Looking at the Sky on Friday - The Life Star Version

While over in the Yantic Cemetery the other day taking pictures of some of the gravestones, the Hartford Hospital Life Star helicopter that's based at Backus Hospital here in Norwich lifted off and took off across the skies.  I caught this shot as it flew over my head - not the greatest picture in the world but perfect for Tisha's Looking at the Sky on Friday meme!

Visiting Vermont, Part Three

Tuesday, March 2nd, dawned bright if not sunny and after sleeping quite well I awoke refreshed and ready to take on the day. The first order of business was breakfast (included with my room) at the farm house where the chef was celebrating Dr. Suess' birthday with "green eggs and ham" - poached eggs on top of an English muffin with Candian bacon and a Vermont cheddar cheese sauce that was tinged sorta-kinda green.  Trust me, it was delicious even though the color may not be all that appealing!

Breakfast was served by Mandy, a personable young lady, who had been working the front desk the evening before when I checked in.  Out of all the staff members I met, I'd have to say that Mandy was my favorite as she was very helpful, very nice, and very personable - a true delight.  She asked me what I had planned for the day and I told her that I was heading towards Stowe in search of covered bridges to take pictures of; in particular I was looking for Emily's Bridge - Vermont's reportedly haunted bridge.  She said she'd heard of it but never been to see it and thought I was brave for going - especially by myself.  I told her I'd be sure to let her know if I came across anything unusual!

Having breakfast at the same time as myself was a family of three from Quebec who had come down to do some snowshoeing.  It's easy to forget that Quebec is as close as it is to where I was in Vermont but they apparently traveled a shorter distance than I did to get there!  As their son tucked into his snowman pancakes complete with powdered sugar snow, the mom mentioned that she'd always wanted to go to Connecticut as Martha Stewart "made it look so nice."  I kind of had to laugh to myself on that one as the part of Connecticut that Martha Stewart lives in is more like New York but I thought they'd probably enjoy either the northwest hills or the Woodstock area.  I guess it's easy for me to forget that there really are some very pretty areas of Connecticut - you just have to take the time to look for them!

As soon as breakfast was over I grabbed my list of covered bridges, a couple maps, a handful of brochures, my iPod, and my GPS and headed west on Route 2 towards Stowe.  The day was a little overcast but it looked like it was going to clear up so I was hopeful of decent weather for some pictures.  As I drove I saw a lot of things I would loved to have taken pictures of but one of the things I learned about Vermont roads - in addition to there being a lot of dirt ones - is that they don't have much for a shoulder so there was really no place to pull over.  It was at that point that I wished I had my own Ralph to chauffeur me around like Princess Patti does so that I could take some "passenger side pictures".  Alas, no such luck!

As I was driving down Route 2, I came into a small town called Marshfield where on the right-hand side of the road - in what looked to be the middle of a field - I spotted a covered bridge.  Ah-ha!  First catch of the day!  The Martin Bridge is a 44-foot long queenpost style bridge that was built in 1890 for William Martin, Jr. and his first son, Harry.  The Martins owned the farm adjacent to the bridge, which was reported to be one of the finest in Marshfield, and the bridge was built in order to give them access to their fields that lay on the other side of the Winooski River.

Bridges built for farming purposes were narrower with fewer supports than a typical covered bridge and they were also taller to accommodate horse-drawn wagons that were piled with hay. Another unique aspect was a cattle gate that was attached to one of the queenposts that could be closed to keep livestock on one side of the bridge or the other. The Martin Bridge is believed to be the only covered bridge in Vermont that never had an actual road cross through it as it was built strictly for agricultural purposes.

Apparently bridges of this sort were rather uncommon as most farmers couldn't afford to build covered bridges that were simply for farming access but obviously the Martins could and they did.  The Martin Bridge is the only covered "farm" bridge left in the State of Vermont and it's made even more special by the fact that it is one of the few local covered bridges that survived the Flood of 1927 that wiped out over 1,200 covered bridges throughout Vermont.

