CONTINUING OUR FALL TRIP TO UPSTATE NEW YORK AND VERMONT

When traveling to new places, I love to take in the sights, but also love to visit farmers markets, great restaurants, garden centers and nurseries, and stop at historical sites along the way.  This week’s post continues our fall trip to upstate New York and Vermont…If you missed the first part you can see it here.

After leaving the beautiful Pennsylvania Amish country we traveled to Syracuse to meet up with friends Cathy and Charlie Thiaville and traveled to their river house on the St. Lawrence River on the New York side with Canada being on the other side.  The border runs through the middle of the river.  It was such an experience watching all the ships pass in front of their home.

We had a great boat ride and visited The Singer Castle on a small island in the middle of the river.

Appetizers and cocktails on their sunroom porch.

We loved spending time with friends, their dogs, and enjoying the boating and great dinners.

We did learn a very interesting tidbit.  Porcupines do live in New York and especially along rocky shores. Our dog, Sheldon traveled with us.  After dinner on our last night at the Thiaville’s, Dave was taking Sheldon out.  As soon as he was out the door Sheldon  took off after something.  Dave went running after him and yelled Sheldon Stop!  He was after a very large porcupine and when Dave caught up with him unfortunately Sheldon had a very long porcupine quill sticking out between his nose and lips.  I did not get a picture of him because we were so upset…here is one  I marked up showing the length and placement of it.  It was definitely wider than this.

After a call to a vet at Vet Triage,  we decided at his recommendation to trim the quill to about 2 inches.  We slept (restlessly) that night and left in the morning to continue our trip to Vermont.  Jane and Ken contacted their vet in Manchester, VT and we went directly to the vet.  They were wonderful;  yanked the quill right out.  Every tech in their practice knows how to pull out quills.  Vermont has lots of porcupines too!  Maybe Florida doesn’t have porcupines as our vet has never had to deal with this problem.  I can’t say enough good things about the vet we spoke to from Vet Triage.  He advised us not to make the trip back to Syracuse to go to an emergency 24 hour clinic. (a 2 hour drive). He said they would be so busy (with more important emergencies) that we probably wouldn’t be seen that night.  He then instructed us how to pull out the quill… (grasp tightly at the base with needle nose pliers and pull straight out, but quickly.  A quill has a barb on both ends). He also understood our reluctance to do it ourselves.  We chose to wait and trimmed the quill so Sheldon could sleep and travel.

Back to our travels…

Dorset, a small picturesque town in southern Vermont, is a favorite place to visit.  We love staying with Ken and Jane in their home on “The Hollow.”  With the weather turning chilly and soon to transition into fall we started gathering ideas for our fall and halloween decorating.  The Equinox Valley Nursery in Manchester VT was a great starting point, as they were preparing for Halloween and Pumpkin patches.

Enjoy!

Tons of scarecrows!

Patriotic Scarecrow

My favorite…The Wizard of Oz Scarecrows!

Another favorite…Ghost Heaven… look at those ghosts, holding hands, lamp shade heads and sheets as the bodies…love a home made ghost!

Lampshade Ghosts

Pick your own pumpkins…the beautiful Vermont mountains in the background… How lovely!

RIP…

Next up a tour of  Hildene Farm at the Goat Dairy!  Hiledene was the summer home of Robert and Mary Lincoln.  Robert was the only child of Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln to survive to maturity.  See the history  here

We’ve toured the beautiful home and grounds many times.  We decided on this visit to walk to the Goat Dairy and to see the Hildene farm.

Hildene barn at the Goat Dairy

From the web site…”Completed in 2008, our barn combines elements of an eighteenth-century post and beam timber frame with a 21st century milking parlor, cheesemaking room and aging cave.”

Goat Barn Flowers

Meet Billy

and Goat

My charcuterie board using Hildene Goat Cheese and their maple syrup.  I brought the goat cheese to room temperature then added Hildene maple syrup.  Delish!

Hildene Maple Syrup made from sap from trees on the Hildene farm.

Veggies grown on Hildene Farm

Next stop on our agenda… we always make time to drive to The Clark Museum in Williamstown, Massachusetts.  This museum is amazing and has such a large selection of art…Renoirs, John Singer Sargent, Monet, Winslow Homer, Degas, George Innes and so many others… a must see if you are in the area.

This years’s  special exhibit featured Edvard Munch known for The Scream, click here to view details.  I was familar with the scream but was surprised to see many other genres from Munch…

“Summer Night by the Beach”

And my favorites…

“The Women on the Bridge”

“The Girls on the Bridge”

“Woman With Pumpkin”

And finally I have to include the fabulous farm stand!

Clear Brook Farm in Shaftesbury, VT

The most beautiful okra I have ever seen!

Oh the flowers at Clear Brook Farms.

And finally…a wonderful Lobster and Brie fondue from

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about our trip to New York and Vermont!  I didn’t even add many photos of the lovely Vermont country side.  I’ll leave you with this pastoral scene.

Meadow on Kirby Hollow

We’re ready for fall and all the glorious temps, football, fall decorations, and great fall recipes.  I’ll be posting some new tailgating recipes for the upcoming games this weekend.

Come celebrate with me.  I’ll save you a seat at the table.