North To Vermont

We got up at 7, got dressed and packed our things for the drive to Vermont. We had breakfast at Paul's, then visited briefly with Grandma who appeared to still be tired from the day before. We got on the road at 10:30, with me worrying about Grandma's health, she seemed so out of things.

But I quickly forgot my worries, enjoying the scenery as we drove to Vermont. We stopped to stretch our legs at the Vermont welcome center and then went to the Vermont Country Store in Rockingham. We were hungry and grazed the samples, which included the best apple butter I've ever had in my life. I wanted to buy some, but was afraid of adding the weight of such a large jar to my luggage. We were only getting started and I knew I would be buying a lot of things on this trip. And sure enough, I stocked up on little things at the store, more than justifying the cost of the samples I had eaten.

Since we were ahead of schedule, we decided to take a detour to the old Shaker village in Enfield, New Hampshire. We were pressed for time, so of course a very chatty guide wanted to talk endlessly to us about the finer points of Shaker chairs. We managed to escape the guide and toured the museum and grounds. The old stone common dwelling was very impressive, and had been converted into an inn. We speculated what it would be like to stay there sometime. We also checked out the workshop, which was only partially restored and had a cool old painted ceiling that was still in very good shape in many spots. Next we wandered through the herb garden and tried unsuccessfully to find the cemetery. We were later told that most of the stones fell down and were replaced by a single stone representing everyone. It was time to go, but I wanted to buy a few things at the gift shop. This turned into an exercise in frustration as the volunteer was unsure how to use her new computer and we had trouble getting a phone line for credit approval. I was beginning to regret buying anything! Finally I was able to make my purchases and we got on the road again.

We got to Kay's on schedule and had tea with strawberry/rhubarb pastries. Kay had some unfortunate news for us. Apparently she had been diagnosed with MS recently. But she's doing fine and there seemed to be no danger she would close the inn anytime soon.

After tea we headed out for dinner in East Dover. It was a long drive but we had a very nice dinner of soup, salad, meat, rice, vegetables and an insanely delicious bread pudding. Afterwards we hung out on the front porch and enjoyed the cool evening air and a cup of coffee.

We arrived back at Kay's around 10:30, made some hot tea, helped ourselves to some of Kay's delicious brownies, and sat outside to look at the stars. Then we went upstairs to unpack a little, write some postcards and get some sleep.