In 1924, the Martins sold their farm and its bridge to the Orton family who owned and maintained it into the 1970's; at which time it became known as the Orton Bridge - as it was listed on my print-out of covered bridges.  In the 1970's ownership changed yet again and then in 2003 a landowner donated it to the town of Marshfield along with the surrounding 72 acres on either side of it in lieu of about $1,300 in taxes.  When the town took over ownership of the bridge it was tilting about 18 inches to one side and could have fallen into the river so town officials decided to refurbish it and started the process by hiring a crane operator to lift it from its supports and move it to a nearby field where it stood for nearly five years while awaiting repairs.

In March of 2009, Building Heritage - a Vermont-based company that "combines the finest craftsmanship in traditional trades with advanced knowledge of historic preservation, ethics, and rules" - began the restoration of the Martin Bridge by labeling and documenting as much of the bridge as possible. After that it was carefully disassembled so that rotten timbers, sheathing, roofing, and decking could be replaced or repaired. Before the end of April, the bridge was fully reassembled and, with a crowd of onlookers nearby, the bridge was placed back over the Winooski River on rebuilt granite abutments with the help of a 165 ton crane.

In addition to restoring the Martin Bridge, the town of Marshfield made use of the 72 acres that was given to them by developing a park appropriately called Martin Bridge Park that includes a parking area, a pathway to the bridge, signs, a stone sitting wall, and walking trails that connect to an old railroad bed that is now used by hikers and bikers.

The project was paid for by $241,000 in grants from the Vermont Agency of Transportation enhancement program, $40,000 from the Housing and Conservation Board, and $25,000 raised locally. In my opinion, money well spent!

Now that I've given you probably more information on the Martin Bridge than you ever wanted to know, I have to tell you about something that happened while I was there that got me humming the tune "It's a Small World".  Inside the bridge, the town has placed a guest book for visitors to sign with their name, address, and any comments they'd like to leave so I figured sure, I'll sign it!

After affixing my name in the open space, I looked at some of the other names above me and what did I see three spots up from my name?  The name of one of the EMTs that I work with at American Ambulance who had been there just about two weeks before myself!  I really had to smile as I thought about the fact that there I was, just about smack in the middle of Vermont in a small town that I'd never heard of until that day, and someone I worked with had been there just a short time before me.  It really is a small world after all!

So just remember - if you're ever winding your way through the of Vermont on Route 2 and find yourself in the small town of Marshfield, be sure to stop in at the Martin Bridge Park near the Winooski River and sign the visitor's book inside the covered bridge - you never know whose name you might find above yours!

Just to Keep You Up-to-Date on the Cemetery Theft Case ...

This is the latest report that was in the Norwich Bulletin regarding Sean McNee, the lowlife scum who stole the statue from the grave of Sarah Larned in the Yantic Cemetery:

$150,000 bond set in Yantic cemetery statue case
 By GREG SMITH
Norwich Bulletin
Posted Mar 10, 2010 @ 12:24 AM
Norwich, Conn. —

Sean McNee was ordered held Tuesday on a $150,000 bond on charges he stole, cut up and sold pieces of a 450-pound bronze statue marking a historic plot in Yantic Cemetery.

Norwich Judge Robert E. Young said the bond was justified considering the serious nature of the allegations and McNee’s “lifetime of crime,” that includes an extensive criminal history in Connecticut and beyond.

Bail Commissioner Lois Dupointe said McNee, 43, of Willimantic, has 17 prior criminal convictions in Connecticut that include 14 prior larceny convictions. He also has an outstanding larceny warrant in Florida.

McNee stood quietly beside his court-appointed attorney.

The statue of a kneeling woman marked the 120-year-old burial plot of Sarah Larned Osgood and part of a larger Osgood memorial at the cemetery on Lafayette Street. It was reported missing Feb. 19.

Pieces of the statue turned up last month at Willimantic Wastepaper scrap yard in Willimantic, where suspicious workers put the pieces aside in case they turned up as stolen. McNee cashed in the pieces of the estimated $35,000 statue for about $200, the owner said. The head is still missing.

