2016 - East Coast - New Hampshire

More lovely stone walls, more charming New England towns, now nestled in valleys or perched on hillsides, more church steeples piercing the sky, the mountains blue in the distance, trees beginning to display their autumn coats, rivers and streams running clear over slate and granite.  BEAUTIFUL!

We have been fortunate to have spent our stay in NH at a campground situated between Littleton and Lisbon, where we have had a remarkable campsite right on the Ammonoosuc River, a tributary of the Connecticut River. Every morning we've watched mist rising over this fast-flowing, shallow river until it was burned off by the sun, and one morning watched a fly-fisherman at play in front of our campsite. 

The city of Littleton flies in the face of the current negativism as reflected in the daily news by focusing on happiness - seriously focusing on happiness through things that universally bring us joy.  There are painted pianos in little kiosks scattered every few blocks on the main street inviting people to play, some stores have painted guitars on stands outside their doors encouraging passersby to play a few chords, and an installation of various xylophones on the bank of the river running through town, with a sign saying they are for those with all levels of musical skill, or lack of it. One day we visited a quilt show sponsored by a local quilt guild. The quilts were lovingly displayed in the Opera House, a beautifully restored town hall.  That same day - a Sunday - the town was hosting a farmers market by the river and an arts and crafts show all up and down the main street.  

We came to this city, this campground, so that we would have TV and/or Wi-Fi signal for Monday's Presidential Debate, and stayed because of it's charm and the perfect location from which to explore the White Mountains on driving tours and walking tours. 

One day we visited The Frost Place in Franconia, NH. This museum is the charming old farmhouse perched on a hillside where Frost farmed and wrote for four years, and where he returned for summers for years afterward. The Frost House now sponsors one poet a year to live on the property and concentrate on their art during the months of July and August. There is a lovely nature trail with scattered placards that display poems that Frost wrote during his time in Franconia. This was a relaxing way to spend part of a day in this area.

2016 East Coast - Maine

Maine - gray mists rising over rocky shores, hard-scrabble fishing villages....this was my recollection from our last visit to this state 33 years ago.  It still holds true, but so does high-impact tourism, expensive seafood restaurants, shoulder-to-shoulder village sidewalks, bumper-to-bumper traffic, kitchey tourist-trap shops.

Our initial goal was to head back to Acadia National Park, which we remembered fondly for wilderness hikes, rocky-shore campgrounds, buying inexpensive lobster and rock crab in little towns and cooking them in seawater scooped within yards of our camper, as recommended by the little seafood shops.  All this is still possible, but not in the towns surrounding the main section of Acadia National Park (e.g. Bar Harbor), as it was 30+ years ago.  Now Bar Harbor is over-run by tourists who arrive by cruise ship, by bus, by camper, by car.  The Acadia National Park overlooks and hiking trail parking lots - on a cold, rainy, foggy, post-labor-day, mid-week day - were overrun/overparked. Our initial response was negative: "Can you imagine what this must be like in prime tourism season?", but was softened eventually by the realization that recognition and use of national and state parks is a GOOD thing.  But subsequently we were saddened by the impact that this level of tourism has on these beautiful natural wonders.  I don't know what the answer is, but I do know that we were fortunate is being able to see the multiple aspects of living in this area.  Bottom line, the Maine coast is incredibly beautiful - that we chose to spend most of our time in the less-traveled, less-touristy areas is not a condemnation of those who would prefer to visit the more touristy areas, which have their own charm....just not charm that we appreciate.

2016 East Coast - Litchfield, CT

We took a day trip through Litchfield, CT on Sept. 13, a pretty little New England town that looks just like one imagines a New England town would look.  Churches, elegant old brick and frame homes, tree lined streets, cute little alley shops....

The surprise for us in Litchfield, was the Tapping Reeve House and Litchfield Law School, the first (?) law school founded in America.  Surprised?  We sure were. Tapping Reeve began practicing law in Litchfield in 1773, and the following year began instructing his brother-in-law, Aaron Burr, in the law.  As others began to come to him for instruction and his reputation spread, his simple classroom became the first formal school of law, according to the Litchfield Historical society. According to other articles I've since found, it is considered the second (College of William and Mary being first).  I'll let the historians among my readers figure that one out (Phyllis and Nelson? - Corrections?).  It was fascinating to see copies of many of the original documents that the Litchfield Historical Society has in it's possession, including student notebooks and students' correspondence with friends and family.

