One of the things I enjoy doing as we visit each state is touring their State Capitol. Of course, you need to be somewhat close to the Capitol city and here in Vermont we were. We arrived at the Capitol right at 11 just as they were beginning a new tour. Our tour guide was a member of their House of Representatives, Tommy Walz. He did an excellent job and we both really enjoyed hearing more about Vermont.
The first thing we noticed when we arrived is the work they are currently doing to the dome of the State House.
This is the third State House for Vermont - the first became too small and inefficient, so it was demolished and a second was built farther away from State Street. The second one was gutted by fire in 1857. The current one was built from 1857-1859 on the same site and cost $150,000. It incorporated the still-standing portico.
In 1886 a statue of Ethan Allen, the fabled leader of the Green Mountain Boys, was placed on the front portico of the State House. He led the GM Boys in capturing Fort Ticonderoga without firing a shot.
The front doors are massive and constructed of pine, however they appear to be of a metal construction.
The entrance is quite stunning with checkered black and white floors. The tiles are both marble and granite, but I cannot remember which color was what form. The white tiles are from Danby, Vermont, and the black tiles from Isle La Motte on Lake Champlain. You can see fossils embedded in many of the black tiles. The stairs are actually cast iron, however they are painted to resemble wood. The columns are also cast iron.
On the second floor is the Senate Chamber and Representatives' Hall.
Our first stop was in the Senate Chamber with all of its original furnishings and in remarkably good condition. It was a stunning room. There are 30 members of the State Senate.
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| Our tour guide, Vermont State Representative Tommy Walz |
The next room is home to the 150 member Vermont House of Representatives. It was a gorgeous room. We were encouraged to sit in any of the seats, but not to open the desks as they are deemed personal property. An interesting story that Mr. Walz told was of a resident bat. Often during late night meetings, the bat will appear and fly around the room. As I was looking around I noticed a dark spot on a section of the ceiling near where Dean and I were sitting. As I looked around the room, I noticed everything on the celing to the left was also on the right, and yet this one dark spot was not repeated and it appeared to have the shape of a bat. I pointed it out to Dean and he agreed. He mentioned it to Mr. Walz, and after everyone looked up to see it, he said I believe you have found our bat.
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| Resident Bat - upper dark spot on ceiling. |
Our next stop was The Governor's Office that is used when the legislature is in session or for ceremonial occasions. His official office is in a building next to the State House.
The final stop on the second floor was The Cedar Creek Reception Room. There are a number of beautiful portraits and paintings on display here. Two portraits in the room were painted by Julian Scott, a young man who fought in "The Battle of Cedar Creek". Scott, a native of Johnson, Vermont was awarded the first Congresional Medal of honor for valor at the battle of Lee's Mills. Mr. Walz explained that Scott was actually in battle at the site depicted in each of the paintings, so many of the men in the picture are identifiable since he personally knew them.
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| Take the time to enlarge this and read a little more about Julian Scott and his paintings. |
Vermont is home to two former Presidents of the United States, Chester Alan Arthur, born in Fairfield. He was the 21st President serving from 1881 to 1885. Calvin Coolidge was born in Plymouth on July 4, 1872. he was the 30th President serving from 1923 to 1929.
One last thing is Vermont's state seal. Within the State House Mr. Walz showed us four different versions of the seal. It does not have to be made in a specific way each time - it must only have certain items within the seal - a dear, haystacks, a cow, a pine tree and mountains.
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| One of the seals was above the picture Julian Soctt painted. |
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| Here's the seal on the flag in the Governor's Office. |
Mr. Walz was an excellent docent, very expressive and interesting. I found it quite interesting that he is currently serving Vermont as a member of the House of Representatives. Vermont is a small intimate state with a population of only 626,562 residents. A young man also taking the the tour asked if Mr. Walkz had ever met Bernie Sanders. He said oh yes, everyone has met Bernie. He explained Bernie never served in a Vermont State Office. He first served as Mayor of Burlington and then ran for the US Senate of Vermont. Walz also mentioned that Vermont was a Republican state until the 1960's when a young Democrat, a friend of the Kennedy's was elected as Governor. Since that time the Governor position has been split every other year between a Replubican Governor and A Democrat Governor. I found that pretty interesting.
A few other pictures I took outside of the State House:
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| Gorgeous Building across from the State House |
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| This building has the name of each county in Vermont along the top and around the sides of the building. |
After our tour, we were quite hungry. I inquired about a recommendation for a restaurant in the downtown area that we could walk to. They had a guide made up of Capital City Restaurants they gave us. How convenient! When we got back to the truck - which was almost in front of the State House, we found we didn't have enough time on our meter to walk and have lunch. You cannot add more moeny to the meter - there is a maximum of 2 hours at each meter, then you must move to another site. Rather than try to find another spot to fit Max into, we decided to go down the road and see if we couldn't find a place.