After being picked out of a lineup as the man who sold the statue’s pieces, McNee told Norwich investigators he had never been to the Yantic Cemetery. He said he found the pieces of the statue under the bridge at Norwich Harbor — close to where he was injecting heroin, according to a police arrest warrant affidavit.

Police were skeptical of the story considering the weight of the statue and the fact the area is surrounded by a retaining wall and 12-foot high fence.

Police said McNee previously had worked for R.H. Snow Memorial Co. in Norwich, where owner John Halen said McNee has been in the Yantic Cemetery “countless times” helping him install gravestones.

“McNee has the knowledge to remove the statue with minimal effort and damage,” Halen told police.

As part of their investigation, police said they seized a grinder and spare cutting wheel from a home in Lebanon. Workers at Willimantic Wastepaper said McNee was with two other people, a man and woman, when he cashed in the bronze. Police said more arrests are expected.

Historians are looking into the possibility the statue could be repaired.

Tom Chase, an art conservator who specializes in bronze and who owns Chase Art Services in Woodstock, said if all the pieces are found, it would be possible to repair with some welding.

“If there are copies, they may be able to recast the head. There are ways to go,” Chase said.
McNee’s case was continued to March 29 and he remains held under a medical watch. He is charged with first-degree larceny, first-degree criminal mischief and desecration of a grave site.

It's no surprise to me that McNee is a lying dirtbag but it sounds like the police have a pretty strong case against him and I don't think he's going to be able to worm his way out of this one.  In an earlier story, the Bulletin reported that,

"Chunks of the 450-pound crouching woman, with an estimated value of $35,000, showed up at Willimantic Waste Paper sometime last month, where owner Tom Devivo said his brother was immediately suspicious.

“They said it was pieces from a Statue of Liberty (replica) that tipped over,” Devivo said. “It’s not something we typically get here. It’s really a shame. We feel bad for the family.”

I am very thankful that the owners of the scrap yard put the pieces of the statue aside feeling that something was definitely not right and that they were able to help the police in making an arrest in this case which has bothered me to no end.

It seems to me that based on his past criminal history and the heinous nature of this crime, that the court should throw whatever the maximum penalty is at this guy when he next appears in court on the 29th.  Not having to be at work until 3:00 that day, I'm thinking I just may be there to see what the judge has to say next while keeping my fingers crossed that something is finally done about a guy who has committed way too many crimes already.

While I was out taking other pictures today, I stopped by the Yantic Cemetery and visited Sarah's grave where it was even more dismaying to see in person the spot where her statute used to kneel over her grave.  The ground around the grave was pretty beat up so obviously it was no easy to feat to remove the 450-pound bronze lady from her pedestal.  It made me wish that Norwich PD had some of the technology of CSI: Miami as Horatio would have solved this crime already based on the evidence at the scene of the crime but I'm hoping that even without that, there's enough evidence to toss this guy in the can for a good long time.  A good long time!

Visiting Vermont, Part Two

Continuing my journey to the Green Mountain State, I arrived at my destination of Lyndonville close to 5:00 p.m. on Monday evening.  Lyndonville is a village in the town of Lyndon which is part of what's called "The Northeast Kingdom" of Vermont.  Lyndon refers to itself as the "Covered Bridge Capital of Vermont's Northeast Kingdom" because it has five covered bridges located within its six square miles so that seemed like a pretty good place to go if one was hunting covered bridges, as I was.


My base of operations for my trip was The Wildflower Inn which is located on Darling Hill Road - a partially paved/partially dirt road that just happens to be dirt road in front of the inn.  The inn, formerly an old farm, is located on over 570 acres and opened in 1984 after being bought by the current innkeepers, Jim and Mary O'Reilly.


The picture above was taken from the top of the sledding hill located behind the Carriage House which is the building that my room was located in.  The Carriage House was built in 1934 by local historical figure Earl Brown, the former governor of Minnesota.  Mr. Brown owned thousands of acres on Darling Hill Road in the 1930’s and 1940’s.


