Writing our own ‘Chapter’

The storms from Lake Michigan seemed to chase us East as we progressed from Indiana into Ohio, through the tip of Pennsylvania and into New York State. Flooded campgrounds were the norm, along with marooned golf buggies (transport of choice around a ‘seasonal’ campground!) Not too much of note other than surprise at the promises on a billboard, and shock at some of the billboards, at the amount of stock in RV manufacturer’s yards and fields that we passed. The vast majority are built in Indiana and it seems they did a bad job at forecasting demand post Covid. The market has dropped like a stone for new, as the barely new ‘in reality we didn’t enjoy camping’ stuff is for sale at silly prices on the internet. In contrast, we were surprised at the mount of vineyards we passed, on a sizeable scale too. No doubt the rainfall contributes to the green and pleasant land, and being the ‘older states’ they have a different look and feel.

In Albany, we passed our fingerprint tests, proving we haven’t changed one bit during our travels!  We could stop being concerned that the Fed’s would catch up with us, kidding obviously… we are law abiding Brits after all 😉  Or is it the Swiss?  Albany was classic US suburbia, ‘mid century modern’ style everywhere, just like the TV portrayal of life here… The very old GE building was superb though. Anyway, off course slightly, through Liverpool, Rome, Amsterdam and Rotterdam, yes there’s a song in there somewhere, we arrived for a few days at Lake George.

We didn’t realise though, that Lake George was home to a Motorcycle rally that long weekend called Americade, it was going to be a noisy and fascinating one. We got our bikes out and cycled into town, well we do have motors, so why not?! Pretty out of place among the leather ‘chapter’ clad brigade we enjoyed people watching with ice cream. Thousands of bikes parked up or cruising around showing off. Deservedly too in some cases, the design was real art. Watching a Tesla Cyber Truck cruise amongst them was hilarious. Not sure the ‘don’t drink ‘n ride’ message had landed though. We also don’t understand the lack of protective gear and how a bandana will save your head when clunked? One person who’d had few bevvies, felt the need to tell me I was taking the p*** when I parked my bike between others… well to be fair, I was! “Chill out dude”… I didn’t say… can’t be too careful.

Avoiding the bikes and trikes (I think there’s a ratio between number of wheels and the size of the rider) we did proper bike stuff which takes more effort than just sitting (Right atcha Chilliwack Steve…😊!) There are some great mountain biking trails through the lakeside woodland.  It was nice being away from the motorbike thrum, seeing wildlife scampering around and hearing the bird sound. Not a soul out there other than us it was great, being out riding like that on great trails with all kinds of bumps, humps and banked turns, has been one of our favourite aspects of this trip. We deserved our ice cream in the town, we formed our own twosome ‘chapter’… sans leather jacket.

As the parade moved on out of town to the next rally, we headed up Prospect Mountain to long views of the Adirondack Mountains. Quite a schlep up the mountain, a climb of 1650ft the lake views and those of Lake George were somewhat obscured by the trees. We actually heard someone say they should chop them down so the view is worth the $10 fee for a car (OMG). Lake George area is in a protected region due to its history and its gorgeousness.

The book and film “Last of The Mohicans” is based on events in the area and the French massacre of 1757 (French Indian War). There’s a place on the edge of the town called ‘Bloody-Pond’ where a battle massacre took place in 1755 when the war started. Over 200 lives lost and the bodies rolled into the lake which turned red, giving it its name. At the edge of the lake is a restored British Fort where there’s re enactments and history events. Closed, to sell its car parking spaces to angels… with ice cream. Back at the campsite we watched a trike being loaded into a ‘toy hauler’… on to the next event.

We vroomed into Vermont, well actually, crawled up a few hills, taking a route through the Adirondacks and The Green Mountains to our right, towards Lake Champlain. We took a super cute ferry across the lake from Essex to Charlotte and on to a fab Harvest Hosts stop at a botanicals farm. Noticing how much older the sweet old towns are in the area, it wasn’t just the names of places that were all seeming very British!

After a night of frogs croaking and foxes screaming and howling we headed north, passing signs for Colchester and St Albans. The drive was very Cotswold pretty, undulating green hills, pasture and wooded. Eventually arriving at Grand Isle, Lake Champlain, we settled in for a long stay and an explore of northern Vermont. Renting a car for the ease of it, we headed out around the island, admiring the quirky buildings and finding hundreds of painted birdboxes. Transpires swallows like bugs so why not encourage them to nest near your house and keep the bites down? Such a whimsical idea that we’ll adopt ourselves. We also spotted a miniature castle, one of many built by a South Hero resident Harry Barber, as a passion project and tribute to his home country, Switzerland.

Burlington is Vermont’s main town. Wandering the downtown, it has a great vibe, the lazy jazzy sounds of school bands cutting through the balmy heat as part of their Jazz Festival. Settled in 1783 and incorporated in 1865 we could really feel the age of the place in its architecture, lots of European style and even some Roman ’doric’ columns, not that I think they made it there. The ‘Chateauesque’ Richardson Block of 1895 was a dominant building, now a bank.

Waterside, the harbour was quiet, the waters still and the heat, stifling. Even wandering the gardens, looking across the Lake to the mountains was tough. Thankfully tree shade to look at the ‘Flying Monkeys’ atop the signature harbourside building,. the old Burlington Union Station for one. The centre is pretty cosmopolitan, pedestrianised with preserved buildings from the 1830’s commercial district boomtimes. Some ‘maritime mercantile style’ buildings reminded me of Liverpool’s architecture, very grand and solid. It’s proximity to the trade routes through the Great Lakes waterways and growing rail infrastructure made the place. Very much reflected in the large plot, lakeside mansions all over. 

The Shelburne Museum, founded in 1947, is an array of buildings and folk art collected over many years by ex New Yorker Electra Havermeyer Webb. An avid collector and worth a few bob she bought buildings, lighthouses and boats and had them moved to the site. This also included all the fixtures and fittings of her New York apartment, including the Monet’s, Goya’s and Manet’s. There was hundreds of millions of dollars of art in one building with a few volunteers ‘protecting’ it. She moved a huge Steamer Boat, typical New England Gable Sided Houses from early 1800’s and a Post Office & General Store to the museum grounds. There’s a building full of carriages for the wealthy, like the delicate Surrey.

As a collector of collections it seemed, there were lots of trade and goods wagons, for example. Lots of ‘antiques’ from dentists, doctors and optician surgeries. A fabulous collection of very expensive Vichy Automata that Nick would give his eye teeth for, a collection of razor’s, many made in Sheffield and a collection of glass walking sticks.

The best was however a collection of animals from a deconstructed carousel along with masses of old circus posters from the Ringling Bros; Barnum & Bailey days. There were two stars of the show. Firstly a 1/12th scaled circus procession, recreating the pomp and pageantry that used to herald the arrival. Painstakingly replicated from pictures were the most ornate parade wagons and tableaus ever designed. The whole miniature procession stretched 525 feet and Roy Arnold’s procession has to be seen to be believed.

The second star is Kirk Bros. Circus, a masterpiece of American Folk Art carved by hand by Edgar Decker Kirk as a toy for his four children. A brakeman for the Pennsylvania Railroad, he carved each of the 3,500 figures during his breaks. It took over 40 years (1910-1956) to complete… I hope his grown up children appreciated it! His display, set within a three ringed circus was dazzling.