Field of Dreams Tour - Morgan Horses & Covered Bridges

Click on pictures to see an enlarged version and slideshow

After a week of travel, sight-seeing, family reunions, etc., we opted to spend Tuesday as a completely "down" day. We relaxed by the lake and did little but laze in the sun, swim and read. It was hot, muggy and humid all day with a storm coming in for the night so the it really was the perfect plan for the day.

Wednesday, we decided, was our "tourist day", and we spent it toodling around mid-Vermont. I wanted to head over to Fort Ticonderoga, just a few miles away over Lake Champlain (can you say "Let's take the Ferry!"? I knew you could.) But wiser minds prevailed observing that kids who hadn't studied the Revolutionary War wouldn't find it anywhere near as interesting as their Dad. Good point. Instead, we headed north for Middlebury and the Morgan Horse Farm run by the University of Vermont. The Morgan Horse is the first American breed of horse, with the first actually born in Massachussets, but subsequently bred in Vermont. In fact, 80% of all Morgan horses today are descended from the horses at the Morgan Horse Farm in Middlebury (or so they informed us).

Cherie and Zoe, who are equine enthused, were head over heels for the Morgans. Zack and I really enjoyed them, too. Like the Arabian, the Morgan is a bit smaller than other horses because they have one less vertebrae in their spine. But they are a spirited and beautiful animal and I've never met a group of horses who had sweeter dispositions than those at this farm. Of course, as horse farms go, this one is pretty much a resort (maybe I wouldn't say that in January when its twenty below in Middlebury!). Cherie and Zoe bought seven raffle tickets for a fillie born in April named Priceless. If we win, I hope Cousin Connie is excited to add a Morgan to her herd.

After concluding our tour of the horse farm, we had lunch in Middlebury, and then headed south. By the way, Middlebury College is gorgeous - lots of stunning buildings made with local granite, all looking like that came from the 18^th century. We headed toward Pittsford and toured the Vermont Maple Syrup Museum. The museum is a group diaromas and models showing the history of maple syrup and sugar production in Vermont - a so called "earnest endeavor to teach the history of sugaring in Vermont". In truth, its a really an excuse to get you into their elaborate gift shop. We had fun, and Zack in particular enjoyed seeing the big evaporator (it boils out the water from 40 gallons of sap to make a single gallon of syrup). I didn't exactly hate the maple sugar candy samples.

Finally, we went on a tour of covered bridges in the area, three of which I'm showing here. We also visited a place called Wilson Castle - a crazy farce of a building erected right after the civil war. Cherie liked it, I thought it was ugly. And since its my blog, no pictures! OK, I think its time for a nap in the hammock. Hope the rat race is treating all of you well.

Posted by Tom Hammer on August 8, 2007 4:53 PM | Permalink