The building has been converted to 10 "classic" rooms and three spacious suites.  My "classic" room was located at the very end of the building and the first night I was there, I was the only occupant of the entire building!  Talk about peace and quiet!

After checking in at the main farm house and receiving the key to my room, I went over to settle in until it was time to head back over to the farm house where the inn's restaurant, Juniper's, is located.  In addition to Juniper's, the farm house contains three sitting rooms, a playroom for the kids, a small gift shop area, and two two-room suites.  It's a lovely old Federal style house and very welcoming.

My room in the Carriage House was located across the road from the farm house, an easy walk as long as one was wearing boots!


The room was very cozy with its queen size wrought iron bed, a comfy overstuffed chair, small kitchen area, and a bookshelf complete with "A Tale of Two Cities" - one of my most favorite books ever!  There was no TV and the internet - though free to guests - was virtually non-existent.  The idea at the Wildflower Inn is to get away from the fast-pace of everyday life and just relax so that's exactly what I did - at least until it was time to walk over to dinner!

Truth be told, I don't really like going out to eat by myself as it makes me feel really, really alone. Granted, I wanted to be alone on this trip but it just seems like dining in a nice place surrounded by tables where families and couples are seated is a bit too much alone; however, I was pretty hungry having feasted only on Diet Cherry Coke and Cheddar Cheese Combos earlier in the day so I decided to suck it up and take myself to dinner.

To compensate for being there by myself, I decided that a treat was in order so I opted for a nice glass of Shiraz to go with my delicious cheeseburger and fries that I ended up choosing from a menu that contained a lot of really delicious sounding selections.  All in all, the meal was quite tasty and after a bit I didn't feel all that awkward sitting there all by myself.  Plus I ended up sleeping really, really well later that night!  I've got to admit that there seems like some definite advantages to a nice glass of wine and I've been kicking around the idea of buying some for here at home!

After going back to my room it didn't take me long to realize that it was going to be an early night as I was feeling pretty relaxed and sleepy.  I figured an early bedtime was a really good idea as I wanted to get an early start the next morning for my drive west and a few covered bridges in the Stowe area - just on the other side of the mountains in the picture below - and the peace and quiet of my room was definitely conducive to going to bed around 9:00, something I hadn't done in ages!

Will There Be Justice For Sarah?

See that guy over there to the left?  That's Sean P. McNee, 43, of 182 South Park Street in Willimantic.  Sean is the upstanding citizen who thought it was a good idea to steal what was once a beautiful bronze statute that someone had lovingly put on the grave of Sarah Larned Osgood over 100 years ago and try to sell it to a scrap yard.  In the process Sean, great guy that is, managed to break apart the 450-pound figure of a kneeling woman in flowing robes and completely and totally ruin what was not only a beautiful piece of art but the best part of the Yantic Cemetery here in Norwich.

Sean - in my own humble opinion - is a dirtbag.  A dirtbag of the highest caliber.  Or is that the lowest caliber?  Sean should go to jail and stay there for a good chunk of time for what he did but unfortunately, what with the justice system being what it is these days, I rather doubt that's going to happen.  Perhaps instead we could make him kneel at the grave of Sarah Osgood every single day for a good long time?  I'd be happy to take a shift watching over him.

The details of the crime so far are still sketchy but kudos to the people at the unidentified scrap yard who reported to the Norwich Police that they had part of the statute which our boy Sean there had brought in to sell once he had cut it apart.  An investigation led to an arrest warrant which in turn brought in the "alleged" thief on charges of first-degree larceny, first-degree criminal mischief and desecration of a grave site.  A nice hefty bond of $150,000 was ordered and the "alleged" thief is due in Norwich Superior Court today where I'm hoping the judge raises the bond and throws him into a nice cold cell until his next court date rolls around.  

