Our Vermont adventures continued with visits to small towns in the northeast corner of the state. Sunday was a beautiful, sunny day and the boys were up for outside explorations, so we decided to head to the Birds of Vermont Museum in Huntington. On the way, we spotted the Round Church in Richmond and pulled over to take a closer look.
The church was just opening as we arrived and we were able to take a peek inside. Built between 1812 and 1814, this sixteen-sided church was the town meeting hall as well as the home to five different congregations (Baptists, Christians, Congregationalists, Methodists and Universalists). It may have been designed as a round church because the Devil can't hide in corners. The church wasn't on our radar, but it was definitely worth a stop!
Next up, the Birds of Vermont Museum in Huntington.
This museum is a unique place where natural history and art intersect. Opened in 1987, the museum showcases over 500 carved wooden birds. Bob Spear, a self-taught wood carver, had a vision to carve all the birds, male and female, that inhabit Vermont. Though he passed away in 2014 before finishing all the birds, two other wood carvers continue his work today. This huge collection of carved birds, representing 259 species, is just amazing!
Workshop
In addition to the wood carvings in the museum, this property is a 100-acre bird sanctuary and nature preserve with hiking trails.
We found blackberries!
Because we love birds, art and nature, the Birds of Vermont Museum was a perfect place for our family to visit!
After our visit, we headed back to Shelburne to say goodbye to Gramma and Grampa, and then spend some time with the cousins.
Amber and Tom had evening plans, so the boys and I headed to Church Street in Burlington for dinner.
We decided to eat at the Farmhouse Tap and Grill, a farm-to-table gastropub with a large selection of local craft beers. We had a bit of a wait for dinner (it was worth it!), but we passed the time people-watching and dog-petting on the pedestrian-only Church Street.
Cheers! Rookie's Rootbeer for the boys, Von Trapp Vienna-style lager for me.
After dinner, the boys enjoyed ice cream cones from Lake Champlain Chocolates before walking down to Crow Bookshop, because we never ever have enough books.
Our last day in Vermont was rainy and cooler, but we had mostly indoor activities planned, so it worked out well. Our first stop was the Jericho Historical Society, located in The Old Mill in Jericho. We met Amber and the cousins there to explore together.
The Old Mill is the home of the Snowflake Bentley exhibit, and you may remember that both my boys did their second grade Caldecott projects on Snowflake Bentley by Jacqueline Briggs Martin. We have been big fans of Wilson Bentley and his incredible photographs of snowflakes for the past three years and we so enjoyed seeing some of his work on display.
This is Wilson Bentley's camera. It cost $100 in 1884 and he used it to capture thousands of images of snowflakes. Just incredible.
Next up, we visited the State House in Montpelier, built in 1859. We took a self-guided tour and all enjoyed it.
After lunch and a visit to Montpelier's toy shop, we headed to nearby Waterbury. The boys love glass-blowing, so we stopped by the Ziemke Glassblowing Studio.
Our final stop was the Ben and Jerry's Factory. Fortunately, we had visited before because we ended up not going on the factory tour or even getting ice cream. The lines were long and with the rain, there wasn't any place to sit to enjoy ice cream. So we just visited the Flavor Graveyard and grabbed a pint of Half Baked at the local grocery store to enjoy in our hotel room!
I had to take a photo of the Turtle Soup grave marker.
And with that, our time in Vermont was over. What a beautiful state, with so much more to explore! The boys and I so enjoyed the escape from Houston's heat and especially getting to spend time with family, and we all look forward to future visits to the Green Mountain State.
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