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| Beautiful church in Montpelier |
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| Old large homes in Montpelier |
Just a short distance away from the downtown area we came upon "Wayside Restaurant". It was quite large and it appeared to be a place people liked as the parking lot was also large and very full. We decided to give it a try, expecting to wait for a seat, but instead we were seated immediately. Comfort food at its best! I chose Chicken Pie with cole slaw and mashed potatoes. Dean decided on breakfast - his normal selection. The food was delicious but was way too much and all I did was stuff myself with carbs. What was I thinking?
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| Menu |
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| Inside - the bar had a number of men sitting around it before we left. |
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| Chicken Pie |
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| Dean's breakfast |
From Wayside, we traveled to nearby Morse Farm, just outside of Montpelier.
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| Welcome Sign |
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| Gorgeous view from their backyard |
We went to the "Woodshed Theater" where we listened to a film and heard details about maple sugarworks from Burr Morse. What a sense of humor he had. The film was very entertaining, providing much information about the process of making maple syrup.
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| We need to learn how to take a good selfie. One of many I took and it was the best - and it's not good! HAHA |
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| Notice one of Burr's carving is on the wall. |
Burr Morse is known for his chain saw wood art and carvings. Here are a few we saw:
The only problem - today was HOT, in the 90's and it became very warm in the woodshed while we watched the film. When we left there we walked around the building and that required a walk up a fairly steep hill after a large lunch. At the top of the hill we entered their gift shop. I wanted to check out their syrups. They had the very small plastic taste spoons availabe. I tried the one with the least sugar content. A short time later I felt really shaky and told Dean I needed to go to the truck. Once there I asked him to get me a bottle of water. I drank it and by the time we returned to Bentley I felt fine. I think it was a combination of a big meal full of carbs, the heat, walking up the hill, and I was tired. Fortunately, there was no long term effect. I need to make better meal choices in the future though. Sometimes it's hard to pass up those good home cooked meals from our pasts.
A few more older homes we saw on our way back through Montpelier as we left town:
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| Another beautiful travel center - Vermont Interstate 89 |
On the way to Woodbury yesterday I noticed an interesting site along the highway, and I wanted to be sure that I took pictures of it today. As soon as I saw it yesterday (but too late to get a picture) it reminded me of our grandson Jaxson, who loves whales. It appeared to be two whale tails alongside the road. I googled it and sure enough that is what they were. Here is a link to the explanation of why this "statue" was along the highway.
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| Whale Tails |
We arrived back at Bentley between 2-3. I immediately went to work on blog posts for Tuesday and Wednesday. It was good to get them completed. When you visit so many places together it takes awhile to sort through the pictures you want to include. I try to crop the pictures to get the best views and eliminate "the junk" in the pictures. Since many are taken from the truck, if often has one of the side mirrors in it, the rearview mirror, or the antenna. Of course I always take way too many pictures so it takes time to determine which are the best to include in the blog. More recently I have been taking the time to delete the ones that will never be used. I wish I had done this from the beginning.
Another great day and our last full day in the State of Vermont. We have had such a wonderful time here. It may be small in size but it is a state full of great places to visit with gorgeous scenery around every turn.
We took our evening walk around the park, and I will close with these last pictures. Tomorrow we pull up our jacks and will be moving to Epsom, New Hampshire, where we will spend 4 days exploring a new to us state.
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| Bathhouse, Laundry and Covered Sitting Area |
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| Office |
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| Beautiful sunset |
Wow! What a tour. I have to admit that I didn't read it word for word, I'm not a history buff myself but it was still an enjoyable tour. I think it is very cool that you both enjoy the same things and like to tour the State Capitols where you can.
ReplyDeleteThe Burr Morse sure has an odd taste for art, too funny. I turned my head every which way but couldn't 'see' the elephant and donkey. haha
I agree about the carbs, they seem like a great idea at the time but unless you get good fats with them......your body rebels. I find if I don't drink enough water in a day, I get the dizzy and weakness. You'd have been better with the good eggs and sausage or bacon. :) (I know, yes Mom)
I'm not sure how much Dean enjoys the thought of visiting State Capitols but he always seems to enjoy them once the tour is over.
ReplyDeleteI've been good in my food choices ever since Mom! Lol!