According to the report in the Norwich Bulletin, the head is still missing from the statute and other arrests are pending so I can only hope that perhaps during the continued course of the investigation that missing piece will turn up and maybe, just maybe, they'll be able to piece Sarah's statute back together again.  I don't know if it's possible but I sure hope so.

The article in the Bulletin didn't allow for reader's comments but a similar story in the New London Day does and it's rather obvious that other people in the area feel the same way that I do about this horrible crime and would like to see justice served.  First, though, the Norwich Police need to round up Sean's cohort(s) as I rather doubt he was able to remove a 450-pound statute by himself and then - however many of them there are - they need to be dealt with through the criminal justice system also. 

I have to tell you, looking at the desecrated pieces of this once-beautiful monument makes me sick to my stomach and I have to wonder again how people can do such things without having some twinge of conscience or sense of remorse or inkling that what they're doing is about as wrong as it gets?  How do people get to be so cold and uncaring?  I know the economy is bad and that times are tough but times were tough before; when this country went through the Great Depression this same statute knelt at Sarah's grave but no one pried her up, busted her apart, and tried to sell her for scrap then. 

Sean McNee, I hope that you are prosecuted to the highest extent of the law and if by any chance I find out when your next court date is and I don't have to work, I'd be happy to be there to see you - hopefully - get the justice that you so richly deserve.  That's a blog post I would be more than happy to write!

An updated article in the Norwich Bulletin appears here if you'd like to read further. 

*Photo credits to the Norwich Bulletin and the Norwich Police

Visiting Vermont, Part One

One week ago today I packed up the car and began the trek north to Vermont and three days of just me, myself, and I.  Hard to believe it's been a week already but I guess that time really does fly, doesn't it?  Looking out the window today, I'm rather wishing that I had today's weather last Monday but all things considered, I think I did pretty good weather-wise as early March in New England can be a real gamble no matter what the weatherpeople are calling for!

Anywho, after making the what-now-seems-like-relatively short drive up past Hartford onto Interstate 91 North through Springfield, Massachusetts and then past the area where Amanda's friend Sami attends college, I found myself crossing over into Vermont where my first stop was at the Tourist Information center in Guilford.


This was probably one of the nicest rest stops/tourist info centers that I have ever seen and it most definitely screamed Vermont with its barn-like exterior and cozy interior complete with rocking chairs!  There were more brochures for all parts of the state than I'd ever seen in one place before and the staff was extremely friendly and helpful as they asked where I was headed and made suggestions for stops along the way.  Vermont was already scoring high points for friendly people and beautiful buildings and I was barely 10 minutes into the state!


After gathering up more brochures than I would certainly need for my trip (I couldn't help it, everything sounded great!), I climbed back into the car and pulled out the information I had on covered bridges in the area. After all, one of my main purposes for heading to Vermont was to take pictures of at least a few of the greatest concentration of covered bridges in the United States - 114 in all. Had I been making this trip 100 years ago I really would have been in Covered Bridge Heaven as there were over 600 of them then but the flood of 1927 left only about 200. Since then nearly half of those have been lost to fire or development but the remaining bridges are said to be among the nation's finest and I was going to by-golly hunt a few of them down!

With that in mind, I fired up the iPod, pointed the car north, and journeyed to Windsor - about 50 miles up I91 - in search of the Cornish-Windsor covered bridge that spans the Connecticut River.  Technically this bridge belongs to New Hampshire as when one drives onto the bridge from the Windsor side of the river they are immediately in New Hampshire due to the defined boundary between New Hampshire and Vermont being at the western high-water mark of the river. Truth be told, it didn't matter to me who claimed the bridge, I just wanted to take pictures of it!


As it was, I ended up approaching the bridge from the New Hampshire side when I turned right instead of left approaching Windsor, a town that was first settled in August 1764 by Captain Steele Smith and his family from Farmington, Connecticut. As a side note here, there are A LOT of towns in Vermont that bear the same names as those here in Connecticut and for awhile there I found myself driving through the likes of Norwich, Plainfield, Groton, Ledyard, Hartford, Waterford, etc. Being kind of curious about that, I looked it up and it seems that Vermont was settled by a lot of people from Connecticut who moved there to get away from the repressiveness of the conservative congregational church. Made perfect sense to me! Anyhow, back to the bridge ...


