now basically driven across the state of Vermont, as we are only 7 miles to the New York border (yes, Vermont is not a very wide state at the southern end) and at the town of Bennington. This town has a memorial for the Revolutionary War, the Battle of Bennington in 1777, where the US militia beat up the British and German armies.The monument is a 93 m stone obelisk which has had an elevator put inside so that people can travel 2/3 of the way up to see the view. The General for the US at the battle, was John Stark, who now points the way to the Gift Shop!

Monument

John Stark

Also in Bennington is the first church in Vermont, dedicated in 1762. Parishioners each had a family box while boys and girls (older than 13) and unmarried men and women sat upstairs on opposite sides of the building.

The Art Museum in Bennington has a Covered Bridge Museum, the first in the country. It was very interesting to learn about the different types of building and the real reason the bridges were covered. They were covered so that the wood of the bridge would not rot in such damp conditions. They actually put snow inside the bridge on occasions so as to allow the sled to cross easily!

Models of bridges

They had painted moose outside the building.

After leaving Bennington, we head north and see 5 more covered bridges along the way. We are overnighting in the historic village of Manchester which we will explore tomorrow.

Our day was overcast but it did not start to rain until we were settled in our motel. More fun tomorrow!