<– Day 30 – Sun. June 2nd: State #49 Was Exciting!  | Trip Overview | Day 32 & 33 – Tues. June 4th & Wed. June 5th: Rudeness at the Parkside Diner –>

The Shelburne Museum was a fun place to visit!

On Monday we traveled from Burlington, Vermont, to Pulaski, New York, via Rome, Poland and Russia!

On Monday we traveled from Burlington, Vermont, to Pulaski, New York.

Ann and I started the day in Burlington, Vermont. As we left our hotel, we decided to wander the streets of Burlington and find some iced black tea. So, we walked over to the nearby walking-mall in downtown Burlington that we’d spotted when we arrived on Sunday evening.

As soon as we stepped onto the plaza, we loved the place. Even on a monday morning with temperatures in the mid-60s, people were milling about. Many restaurants had sitting areas arranged in such a way that it reminded me of the small towns in Eastern Europe I’d visited back in 2003.

This shows the southern half of the outdoor mall.

I spotted this jeep in this long, cool mural on a wall in Burlington, VT.

The mural from one side.

A detail shot.

The mural from the other side.

I guess Burlington fancies itself a ski town?

Outdoor seating for a restaurant.

And what trip to Vermont would be complete without checking out Ben & Jerry’s?

After exploring the city, we eventually found some black tea at a dark, cool coffee shop called Muddy Waters. The tea was good and the atmosphere unique. We followed up the tea with some bagels.

After our walk through Burlington, we were intent on getting into the jeep and driving, because we had about five hours to go. We made it all of fifteen minutes when we spotted a beautiful covered wooden bridge.. Ann immediately wanted to take a picture of it, but we had to figure out how to reach it. As we drove, we discovered several more buildings separated by beautiful landscaping. All were behind a big fence. Eventually it dawned on us we were looking at a museum of some kind.

So, our drive plans immediately changed!

This is the covered bridge we’d spotted from the road.

We pulled into the parking lot, walked into the entrance, and asked where we were. After looks of surprise by the staff, they explained we were at the Shelburne Museum. It turns out it’s a rather well known place. Maybe we were the only clueless souls who didn’t know about it?

As they explained the place to us I noticed the price: $22/per adult. I knew that was way beyond our budget, especially since we were only going to be there about an hour or two.  The woman saw me balk at the price and asked if we had AAA. I told them no, but then asked if they had military discounts? She said yes, active duty members get in free (I noticed this price break wasn’t advertised anywhere). Since Ann is still technically active duty (that’s a long story), we saved $44 (though we bought a few things at the gift shop to help the museum out).

The round barn near the entrance that greets visitors.

An old schoolhouse.

Dan . . . this one’s for you. I’m sure you’ve worked on it?

One of the many walking paths.

The Shelburne Museum is a pretty good size, though Ann said that Greenfield Village in Dearborn is bigger. Because of our time constraints, we visited a couple of the buildings (which were filled with collections of items), toured the Ticonderoga (awesome, see below!) and ventured inside a horseshoe shaped building that contains a miniaturized circus parade (pretty neat).

We stayed longer than we planned and enjoyed ourselves. We could see returning for a longer visit someday.

After the Shelburne, we raced south. That’s when we encountered this Fairmont Hy-Rail. Here are a couple similar ones. As you can see, this has four wheel drive and sports dualmatic hubs.

Eventually we crossed over Lake Champlain, and entered the mountains of New York. Here’s a typical road we traveled.

A typical road through the Adirondacks.

It was a beautiful drive! The thing that puzzled us were the international names of the towns: Russia, Norway, Rome, Poland, and others. We hoped to find polish food in Poland, but didn’t spot any. Ann’s ancestors are from Poland (and I enjoyed my visit there — Krakow was great); so, we took a picture of her with the sign.

Ann with her Poland sign.

After visiting Poland and Russia, we drove to Rome for some hotdogs at Ted’s Hot Dogs, a place that’s been around for decades.

We ended today in Pulaski near Lake Ontario at a one-star motel advertised as a two-star. We are the only ones here. Should we be worried?? 🙂

On Tuesday we head east through Up State New York.

<– Day 30 – Sun. June 2nd: State #49 Was Exciting!  | Trip Overview | Day 32 & 33 – Tues. June 4th & Wed. June 5th: Rudeness at the Parkside Diner –>