Once upon a time, the Cornish-Windsor Covered Bridge was the longest covered bridge still standing in the United States but that honor has since been claimed by the ghastly looking (my opinion only!) Smolen-Gulf Bridge in Ohio which spans 613 feet and was opened in 2008.  The 449-1/2 foot long Cornish-Windsor Bridge was originally built in 1866 at a cost of $9,000 and rebuilt in 1988 at a cost of $4,450,000. The bridge is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and was designated a National Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers in 1970.


Sadly, it appears that New Hampshire needs to update its historical marker on this quintessential piece of New England architecture which is featured on the Town Bicentennial Medal struck in 1976 and is one of the most photographed covered bridges in the country.


For those that like tech specs, the Cornish-Windsor Bridge is of the Town Lattice Truss style and is rated for ten tons maximum load with two spans of 204' and 203', an overall width of 24', a roadway width of 19'6", and a maximum vertical clearance of 12'9". And it's busy!  I was quite surprised at the number of cars going back and forth across the Connecticut River using this bridge - myself included when I drove back over to Vermont after taking pictures!


The above view is looking from the Cornish-Windsor Bridge north up the Connecticut River and, as you can see, it wasn't the best of days weather-wise. Matter of fact, it was pretty darned chilly standing by the riverbank as there was a pretty good breeze kicking up beneath the gray skies. Time to get back on the road and look for bridge #2 on my agenda which was supposed to be somewhere off of State Route 5 north of Windsor in the town of Hartland.


The Martin Mills Bridge crosses Lull's Brook and is also of the Town Lattice style. The bridge was built in 1881 and has a span of 135' and a width of 16'2" which makes it a one-lane bridge. The builder of the bridge, James F. Tasker, was also one the builders of the Cornish-Windsor Bridge.


My journey to the Martins Mill Bridge was also my first experience with one of Vermonts many dirt roads which was more mud than dirt.  As I parked in the extremely muddy parking area near the bridge and stepped out into the puddles of mud, I congratulated myself for the first of many times on being smart enough to wear boots and not sneakers as is my norm!  Little did I know what I was in for the next day when it came to dirt roads and Mudder Nature, as Vermont likes to call her!

As I finished taking pictures of the Martins Mill Bridge, a light rain began to fall so I decided that it would probably be best to continue up to Lyndonville - the site of my accommodations for the next two nights - which was still 80 miles to the north.  I wanted to get there before nightfall so I'd be able to at least check out the lay of the land a little bit so I cranked the iPod back up, found my way back to Interstate 91, and continued on with my journey which I shall also continue with tomorrow!

An Award for Amanda

I was going to do a post today using some of my photos from Vermont as I've finally got a good number of them edited but something more important than covered bridges came up when Amanda informed me that the self-portrait that her art teacher had put in an art show won first place.  The awards ceremony was held yesterday afternoon down at the Mystic Arts Center and what kind of mother would I be had I not taken pictures to record the auspicious occasion and then shared them here on the blog?

We almost didn't go to the auspicious occasion, though, as Amanda has a fear of crowds and was a nervous wreck at the thought of having to walk in front of a group of people to receive an award.  I spent a good deal of the morning dealing with teenage wailing, door slamming, and the gnashing of teeth but finally my friend Paula, who is an art teacher down at Grasso Tech in Groton, told Amanda to quit giving me a hard time about it and go get her darned award.  She even agreed to meet us down there for the ceremony and we could do lunch afterward.

After convincing Amanda that it was simply going to be a bunch of other art students, their parents, and art teachers and all she would have to do was walk up, shake hands, get her award, and smile for a picture she finally agreed to go.  It helped that her friend Sami was here to lend moral support and knowing that Paula would be there, too, was probably the deciding factor.

