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Covered
Bridges and Capitols by Ken Gambier When we decided to spend a couple of weeks exploring New England we had no fixed ideas about what we most wanted to see. We were going in the middle of September so we were a little early for the best of the autumn colours, but we did plan to travel from south to north in the hope that towards the end of the trip we might meet the autumn leaves spreading the opposite way. We had chosen to take a route through Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. Our motels were booked with a group we had stayed with previously, in order that we would not have to worry each day about fixing accommodation, and in the knowledge that we could change a booking if necessary. The route was therefore largely pre-determined but we had to decide each day where to go and what to do. We had guide books to suggest what was worth seeing. We flew into Boston in gloriously sunny weather, which lasted the three days we were there. We took out travel cards, which allowed us to ride on the tube system, the buses and the ferries. Then we set off for downtown Boston to see the sights. The Massachusetts State Capitol stands prominently on Beacon Hill and has a shiny gold dome; we made this our first place to visit. We were welcomed inside and given the freedom to see whatever we chose. We remembered the same thing happened last year in Denver, at Colorado's State Capitol, where we were told, "This was paid for by the public and they have a right to come inside and see it". Nobody asked for credentials or wanted to check our bags. We looked inside the Senate and the House of Representatives and took several pictures. The Freedom Trail is a 3-mile walk through the historic parts of Boston, marked in the pavement (sorry-sidewalk!) by a red line which makes it easy to follow. Boston was the first large settlement in the New World and has some ancient buildings by American standards, going back to the late 17th century. The oldest is Paul Revere House originally built in 1680. The trail finishes at Bunker Hill Monument which, surprisingly, marks the spot where in 1775 the British defeated the Americans after a hard-fought battle, but it was a significant turning-point in the fight for independence. From the top of the monument there is a splendid view over Boston and its harbour, well worth the climb up 295 steps. Close by is the USS Constitution which is the oldest US Navy ship, commissioned in 1797. We took the ferry back to Long Wharf and sat in the warm sunshine seeing people enjoying their Sunday afternoon and watching the boats enter and leave the wharf, some taking passengers to watch whales in the Atlantic. Later we took the train to Harvard, in Cambridge, Mass and saw many students arriving for the start of their year. It was very reminiscent of Cambridge University, a short drive from our home, which we know and love. We walked round the campus and sat in on an open-air concert to entertain the parents. On the third day we went to collect our rental car which had been booked in advance. It was quite scary driving from Boston airport onto the main freeway and getting far enough to escape the heavy traffic. We drove to Plymouth to see where the Pilgrim Fathers first set up their new colony in 1620. Then on towards Cape Cod and we were just about to enjoy its attractive features when the computer system in the car told us we had a fault in one of the car "tires". On pulling into a service station a very obliging assistant helped us to check the tyres and decipher the instructions in the handbook. These didn't have any effect, so we phoned the nominated helpline, who finally advised us to ignore the message. The next day, another warning light told us to "change the oil" so, after checking the level in the sump, we ignored that too for the rest of the trip! Cape Cod, a 65-mile-long sandy peninsula, was as attractive as the guidebooks say and we could understand why Gordon Brown likes to visit there each year, and took his new bride for their honeymoon. We drove up to Provincetown and climbed the 116 stairs and 60 ramps to the top of the Pilgrim Monument. It was in Provincetown that the Pilgrim Fathers first landed in 1620, but then moved on to Plymouth to find better water supplies. We looked round the harbour and the town, which were both busy, though the main holiday season had finished. Next day we drove to Rhode Island, which is not an island but is the smallest of the 50 states, and headed for Newport. There are some magnificent houses along the clifftop and we looked at several from the outside then went to visit The Breakers, built in 1895 for Cornelius Vanderbilt. It represents the wealth the Vanderbilt family accumulated from their involvement in steamships and railways The 3.5-mile walk along the clifftop, advertised as an attraction of the area, is in places quite difficult and unsuitable for anyone not totally fit. Then to Providence, the capital city of Rhode Island, where we got lost trying to find the State Capitol. We arrived too late to go inside, so had to be content to take pictures of it from the outside. The following day, it was time to cross the state border into Connecticut. It poured with rain the whole morning but, by the time we arrived in New Haven, it had dried up. We went to Yale University, where we were provided with a walking route which took in the most interesting buildings. It looked so much like Oxford or (our) Cambridge. We moved on to Hartford, the state capital to pay our customary visit to the Capitol building, and were given the freedom to look around. The staff were pleased with our interest in their local political system and were surprised to be told that one could not enjoy the same freedom in Britain. The Connecticut State Building was perhaps the most ornate of the tour, with its stained glass and marble floors. Then back into Massachusetts to visit the Hancock Shaker Museum, preserving a Shaker village which was at its peak in 1830. Twenty of the original buildings have been restored and they give a clear insight into working and living conditions in the early 19th century. There is a wonderful 1826 round barn on three levels, where the feed was tipped from the top floor to the cattle below, and their droppings were collected in the basement. A bullock cart was working in the village as a tourist attraction. The kitchens, dormitories and school are set out as they were nearly 200 years ago. The