Our timing was perfect and we joined the 10:30 tour as it was leaving. With funky headphones on in order to hear our tour guide over the factory noise, we walked for an hour within mere inches of the production areas and saw everything except the spraying of the finish.
was closed, so we missed out. Neither Bec nor I are guitar players, so that wasn't the reason for our visit. It was because of the long and successful production of an outstanding guitar and witnessing the craftsmanship up close. Our timing was perfect and we joined the 10:30 tour as it was leaving. With funky headphones on in order to hear our tour guide over the factory noise, we walked for an hour within mere inches of the production areas and saw everything except the spraying of the finish. We were surprised at how the rim assembly took place! Clothespins are used to hold trim pieces together as they dry. At this point in the construction, the top, back, and side pieces start coming together. The neck will be added and custom work begins. The further we moved along between the painted lines on the floor, the more complete the guitars were becoming. Next up we saw the binding and necks being readied. The last few areas of our tour included hand-sanding of edges before the assembled guitars were sent off to be sanded by machines and the finishes were applied. They came back on the floor and we saw them being buffed by big robotic arms. One of the most fascinating areas was where we saw the pearl inlays being applied. Everything was meticulously cut and added by hand. The skill sets here were incredible! You are probably in guitar overload by now, so I will save the rest of the story for tomorrow. Thanks so much for dropping by to pick up your Martin Postcard…chat with you later!
Our first destination on our way to Vermont was Gettysburg, PA. We had considered driving as far as Harrisburg for our first evening, but opted instead for Gettysburg for two reasons: we love the National Military Park and we have a favorite motel within walking distance of the National Cemetery. When I posed the idea to Becky, it was a done deal! After grabbing a room, we immediately headed to the Visitor Center to update our Passport stamps, grab a map, and check out the books. Since sunset was at 7:15, we made another loop of the park before heading down West Confederate Avenue like we always do. Something else that is traditional is to make a stop at the NC Monument, located west of Gettysburg. North Carolina provided 14,147 men to the Army of Northern Virginia at Gettysburg, the second largest state contingent after Virginia . It lost over 6,000 soldiers, more than 40%. It was the largest number of casualties of any Confederate state and, as the monument states, over one fourth of all Confederate casualties in the Battle of Gettysburg. The statue depicts a wounded officer pointing the way forward to the enemy while a veteran and younger comrade lead a color bearer in the charge. The statue was sculpted by Gutzon Borglum of Mt. Rushmore fame, using photographs of Confederate veterans as models. Orren Smith of North Carolina, the model for the color bearer, was the designer of the Confederate national flag. Nearby is a stone monument containing an inscription and a list of the North Carolina units of the Army of Northern Virginia. Our Sigmon ancestors from Catawba County fought with the 12th Infantry. 1863 North Carolina To the eternal glory of the North Carolina soldiers. Who on this battlefield displayed heroism unsurpassed sacrificing all in sup- port of their cause. Their valorous deeds will be enshrined in the hearts of men long after these transient memorials have crum- bled into dust. Thirty two North Carolina regiments were in action at Gettysburg July 1,2,3, 1863. One Con- federate soldier in every four who fell here was a North Carolinian. This tablet erected by the North Carolina Division United Daughters of the Confederacy On the back of the Seminary Ridge statue is the North Carolina inscription representing the 32 Carolina regiments in action at the Battle of Gettysburg. I hope all you Tar Heels enjoyed tonight's Postcard bonus and thanks for stopping by. See ya tomorrow night!
My plan for the coming days is to go back day by day on our Vermont escapade and re-visit some of our stops, sharing photos and the backstory. I had a tough time each night deciding on what to include on your Postcard and this way, I can fill in all the blanks! Let's go back to Thursday, the 17th as we were driving along the Lincoln Highway (Route 30) making our way to Gettysburg. We were seeing some funky billboards here and there about Mr. Ed's. Because we've never been on this stretch of Route 30, we had no idea what to expect. We had totally missed Mr. Ed's sitting off to the left because we were so fascinated by the pumpkins. Not only were there pumpkins everywhere, Penny Candy the Elephant was sitting in the fork of the road and was a sight to behold! After snapping empty-ump photos, we drove down the road a piece to the actual museum and candy store. Everywhere we looked, we saw pachyderms! Dozens and dozens of them were in the yard around the house and store. They were spouting fountains, in a cemetery, under a shed, tied to trees, forecasting the weather, used as planters, hiding underneath ferns…you name it, there they were in all their elephant glory…in all sizes and colors! Based on what we saw outside, we could hardly know what to expect inside. 12,000 elephant figurines, circus souvenirs, toys, and political paraphernalia greeted us. And that's not all…there was candy…over 700 varieties of the sweet stuff!! Becky and I just stood there dumbfounded, looking at each other in stunned silence. If you find yourself west of Gettysburg on the Lincoln Highway and you start seeing signs for Mr. Ed's, prepare to make a stop. You would be a little nuts to miss this!