The Opening Reception for the Young at Art show was scheduled from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. with the awards ceremony at 2:00 so we arrived around 1:15 or so as parking in Mystic is always dicey at best and with hordes of proud parents flocking to see their offspring's artwork, it was going to be even more of a mess.  Luckily we found a spot near the art center and went in to check out the exhibition along with what looked to be several hundred other people.  Ut-oh ... was Amanda going to get all nervous again??

At first I think she felt a bit awkward seeing her self-portrait displayed prominently in the middle of the wall surrounded by all sorts of other pieces but once Sami told her how great it was, Amanda seemed to settle down some as we walked around and looked at the other areas of the exhibit.  Naturally I had to take a picture with the picture as that's what you do at these sorts of things!

As the awards ceremony began, Amanda was beginning to fear that Paula wasn't going to be able to make it in time as she was having a horrible time trying to find a parking space.  With entries from 49 different schools, the place was obviously packed!  Luckily, though, they started the awards with the younger kids first and as they received their awards, the place began to thin out and Paula was able to grab a parking spot and make it inside just moments before Amanda's name was called and she went up to her get her certificate.

In addition to the very nice certificate, Amanda was given $100 to use towards one course at the 2010 Summer Art Camp at the Mystic Arts Center. Whether she'll be able to actually use it or not remains to be seen as there's only one course geared towards her age group that runs from August 9th to 13th and costs $170 to attend.  Even though I'm fairly certain I could come up with the other $70 by then, the big problem would be getting her back and forth for the course as it runs from 1:00 to 4:00 in the afternoon and Mystic is a bit of a distance from here.  We'll see, it may still be do-able and if not, that's okay as Amanda still has bragging rights for having won 1st Prize in the 2D art category plus her good friend was there to share the moment with her - it doesn't get much better than that!

Wanting to give credit where credit is due, I took pictures of the 2nd and 3rd prize entries also.  2nd Prize went to Maddie Pryor for a self-portrait photographic entry (Maddie is home-schooled) -

3rd prize went to Meaghan Doyle, another Norwich Free Academy student that Amanda knows from one of her classes, and her oil painting titled "Cupcake at Sunset" -

The award for 1st Prize in 3D artwork also went to a Norwich Free Academy student, Joseph Gennaro, for his entry titled "In the Vortex" which is done in pewter and wood -

In between Amanda being congratulated, we spent some time looking at the entries from Paula's students as well as some of the other pieces we hadn't been able to see earlier due to the crowds then decided that it was time to get something to eat.  We walked across the street to Margaritaville and had passable Mexican food (by Connecticut standards).  To be honest, the chicken enchilada I had was actually very good though it may have been flavor enhanced by the frozen margarita I used to wash it down!

Following our late lunch we walked around a little bit in downtown Mystic and enjoyed a bit of the beautiful day along the Mystic River -

 

All in all, it was a very nice day made even better by lunch with an old friend and Amanda finding out that she really can walk up, get an award, and not throw up on her shoes as she she feared she would do!  I'm so proud!

My First Trip to Vermont, circa 1967

Prior to my trip to Vermont earlier this week, I believe I had actually only been there once before and that was long ago when I was in third or fourth grade.  At the time we were living in Connecticut while my Dad was stationed in Vietnam and one day my grandfather - who was always big into trains - packed my three brothers, my Mom, and myself into his former State Police cruiser and made the trek to Riverside, Vermont where Steamtown U.S.A. was located. 

Steamtown was founded by F. Nelson Blount who was the President and Founder of the Blount Seafood Corporation which provided chopped clams to soup manufacturers throughout the US, including Campbell's Soups. The business was very successful and as Blount became a millionaire, he also became a collector of vintage steam locomotives and rail cars.   His collection was originally displayed at "Engine City" in Wakefield, Massachusetts as part of the Pleasure Island amusement park in the mid-1950's but when space restraints became a problem, Blount's collection was moved to North Walpole, New Hampshire, switched to Keene, New Hampshire, moved back to North Walpole, and finally - in 1964 -  settled into a site that was abandoned by the Rutland Railroad near Bellows Falls, Vermont.

