Vermont with Mom and Phyllis - part 2

Mom, Phyllis, and I continued our journey through middle Vermont, heading next to the Calvin Coolidge historic site.  I didn't know this was here!  Heck, I didn't know Silent Cal was from Vermont.  Growing up in the northern part of the state, all I knew was Chester A. Arthur.  John says Vermont schools should teach state history every year like they do in Texas.

President Coolidge's home site is a great place to visit and wander around - and it's still a small working town, complete with a cheese factory.  Lots of artifacts and history to discover.

Here we are starting our tour at the general store:

The street through town, past the church and the house where he grew up:

A garden, with a replica of the whirlybird that Cal's son had - the original still exists!  It is in storage to keep it from weathering any more:

Transportation of the times (it needs a Morgan Horse to pull it):

The room where President Coolidge was sworn in by his father after Warren G. Harding died in 1923:

Some excellent cheese to take home, the best kind of souvenir!

Examining the old postal box system:

And the new ones downstairs, not a lot different:

Where the president worked while he was at the farm on break from the White House:

Thanks Mom, for suggesting we come here!

Old farm tools - now these methods have changed a bit over the years:

Two former postal employees with a US Mail carriage:

Across the street, the simple graves of the president and his family - another dead president we just happened to visit (I really should start a list):

We drove around the back roads of Reading, learned how to pronounce it ("red-ing", like the Monopoly railroad), didn't see any signs of a real town, and ended up in Woodstock for the afternoon.  Another excellent place to spend some time.

I sent this photo to John:

Requisite covered bridge picture:

Later in the day we explored the Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller historic park trails.  Mom and Phyllis walked up to Pogue Pond and I went for a run.  Love the carriage roads.  Here's a view from the top of the hill:

Looking back down at Woodstock; ah the lovely green hills of Vermont:

Our final stop on the way home = Joseph Smith's birthplace.  It was certainly an interesting variety today!  The site is quite lovely (and no, I didn't know this was here either):

An impressive obelisk:

Stones marking the original house where Joseph Smith was born:

For my last day "on the job" we drove to Barre to see the Hope Cemetery, always a favorite.  Many granite gravestones are carved into intricate and amazing designs, very creative.

This is one of our favorites:

We spent some time trying to understand these pyramids:

Mom figured out to move the buttons aside on the instruction post.  There are QR codes underneath!  They are faded and I didn't try to read them with my phone, but it's not something you see every day in a cemetery.

I'm amazed that someone tackled the carving of a perfectly round soccer ball:

Pretty engraving:

Another favorite:

Very nice:

Back in the town of Barre to visit another granite carving, this one of Robert Burns (Phyllis can quote some of his books, also amazing):

From Burns to the Bern:

We happened to visit the Vermont Historical Society Museum on a day when all the state parks and facilities were free, nice!  Here's the photo I like the best - balance is the key to many things:

What a fun visit!  Thank you Mom for the idea to come to Vermont for a few days.  It was great spending time with you two, loved it all a lot  :)