We never saw a sign giving us the name of the pumpkin stand, but the lady inside was very nice and I snapped photos left and right. It was the perfect last stop for us. Our plan was to meet our T@Bbin' buddies in North Adams, MA where the 3rd Annual New England Rally is being held. We arrived about 10:30 and quickly greeted old friends and met some new ones too. When we found out that lots of folks were heading out for their own exploration, Becky and I decided to go back into Vermont and do one more little loop through the mountains to see what we could see. We were delighted to finally see some color in the trees as we rose in elevation. Highways 100, 8, and 9 had some beautiful vistas and held two surprises...the Vermont Bowl Company and the quaint town of Wilmington!
With the prospects of an early morning departure for home, we said our goodbyes, hugged lots of necks, and told folks we would see them soon. Now it's time to do the same with all of you who have faithfully picked up your Postcards.
Thanks so much for traveling along with us! I will chat with you when I get back home and share all kinds of backstories and snapshots. While Becky drives, I keep a map folded up into a big square on my clipboard. As we toodle along, I mark our route with a yellow highlighter. Sometimes I know exactly where we are going and sometimes I don't because we are winging it. If you could see that Vermont map today, you would think one of us was drunk! We were the Vermont Army...left, right, left, right, left, right!! After checking out of our room, we headed back into Woodstock for breakfast. The one breakfast spot listed on the dining suggestions when we checked in last evening, was the Mountain Creamery. I had my heart set on waffles with maple syrup. We found the cafe, but they didn't have waffles unfortunately, but my eggs, toast, and sausage were pretty yummy. We pumped some extra coins in the parking meter to give us some shopping time. Ellalou had suggested we find Gillingham's, Becky was looking for a silver maple leaf charm for her bracelet, and I was just happy to be back in Woodstock snapping photos. Both of us ended up boosting Vermont's economy this morning! Traveling over the Quechee Gorge took us to Norwich where we stopped at the King Arthur Flour Bakery & Cafe. Wendy is a big baker and loves King Arthur products, so this stop was to snag some items for her upcoming birthday. She already knows this, so I'm not spilling any big secret. Off and on all day we found covered bridges...some in plain sight of the road and others off the beaten path. We didn't find all that were indicated on my map, but that's probably OK, because Becky wasn't nearly as enthusiastic about seeing and photographing them as I was! One particular right turn took us to the Vermont Country Store in Rockingham and another left turn took us to Weston's Country Store. Weston's was definitely our favorite of the two and we had a fun conversation with the owner. We actually saw a bit of color in the trees there! Everywhere we have gone this week, the topic of conversation has been about when the leaves are going to turn. The best U-turn of the day was out in the middle of nowhere where I spied a huge yellow barn that begged to have its photo taken . Our Vermont sojourn is about to come to an end. We are overnighting in Bennington, very close to where we will meet up with our camping buddies for the New England Rally in North Adams, MA tomorrow. We had one more not-to-be-missed item on our VT itinerary and that was to have supper at the famous Blue Benn Diner! And that's what we did tonight. Left, right, left, right, left right. Tomorrow it's SOUTH!! See you you back here Friday evening.
We have found that Vermont mornings often start out quite foggy, but burn off quickly and that was true as we left Montpelier for Burlington on I-89 around 8:30 this morning. Everything we saw and did today was pure Vermont...crafts, museums, covered bridges and so much more! Vermont Teddy Bears are made in Burlington and we were there when the doors opened to get a tour. I will share a few photos with you now, but my plans are to do a dedicated Postcard one day next week. A drive of less than a mile took us to the fabulous Shelburne Museum where we spent several hours walking around the 45 acres and checking out the 39 buildings. We didn't go in every single building, but we certainly saw the majority of them. Once again I will share a few photos and then do a specialty Postcard next week. Since breakfast was just a piece of toast, I was running on empty all morning. We found a market in Starksboro, stopped to get a sandwich and some chips, pulled a cold Fresca out of the Yeti, and had a nice picnic. Nothing fancy, just an egg salad sandwich for my still shaky system! Mid-afternoon we stopped at Vermont Folk Rocker to see the stunning hand-crafted rockers made one at a time by Jim Geier. We sat in them and found them exceptionally comfortable. Jim gave us a personal tour and let us walk around the shop as they were being made. In Pittsford, we paused at the New England Maple Museum to grab some photos and get information about the nearby four covered bridges. In nearby Proctor, we popped into the Vermont Marble Museum & Exhibit. We didn't take the tour because it was very close to closing time, but we did visit the gift shop where Becky bought a couple marble eggs to add to her collection.
