The Quechee gorge and the VINS center

We stopped in Vermont on the way home. Took a quick walk to see the Quechee gorge. Rather a breath taking view.
The reason for going through Vermont was to stop at the VINS center (just a stone's throw from the gorge). We discovered it by accident last spring while in need of a place to let the kids run around. VINS is a raptor center with every thing from hawks to owls and eagles. To be sure it is a rare thing to be so close to such powerful, beautiful birds. The red tail hawk above is part of their raptor show. She has a permanently damaged wing and is not a strong enough flyer to live in the wild. Almost all the birds at the center have been permanently injured so that they can no longer live in the wild.

Some beach time and a big climb

We spent a couple hours at the beach in Acadia. The girls were happy to run up and down the beach and to build sand castles.

My Favorite hike of the week was probably this one. I think it was the Emery trail but they were in the process of changing many of the trail names so I'm not positive. It seemed like a lot of trials had one name on the map and another on the trail marker. This hike is a set of steps that go UP behind Acadia's wild plant garden and nature center. All told I think the hike was only a mile but it consists of steps cut out of the granite almost the entire way up. Some of the stairs come up to the middle of a two year old. But we all had a great time and the view was beautiful.

A pool for wayward starfish

We found a little empty cove at low tide on Mt. Desert Island. It is technically part of Acadia National park but no one seems to know about it.
The waves coming in there are a little rough. They tumble the smooth rocks round with a bit of a thundering sound. The starfish seemed to get tumbled up onto the one sandy part of the shore. They looked a bit worse for wear but we managed to find ten and a half of them and put them in a tide pool. I do believe nine and a half survived....okay kidding on the half.

Long Meadow House

Our next stop was Long Meadow House. It was formerly a farm but the land was broken up some time around 1902 my aunt tells me. Now it is just a giant old house full of secrets and treasures on a small piece of land rather near the sea. As it turns out we don't know the exact age of the house. My aunt has spent a considerable amount of time at the county deed office trying to ascertain the age of the house. But apparently its not as simple as waltzing in and asking for the former deeds. It requires a bit of detective work. She was able to get back as far as 1902 but we suspect the house is somewhat older. Missions for another trip I guess. Our family spent only a day there. My aunt was there all week. She has been tasked with the tedious but fascinating job of sorting through a lifetime of stuff. Her in-laws collected antiques of which the house is full. Her father-in-law liked to collect broken antiques and fix them. I do believe there are upwards of thirty broken dining chairs in the attic. Everywhere one looks there is another nook to explore. The house seems to be full of endless rooms. Really the upstairs rooms just go in a circle the way old houses do.

Truth be told after 20 years of no repairs the house has become a bit of a fixer upper. Oh that I would win the lottery.... But I digress. Phil loves these tin ceilings. I must admit I'm a fan too.

Alewives fabric

We spent this past week in Maine. The opportunity presented itself to visit all our favorite places in Maine one last time so we took it. We went to New Harbor (a place I haven't been in 20 years). On our way we stopped in Nobleboro to visit Alewives fabrics. What a brilliant little shop!! Don't know that I've ever been in such a great fabric shop. My husband and girls found the fish while I was drooling over fabric. They were beyond excited to show me once I had finally managed to detach myself. I had not planed on being there while the alewives were running. What a treat! I love when life gives such gifts.

The seagulls were going mad for the smell of fish. The folks who protect the alewives had nets up over the fish ladder at some points to protect them from the seagulls.

Can you see the fish? I swear they are in there. Ah if only I'd had my polarizing filter I could have gotten a better shot. Next time I guess...

Brimfield - Finally!

As our move date comes closer we seem to be squeezing in every last thing we've never seen in the North East. We finally made it to Brimfield, the biggest antique show in this neck of the woods.

My personal favorite of the day was the booth selling rows upon rows of chocolate and ice cream moulds. Did you ever dream that you could pay over $1000 for a piece of metal which formerly moulded chocolate into rabbits? I was inthralled; not particularly by the price but by the potential of all those moulds.