In the Litchfield Historical Society building we learned about the many stone walls scattered throughout New England - who knew there were so many types?  I LOVE those walls and would give anything to have one (an old, existing one of course) at home.

Litchfield also happens to also be home of Whiteflower Farm, one of the best-known purveyors of really excellent flower bulbs and perennials, so of course John humored me and we stopped there to purchase a few additions to the coming spring garden. I was hoping that they had developed a new deer-proof tulip variety that would only be available onsite, unfortunately my hopes were dashed. When I enquired whether I might try interplanting the tulips with daffodils (since deer do not like to eat daffodils), they smiled at me as tho' I were a bit simple and said: "Well dear, you can try...and it might work for a season or two. Or you could build a fence around them; if it is high enough that might work."  We did not buy tulips. Our old apple trees in fall and my garden in summer already provide more than enough food for the deer - why spend money on tulips as a spring delicacy for them?

We moved on to Maine and New Hampshire following Connecticut, but the entire time in Maine we had such weak cell/Wi-Fi signal that it just was not possible to post.  Our current campground in NH offers good Wi-Fi signal, so I am playing blog catch-up tonight while I am still able.  Stay tuned, there will follow a post for Maine and one for New Hampshire before we move on to Vermont tomorrow.

2016 East Coast - Connecticut: Hill-Stead Museum

September 11-12, we had the pleasure of a planned visit with more family (niece Katie and her fiancé Brian), this time in Bristol, CT.  It was the perfect balance of family time and tourism opportunities;  shared meals, long talks, a tour of ESPN given by Katie (she and Brian both work at ESPN), drives through the beautiful countryside surrounding Bristol, and a visit to Hill-Stead Museum in Farmington, CT.

We have visited countless museums of art over the years, but this one is so unique that I will never perceive art in a museum in quite the same way again.  This description of the museum from their web site states the basics: "Hill-Stead is considered “perhaps the finest Colonial Revival house and museum in the United States” (National Historic Landmark Report) and houses some of the most important Impressionist paintings in the world, including works by Mary Cassatt, Edgar Degas, Édouard Manet, Claude Monet, and James McNeill Whistler. "  What makes those Impressionist paintings stand out so in this environment, compared to seeing similar works in most museums, is their placement throughout this fully furnished home as they were during the lifetime of the owners, Alfred and Ada Pope.  Paintings are integrated in rooms in which furniture, carpets, drapes were selected to reflect and enhance the colors of these masterpieces. This method of display ensures that the viewer experiences the art in a an unusually personal and deeply felt way that differs vastly from how those same pieces might be perceived if hung in the stark presentation used by most traditional art museums. This collection came about because Alfred Pope was truly moved by each piece that he purchased, and treasured daily once he had acquired them. You really feel these masterpieces differently as a result.

Unfortunately, photography is not allowed inside, so I have nothing of my own with which to illustrate the rich experience I've just described.  You can see some of the works in a section of their website, and furniture and other artifacts on other pages of the site.

Still, the grounds are also amazingly beautiful, especially on such a lovely early autumn day as we had, and some of those photos are shared below.  If you love art, especially Impressionists, and are in the area, this beautiful museum is a MUST!

Katie and Brian, taking a break on the back porch of the museum.

I love these old stone walls...and in this case, the people standing in front of them!

Did I mention I love the old stone walls? :)

2016 East Coast - Duke Farms, Hillsborough, NJ

This blog post is much delayed, because we've discovered AT&T signal is not strong in the areas we have been visiting (must be Verizon territory). Our trip to the New England States got off to a late start unexpectedly, but by putting in extra drive time in the first couple of days, we actually wound up almost a day ahead of plan, so had the opportunity to drop in on unsuspecting and very welcoming relatives in Basking Ridge, NJ (Liga's brother Uldis and his wife Wendy). On this visit they introduced us to Duke Farms, Hillsborough, NJ, a wonderful place to visit on a lovely fall day (unusually warm though it was). We walked only a portion of the walking, biking, and hiking trails available which include a variety of building ruins and paths which were beautiful, but for me the highlight was the orchid conservatory, which contained a remarkable variety of orchids, only a few of which are shown below.

Remnant of what was to have been a barn

Wonderful old sycamores line this path