Tomorrow promises more beautiful weather as we continue our Vermont escapade. Please join me Thursday evening to pick up your Postcard and as always, thanks for traveling along!
Evening everyone. Becky and I spent our day eating our way through Vermont. We drank, we sampled, we snacked, we had a great time trying local products! We stopped in downtown Stowe after leaving the motel and went into a few shops and I hit the ATM to get some cash to repay The Bank of Becky. Our day started at the Cold Hollow Cider Mill where we saw apples being pressed into juice, drank a couple cups of the finest tasting apple juice I have ever had, and bought a half dozen of their legendary cider donuts! We came, we saw, we conquered. Just down the road from Cold Hollow in Waterbury Center, we found the Lake Champlain Chocolates and Cabot Cheese Annex. More samples, more yumminess. Next Vermont specialty was the Green Mountain Coffee visitor center, cafe, and small museum. Believe it or not, I didn't get any coffee! I have a standing order that comes every 12 weeks and boxes have arrived at home while I've been on this journey. On our way through town, I hopped out to get a snapshot of the state capitol. From Montpelier we headed out Hwy 2 to Morse Farm Sugarhouse where we had one of the most entertaining tours of any travels. Elliott, the brother of the owner, kept us in stitches before we headed inside to sample (and buy) maple syrup. More? Oh yeh...our eating extravaganza continued at the Cabot Creamery where there were more samples and a nice tour in our little blue booties. We weren't allowed to take photos on the tour though. We found a couple covered bridges along the way and probably could have found more if we had wandered off the beaten path a bit. Our final stop was at the award winning Goodrich's Maple Farm where we chatted with a nice lady who just happened to be the owner. She told us more info to add to our Morse Farm knowledge. No samples here though because my intestines were beginning to rebel in a big way! At this point, my day went totally down hill. Poor Becky had to pull the car over for me a couple of times as we headed back towards Waterbury. Our plan was to drive down through the Mad River Valley and find a place for the night along Hwy 100. But it just wasn't meant to be and we ended up returning to Montpelier.
We had trouble finding a place with a vacancy and when we did, we learned the motel is undergoing renovations. With a fresh paint smell that did nothing to make me feel better, we checked into our room and I promptly went to bed. That is until the workers set off the fire alarm causing us both to almost have a stoke! So that was our Vermont Tuesday, the good, the bad, and the ugly. Back to bed for this gypsy chick!! Despite waking up to heavy fog and 31°, we were looking forward to all that Monday had to offer. We strolled down the street for breakfast at The BC (The Breakfast Cafe) where Becky ate the world's largest blueberry pancake and I tackled a Maple Whipped Cream Belgium Waffle. By the time we waddled out the door, the fog was lifting from Mirror Lake. When I looked at my FitBit stats for the day, I don't regret eating that waffle one single bit: 12,077 steps, 5.36 miles, and 25 sets of stairs! We finished one last bit of shopping before a quick trip down the street to the 400 meter speed skating stadium. It doesn't look like today's indoor tracks, but it was the site of Eric Heiden's world record skates. Seven miles out of Lake Placid, we stopped for our last Olympic venue...the Sports Complex at Mt. Van Hoevenberg where the biathlon, bobsled, luge, skeleton, and cross country skiing events were held. Our guide, Greg, drove us to the top of the bobsled run and gave us tons of information about the track. When we got to the top and he walked us to the starting line, he told us we could ride back down with him or we could walk down the track. WALK DOWN THE TRACK!! So off we went on foot past all the starting gates, through all the curves, for 3/4 of the mile-long run! With a heavy sigh we left the Olympic events behind and made our way to Vermont. We drove along Lake Champlain before catching the Plattsburgh-Grand Isle Ferry. Once in Vermont, we looked for a good place to have a picnic lunch and the Apple Farm Market provided that and ice cream to boot. With my trusty map on my lap and Becky's eagle eye, we found 5 covered bridges in the matter of an hour! We saw our first maple syrup store, so we pulled in, and helped Vermont's economy, purchasing gifts for friends. On our must-see list today was the Trapp Family Lodge. We knew it wasn't in our travel budget to stay there, but we wanted to see where the hills were alive with the sound of music! After leaving there, we found a sweet place to lay our heads for the night - the Stowe Motel & Snowdrift. Tomorrow we are bound for Waterbury and nearby regions in search of adventure. Thanks for stopping by this evening for your Postcard and I invite you to return tomorrow night! Nite, nite from the Green Mountain State!
