A DAY TRIP TO MONTPELIER

September 11

The bus arrived about 8:00 for our day trip to Montpelier.  Our first stop was at the Morse Farm Sugar Works to see how mapel syrup is made.  

Burr Morse gave us a humorous lesson on sap colection and syrup making.  His family has been in this business for 6 generations.  "Sugar time " occurs in early spring.  The process is very similar to the one we saw a couple of days ago, but we did learn that the sap collection only lasts for a couple of weeks and that the amount of sap collected is highly dependent on the temperature and wind.  Too cold or too warm is bad for sap collection as is a south or west wind. 

Following Burr's lesson we went into their store and got a serving of "sugar in the snow."  

Sugar in the snow is a small serving of  maple syrup heated to 232 degrees.  Then a few drops are poured onto a cup of ice flakes.  If you roll the syrup around on the ice it will begin to get thicker and become chewy.  It makes a kind of candy that is very sweet.  They also served us donuts to dip into the warm syrup as well as coffee or tea.  Dill pickles were also on the table in case you needed something other than sweetness.  The sugar in the snow was quite sweet and tasty.

Our next stop was at the state capitol building in Montpelier.  

Montpelier is a small town - population around 8,000.  The capitol building, build in 1859, is the smallest statehouse in the nation.  Little wood was used to construct this building to help prevent fire which destroyed the previous building.  The staircases are cast iron;

tile covers the floors, and the building is constructed of granite. Following the legislative session which runs from January until May, the building becomes a museum.  Except for its electric lights, it has been completely restored to its original 1859 state. It is a beautiful building that is full of history about Vermont. We were able to visit the House and Senate Chambers

    House Chambers

as well as the Governor's office. We learned that Vermont had more soldiers per capita who fought in the Civil War that any other state. We also found out that they elect new representatives, senators, governor and all other top elected state officials every two years. It seems that they would be constantly campaigning.

Lunch was at the New England Culinary Institute.

Students accepted into NECI can receive either an Associate or Bachelor's degree depending on how long they attend. They attend classes for half of each year and intern in the food industry for the other half. They receive training in every area of culinary arts. The must learn kitchen safety, sanitation, bartending, table service, menu writing and other areas in addition to learning how to cook. Chefs from around the country are employed as faculty at the NECI, so students get a broad range of training. For lunch we had a delicious green salad, kale, chicken-pot-pie, and a pasta dish. The chicken-pot-pie was different from any I had ever had - the crust was more like a square of a delicious dressing. Cookies baked in the NECI kitchen and fresh homemade bread completed the lunch. 

 After lunch I took pitures of 3 churches nearby. They definitely fit the image of quaint New Engand churches with soaring spires.

Our final stop for the day was at the Rock of Ages quarry.

Rock of Ages quarries granite for use mainly in memorial headstones, but they also process granite for monuments, buildings, statues, etc. We rode up to the quarry where we watched workers lift out a 4' x 4' x 10' chunk of granite. It was not actually 10' long because the bottom 1/3 fractured and broke off as it was lifted out. The guide told us that the first cut a 50' x 50' ' 10' bench of granite and then use diamond wire blades to slice the bench into smaller pieces of granite. He also told us that the crane used to lift the granite from the quarry could lift 230,000 pounds. The quarry itself was 800

feet deep.  You could see where they had cut "benches".

Geologists say that vein of granite is up to 10 miles deep, so they will be cutting granite for years to come. We were able to visit their manufacturing plant where they were polishing, etching, and sculpting headstones and other memorials. It was an amazing process to watch.

We got back to the RV around 4:30. It got up to 90 today so it was warm inside the RV.  It's supposed to rain tonight so mabye it will cool off. Tomorrow we have a ride share day to visit some points of interest in and around Stowe. Until then, Happy Trails!