When In Vermont....

What do you do in Vermont? 

The first thing you do is make sure you have a blanket because it was chilly this morning.  BOL!

Then be prepared to make some tough decisions.  Just look at what they do to confuse their dogs here:

Seriously, when you are in Vermont, you have to buy maple syrup.  The folks drove out to a place where they make their own syrup. They sell cheese, sausage, jellies and syrup. 

A huge syrup jug is on their front porch.

Mom bought some, of course.

 They bought me a biscuit, but Dad said it is a souvenir and I am supposed to save it. Stay tuned!

They then ate lunch at a place that they had a gift card for so their lunch was free. They have enough left on the gift card to go back again.

They sat outside to eat. 

 The restaurant is in an area where there are just restaurants and shops .

After lunch, they took a tour at Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream. The folks have never had Ben & Jerry's before.

The tour is $4 a person and at the end of the tour, you are given about a half of a scoop of ice cream as a sample.  The folks went ahead and bought a scoop of the maple walnut ice cream that is only served at that location.  It was almost $5. The tour wasn't anything exciting.  They did see ice cream being made, but they just stood in one room and looked down from the platform.  Many of the visitors were rude. They pushed and shoved.  They wanted their ice cream sample. 

There is a graveyard for all the ice cream flavors that have been buried.

I received another souvenir.  Mom is going to give it to me when Dad is not around.  Shhhh!

There are several people from our Escapees Club that are here at our campground as we are just a few miles from were our rally is being held.

Our site.

Me this morning.  I know I look the same in all my outdoor photos, but you have to trust me, this is from this morning after it warmed up. 

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Is Resting Before His Next Walk

Vanderbilt Mansion and Val-Kill

Today the folks toured Vanderbilt Mansion and Val-Kill (Eleanor Roosevelt's home).

Vanderbilt Mansion was built in 1895.  Here is a link if you want to learn the history.  Vanderbilt Mansion

Following are pictures of the mansion.  The outside is undergoing renovations.

Reception Hall

Reception Hall

Dining Room

One of the upstairs bedrooms

Owners bedroom.  His wife had her own room.

Wife's bedroom

Guest room

The men and women in upper class had separate rooms.  The ones who were not of the highest status, shared a room but had separate beds.

The house does not have air conditioning, so it was hot today at 10 a.m.  It was a hot day, so it probably got a lot worse as the day went on.  The tour is $10 a person.

Mom said the house has beautiful woodwork, but the furnishings were definitely not to her liking.

After the tour, they drove to Val-Kill which was Eleanor's Roosevelt's home.

The tour for Val-Kill is $10 but if you pay for two of the three National Park Service homes here, you get one free, so this one was free for them since they toured FDR's home and Vanderbilt Mansion.

Eleanor's Home

Stone Cottage was the first building here.  Two of Eleanor's friends and business partners lived here.  Eleanor stayed here as a getaway until her home was built.

Val-Kill Industries was also here.  It was a business that Eleanor and her friends created.  It trained out of work rural residents in traditional crafts such as furniture.

After Eleanor died, the place was turned into apartments. Her children took what they wanted of the furnishings and then auctioned off the rest.  Eventually, the National Park Service took over the property.  They then sent out word that they would like the pieces back that were sold.  The family returned many of the items and people continue to bring back items so that the house can be as she left it.  There are pictures that have not been returned yet, so instead of just putting anything on the wall, there are blank spots where the missing photos belong.
 
This group of photos was her secretary's apartment.

Since the tour group was only five people, they were allowed to go up to the second floor and see the bedrooms.  

Spare room

This is her bedroom.

She liked the housekeeper to put the clean linens on her bed so that she knew what she had for guests.

She loved using her screened in porch as her bedroom.
 

Now, we are going back to the main floor.

Front door

Dining room.  Casual dishes were her style.  Card tables were brought out for family gatherings so that everyone had a place to eat.

This was her living room.

See the chair behind the lamp?  JFK sat there asking her to back him for President.

 The President spent a lot of time entertaining here, but never spent the night.  The bedrooms were upstairs and  his wheelchair was a problem. She stayed here when he was out of town.  When he died, she moved here.  However, she was a woman on the go and never stayed home more than ten days in a row.

She was quite an inspiring woman.  She had a bad childhood and was very shy. She went away to school and that shaped her into a confident woman.  She was a dutiful wife until she found out FDR had a mistress. She then became her own person.  She worked hard for civil rights.  It is said that the Ku Klux Klan put a hit out on her and the secret service told her not to attend a rally. They said they could not protect her. She chose to drive up a mountain road in the dark without protection to attend the rally.  She definitely was not that scared little girl anymore.  

Creek by the house. This is where her family spent a lot of time.

There are tennis courts which need repair and a pool that FDR used quite often for therapy.  This is where he went  to relax.

The park ranger said he has met several of the grandchildren who have come back to visit.  They said it was a place that the family really enjoyed.

If you want to learn more about this inspiring woman, here is a link: Eleanor Roosevelt.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Is Resting For His Next Leg Of The Trip