It was to there that I made my first foray into Vermont way back in 1967 and I can still remember how excited my grandfather was to bring us there and show us the big steam locomotives that he so loved.  Unfortunately for Steamtown, F. Nelson Blount died in a small plane crash in August of 1967 and, without his funding, the collection was left without care and began to deteriorate in the harsh Vermont winters.  In 1984 the collection was moved to Scranton, Pennsylvania where several years later it was taken over by the US Government and established as the Steamtown National Historic Site.  A member of the National Park System, the new and improved Steamtown officially opened to the public in 1995 and finally fulfilled F. Nelson Blount's original dream to have a museum in a working railroad yard with excursions on steam trains as well as a functional locomotive shop.

I have no doubt that were he still alive, my grandfather would have absolutely loved it. I've driven through Scranton quite a few times over the years and every time I see the signs for Steamtown I think of my grandfather and that trip to Vermont to see the locomotives and share in the passion that he had for a way of life that had been replaced by something sleeker and faster.  Perhaps one of these days I'll stop in Scranton and visit Steamtown; I've got no doubt that if I do my grandfather will be right there along with me and enjoying every minute of it.

Looking at the Sky on Friday

For Tisha's Looking at the Sky on Friday meme this week I thought it appropriate to use a picture from my journey home from Vermont on Wednesday.  This shot was taken at approximately 65 mph while heading southbound on Interstate 91.  As you can see, it was a nice open road with virtually no traffic to speak of - ideal driving conditions in my humble opinion - especially if one has decided that's a good time to take a picture! 

Speaking of the road, I'm heading back up Interstate 91 today to pick up Amanda's friend Sami from college in Massachusetts so that she and Amanda can go see Alice in Wonderland on its opening day.  Unfortunately, there will be a lot more traffic than what is in this picture but with enough good music on the iPod I should be able to handle it.  Whether or not I'll be able to handle a weekend packed with teenage giggling might not be as easy though!

Be sure to click over to CrAzY Working Mom to link on to some great Friday sky shots.  Why, I'd be willing to bet there might even be some sun in some of them!

A Vermont Sneak Peek - Or Is That Peak?

All good things must come to an end and that includes mini-holidays to Vermont.  It's going to take me a little time to get pictures and all sorted out but I didn't want to not post something of my adventure so I will leave you with this for the time being:

I wasn't aware that a LOT of roads in Vermont are of the unpaved variety which tend to turn to mud once things start to thaw - which they had! Consequently, roads like the one above led to my car looking like below:

But that's okay because those roads also led me to views that look like this:

And this:

More to come once I get my 400+ pictures sorted through and edited and I promise there will be covered bridges!

Greetings From Vermont!

I'm not sure if text posting is set up or not but thought I would give it a shot being that the Internet in this part of Vermont is nowhere near as good as the cheddar cheese and maple syrup! Wanted to just check in, though, to say it's been a good time so far even though hunting for covered bridges is harder than you might think! Today's weather ended up being beautiful, hoping for the same tomorrow before heading home.

Take This Tune - Another "Road" Version

Jamie's Take This Tune meme this week is using the theme song from the TV show Saving Grace and asks us to write about "Your job, write about your favorite non network show, your favorite TV theme song, the lyrics to Saving Grace, or the lonely roads you might have traveled."

As far as roads that I have traveled, as soon as I hit publish on today's post, I'll be packing up the car and heading north to Vermont for three days to travel a few - hopefully - scenic roads in search of covered bridges and other photographic delights.  This is a me, myself, and I trip that I feel I need to recharge my batteries.  More on that as we go - though I'm not sure I've got an internet connection at the inn I'm staying at; I guess we'll see!

And as TV theme songs ... you can't beat this one, right?  Watching as a pre-teen back in the early 1970's, I always thought that Jack Lord was rather smoldering when he turns to face the camera.  These days ... I still do!


And on that note, I'm outta here! Happy Monday to you all!