Being able to visit a place that's been on my bucket list for a long time was a big thrill today....and I mean a BIG THRILL!! I love watching the Olympics and remember watching hour after hour of the 1980 winter games here in Lake Placid. The "Miracle On Ice" hockey game still gives me cold chills. Beating the world power Russian team will go down as one of the greatest feats in Olympic history. Today I walked through the Olympic Center Museum and was able to sit and watch a portion of that famous match in addition to seeing many pieces of memorabilia. We visited the arena where that famous game was played, watched a couple of teams having a scrimmage, and when I spied a puck that had flown over the glass I got a treasured souvenir! Could the day get any better? You betcha, because we next went to the Olympic Ski Jump complex!! We rode a chair lift up the hill to the 90 and 120 meter jumps, then took an elevator to the top for a totally different view of this awesome event. We had one more stop on our Olympic day - Whiteface Mountain, the location for all the slalom, giant slalom, and downhill skiing events. First we drove all the way up the 8-mile Memorial Highway to the top of Whiteface at 4,800+ feet. Without a cloud in the sky, we had an awesome 360° view! There was a twenty degree temperature difference and Becky's car registered a chilly 41° up top. I wasn't sure that I could stand one more minute of fun, but we had to catch a gondola ride up to the top of Little Whiteface where we would see the Olympic ski slopes! Believe it or not, we packed more into our day, but that will have to wait for another Postcard because I am whipped and ready to hit the sack! Nite, nite from Lake Placid...sweet Olympic dreams!!
I was actually feeling a bit puny this morning, so I was moving slower than normal and found myself behind her anyway...LOL. We got checked out of our Baseball Town Motel (that we highly recommend) after spending the quietest night of our motel lives! I scored a great photo for you because no one was in town yet, plus I wanted to show you our room keys. We were mere steps away from the Baseball Hall of Fame and Becky was probably 10th in line, she was so eager to get in the doors! My plan was to snap photos of stuff that was meaningful to me...the Braves (because as teenagers, we would often go to Atlanta with our parents for weekend games), the Yankees (because Wendy, our resident Cranky Yankee, loves them), Hank Aaron (because I saw him hit number 706 in the summer of 1973 on his way to a record 715), the women's league (because I loved "A League of Their Own"), and local boys Tony Cloninger and Madison Bumgarner. We did some last minute t-shirt shopping before heading out of town to visit the Fly Creek Cider Mill. As we were goofing off having our pictures made there, Becky accidentally stepped on my "bad" toe and split it open. There was blood everywhere and a couple folks actually stopped and asked if I needed help. Now I was REALLY following Bec! We had lunch there that included our choice of pie and I picked caramel-nut apple and that eased the pain in my toe a bit. The line was probably 40-deep to see the old apple press, so we headed out after we finished eating. I did some toe-doctoring in the car and to make me feel better, Becky let me stop at the ACE hardware so I could buy a Yeti travel mug. It helped. Because friends on Facebook told me that I needed to see the Farmer's Museum, Becky and I changed our plans for the afternoon and went there instead of heading to Lake George. That's what serendipitous travel is all about folks! We certainly enjoyed walking around the complex that included buildings and barns that had been moved and reconstructed here from all over upstate NY. It was a beautiful afternoon and well worth the detour, especially since I got to photograph and ride the Empire State Carousel. After getting something cold to drink out of the Yeti and telling Jill the GPS to take us to Lake Placid, we hit the road. We trusted her to bring us here for an overnight stay and I hardly even consulted my map! We practically had I-87 to ourselves as we made the 3 1/2-hour drive here. As soon as we pulled onto Main Street, we knew we were going to have trouble finding a room for the night. After two tries, we got the very last room at the Mountain View Inn....whew!
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