Day 20: Vermont! Montpelier, Ben & Jerry's, Morse Farm Maple Sugar

 We had a thunderstorm this morning, followed by a beautiful warm, then cold day!  We headed to Montpelier, Vermont amidst a beautiful sky of clouds.  The Vermont State House was beautiful.  After it burned down in the 1850s, it was rebuilt using the original portico because that had survived.  If you look closely at the front columns though, You can see a darkened area, which is where they were burned.  They are currently redoing the gold leafing at the top and have commissioned a new statue for the top.  Because of the weight of granite and marble, the statue at the top is hand carved out of wood.  The last time it was replaced was over 80 years ago.  One thing that I have noticed is how proud the citizens of New Hampshire and Vermont are of their state.

 This cannon was aboard a ship during the Spanish-American War.

 After the fire, they sought to use materials that would be less likely to burn.  This staircase is made out of cast iron.  Micah was very curious about the golden stars underneath the quotations in the entryway.  He wanted to know if they were real gold, but nobody knew!

 The marble floors contained numerous sea fossils.  This marble came from Vermont, which is indicative of the fact that Vermont was once under water.

 Ethan Allen played a significant role in Vermont becoming a state, hence his giant statue on the portico.

 Our tour guide was lovely.  She loved sharing all of her knowledge about the state house with us.  This cannon was from the Revolutionary War.

 Joey has been a good sport, but capitol building tours are not generally designed for the five-year-old audience.  The Senate Chamber was tiny in comparison to other capitol buildings.  Interestingly, they still employ page-boys (girls) to act as runners.  They serve a six-week term, and get paid!  They are usually 13/14 year old who have received good grades in school.

 The House Chambers.

 The Governor's Office has a chair that was built from the wood of the USS Constitution, "Old Iron Sides."

 Mom, this is capitol building number seven, can I just go play?

 Next up, Ben & Jerry's Factory tour.  Joey was THRILLED that they had a playground!  Perfect place to wait for out tour.

 Our sample at the end was a limited edition ice cream: Gimme S'more.  It was SO yummy!

 The last stop of the day was the Morse Farm Maple Sugarworks.  We learned about the process of making maple syrup, then got to try four different variations.  The variations come from when in the season the syrups are produced.

  

 I actually preferred the #3 flavor the best.

 In Vermont, soft serve ice creme is called: creemee.  They had maple syrup creemee, yum!

 The sky and the view were simply incredible.

 When we got back to the time share, the housekeeper had left the cutest note for the boys!