July 31, 2008

July 31, 2008

We had another terrific lightning and rainstorm last night. We got a late start waiting for the rain to finally quit. When it does, we head south following the border of Vermont and New Hampshire through rolling hillsides and quite a few covered bridges.

We made a brief stop at Quechee State Park to peer down Vermont's deepest gorge and then continued on to two National Park sites. The first, in Woodstock, VT is Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historic Park. The farm located on a hill overlooking a picturesque river was once the home of three different men. The common bond between the owners was their passion for environmental activism. The pastoral landscape here must have inspired them to action. In addition to preserving this estate, the park is a memorial to the conservation movement and the preservation of our natural and cultural heritage. We watch the movie but pass on the mansion tour.

Across the border in Cornish, NH is the Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site. Augustus Saint-Gaudens was America’s leading sculptor in the late 19th century. Coming into his own after the Civil War he sculpted many of the finer memorials to that war gracing city parks including the “Standing Lincoln” in Chicago’s Lincoln Park. He also worked with the US Mint carving the design of our early gold coins. The site was Saint-Gaudens summer home and studio and contains some of his famous works. A “sculptor-in-residence” gives us a half-hour tour and art lesson. Since I like sculpture I wish we had had more time to look around but the late hour and more rain caused us to leave prematurely.

We spend the evening at a private park in nearby Ascutney, VT.