New England Splendor Tour - Day 4, Vermont

Day 4 - Sat., Sept. 26th

We left the hotel in Lake Placid and traveled to Essex, NY to catch the ferry.We boarded the Lake Champlain Ferry for an hour crossing to Charlotte, Vermont. We stopped at Ben and Jerry’s, the home and factory of Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream. Of course we all had to have 3 scoops of their famous ice cream. We also drove past the famous Vermont Teddy Bear Company in Shelburne, VT. Gasoline was $2.64 a gallon. The weather was beautiful and the scenery was incredible. Colors were at peak with lots of reds because of the soft maples.

We met our step-on-guide in Stowe, Vermont for a historic tour of the town.We stopped at the Green Mountain Coffee Roasters where they are the only roasters who make the coffee for Air Force One - Jamaican Blue coffee - around $24 a pound! We visited the Trapp Family Lodge and gravesites. Eight mountain ranges come together at the Trapp Lodge. They built there because it reminded them of Austria. The farm is 450 acres and 7 family members are buried on the property including Maria Von Trapp. Maria’s youngest son is still there. He’s in his 70’s.

The next time you watch the Sound of Music with Julie Andrews, it’s one of the beginning scenes where she’s singing in the street, look behind her, you’ll see Maria Von Trapp walking behind her.

Vermont is the second largest state in New England. There are no McDonald’s in Vermont and no billboards on the highways. More people speak Arabic in NYC than the total population of Vermont. Burlington is the largest city in Vermont. Stowe is the ski capitol of the east. The highest mountains are located in Vermont. We drove past Christopher Reeves house
outside Stowe. Bob Keshian, Captain Kangaroo lived in Waterbury, VT. Eleanor Roosevelt climbed Mount Mansfield. Mount Mansfield is famous for the “man laying down” on top of the mountain. The shape of one section of the mountain looks like a man actually laying down. There are no chain hotels in Stowe and Four Seasons with Carol Burnett and Alan Alda was filmed in Stowe. Land prices run from $300,000 to $l million. The March of Dimes started in Vermont as did the Boy Scouts of America.

Vermont had some famous people – Rudy Vallee, Michael J. Fox, Charles Bronson, Carlton Fisk.

Moscow, Vermont has the shortest 4th of July parade in the U.S. It’s .2 miles long. The Maple Vinegarette dressing Emerill Lagassi uses is made in Vermont. Vermont was the last state to get a Walmart store and Newman’s Own is made in Vermont. The number one attraction in Vermont is Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream with over 300,000 visitors a year.

Two U.S. Presidents came from Vermont – Chester Arthur and Calvin Coolidge. Vermont is the first state to outlaw slavery, had the first copper coin, 60% to 80% of the trees are maple trees. Vermont has the largest granite quarry in the world. Pencil erasures came from Vermont, the first blackboard was used in Vermont, first laser eye surgery was done in Vermont, first air traffic control course taught in Vermont, the Diamond Back fly rod sold at LL Bean is made in Vermont.

We drove between the Wooster Mts. and Mansfield Mts. To get to the haunted covered bridge. The story tells of a young girl named Emily who was to meet her lover at the bridge because they were planning on eloping. She was waiting for him at the bridge but he never showed up so she jumped off the bridge. People who visit the bridge say weird things happen there.
Hats blow off on calm days, some people see white lights and some hear a woman calling for help.


Rudyard Kipling lived in Vermont. He had his own zip code because he got
so much mail. He lived in Waite, VT. His neighbor agreed to get his mail in her mailbox.

Vermont is the birthplace of the U.S. Navy. Lake Champlain is 485 feet deep, deeper than the Great Lakes. We stayed in Morrisville, home to the horse Hildalgo in the movie called Hildalgo.

Day 5 - The Mount Washington Hotel