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Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin Came to Visit Lulu's Vision Tour

Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin came to meet Lulu and her Vision Tour

Our suite in the Inn at Montpelier

I can't remember ever sleeping in a canopy bed before


The Inn at Montpelier - within sight of the Capitol - our room was in this corner above the porch


Vermont gets lots of snow. This roof has two ice dams on it. They prevent the snow from building up on the edge - then melting and backing up under the shingles


The Ku Klux Klan was active in Vermont in the 1920s. Mainly they were Protestants banding together against Catholic immigrants. I have found a picture of my grandmother with a Ku Klux Klan outfit on - like these ladies

All protestants are welcome

Ethan Allen is on the front porch of the State House. He led the Green Mountain Boys in the Revolutionary War


This was a really neat firehouse - completely restored. Montpelier has a fired department of 17 full time members - not bad for a town of 7700. There are 4 crews of 4 men and the fire chief. There is always 4 men on duty

We had supper at this restaurant. It is run by the Vermont Culinary Institute - the third ranked cooking school in the country

The State House is small. It has a House and Senate. This building has been in use since 1828. At an open town meeting here - 1500 people testified - and passed one of the first Civil Union laws (Gay Marriage)

The Winooski River winds through Montpelier - in the background you can see the gold Capitol dome. In the foreground - you see a 6 foot waterfall. This waterfall powered many factories and also provided electricity for the first town hydroelectric power plant in the USA. That little falls powered all the street lights. The Winooski winds 90 miles to Lake Champlain


Nancy really liked our old fashioned room with canopy bed

While Lulu visited the school library here - I enjoyed this quaint little New England town. I visited the Vermont History Museum. I was the only person there except for a small group of second graders.

Lulu returned after the school visit - we packed up and started down the highway to Norwalk CT. It took about 5 hours with the last two hours of heavy traffic. there are just 5 libraries/states/schools for Lulu to visit.

One last fact I did not know - in 1864 - Confederate soldiers came across the border from Canada into the town of Saint Albin. They robbed several banks and took refuge in Canada under the protection of the British. The Brits were still smarting from the War of 1812 - and they wanted the cotton from the Confederacy.

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