Shakers vowed to be celibate, yet the movement flourished for nearly 100 years by enlisting new followers. We digressed across the border into New York state to make a visit to Albany, the unpretentious capital of the most famous state. It was Sunday, so no visits were allowed round the Capitol building, due to lack of staff on the premises, but the security man allowed us to go to the Rest Rooms. This is what is so civilised about the USA, that one seldom has to go far to make a comfort stop and the conditions are always clean and well-provided. The Capitol building is unlike the others we have seen in that it does not have a large dome and looks more like a Victorian Gothic office building. It would not look out of place in London. When we crossed the state border into Vermont we picked up a map from the Visitor Center which showed where a nearby covered bridge was located. We remembered first being made aware of covered bridges in Meryl Streep's film "The Bridges of Madison County" and decided we would like to see one for ourselves. From this point on it became something of an obsession and we organised our routes to take in as many as we could without adding excessive miles to our journeys. We soon discovered that it was a wonderful way to drive along quiet roads to visit very pretty villages and meet welcoming people. They were delighted to direct us to their local covered bridge and to ask about our trip. Many had relatives in UK and had exchanged visits with them. We went to Montpelier to see the Vermont State Capitol and found the city completely uncrowded and unbusy on a working day. We went inside the Capitol building to find that an early music group (recorders, bass, and harpsichord) were giving a free performance in the House of Representatives chamber, part of an historical celebration. It was early music in the other sense too, as they started playing at 9.00am. Then we went to visit the granite quarry at Barre, where huge blocks of the stone are cut from a outcrop said to be four miles deep. The quarry was so vast and the men so far away that a pair of binoculars was very useful. Then on to Burlington to visit the Shelburne Museum, a strange assembly of artefacts set out on a 45-acre estate by the Havemeyer family. The collections house 80,000 objects in 37 buildings. There was a circus collection, a funfair roundabout, a high-and-dry paddle steamer, a lighthouse, a railway station complete with train, a large collection of carts and buggies, and several furnished houses of various types - and much more. Next came a drive up the islands in Lake Champlain, almost to the Canadian border. These would have been very busy at the height of the summer season as they are perfect for boating and other watersports. We discovered we had chosen the perfect time to visit New England, as the main holiday season was over but the "fall colors" season had not yet started. Both seasons cause crowded roads and a shortage of accommodation but we had managed to slip in between the two. Then to Stowe, in the Green Mountains, a busy skiing resort in winter, but very quiet in September. The motel we stayed at had only one other visitor that night. Then we drove into New Hampshire to the Franconia Notch State Park. This centres on a narrow gorge cut through granite by a tumbling stream. The Flume is a natural cleft in the granite and a 2-mile walk takes you through the cleft and along a boardwalk, with the granite walls towering above. We had then intended to go up Mt Washington on the cog railway, but it was very cloudy and the top of the 6288ft mountain was hidden. We decided not to take the railway, but later saw that the cloud had lifted by the time the train got to the top. However, we consoled ourselves by going to see some more covered bridges and felt that these were probably better value than three hours up and down on the railway. We spent the night at the Covered Bridge Motel in Jackson right next door to the bridge. We continued east into Maine and turned north to The Forks to see if the autumn colours were any more prominent at the northernmost point of our trip. We saw many patches of beautiful colour and felt that small areas surrounded by green provided a striking contrast. We waved to and exchanged greetings with some white-water rafters on the Kennebec River. We walked out to the Moxey Falls in glorious weather and saw only a few people on the way. Then back south to spend the night in Augusta. There we visited (of course) the Maine State Capitol. The builders were in and there was chaos everywhere. We were still allowed inside the building to see the two debating chambers. Next day we drove to the Atlantic coast at Bar Harbor to visit Acadia National Park. This covers 62 square miles and is made up of hundreds of peninsulars and small islands, so one is always near the sea. Cadillac Mountain, at 1530ft, gives a splendid view across the park and overlooks Bar Harbor, where cruise ships anchor to let their passengers go ashore for the day. A ship was in for the day and its passengers made the favourite spots in the park unusually busy. We went for several waymarked walks and soon left the crowds behind. We had intended to stop at Portland, Maine on our way down the coast to Boston, but it poured with rain all the way, so we drove inland to Manchester, New Hampshire to spend our last night. There we saw a large Victorian industrial estate of high redbrick buildings. These have been preserved and renovated and are still in use. We were up early in the morning for our seventh State Capitol visit in Concord. Once again we were surprised that on a working day we were able to park very easily within yards of the building. Inside we went into the House of Representatives and the Senate, and stopped to talk to the Governor's secretary. She gave us each a pen inscribed with the Governor's name, Jeanne Shaheen. The Capitol has 200 paintings of politicians who have served the state of New Hampshire, each with a descriptive plaque. The House of Representatives has 400 members, the largest of all the States, and the chamber is so crowded that they sit in rows as though in a cinema, with no desks. We decided that in our last few hours before driving back to Boston, we had enough time to do a loop round to the west and south of Concord and take in eight covered bridges. This was an absolutely delightful end to the holiday. The weather was warm and sunny, the roads were empty, and the villages very pretty in developing their "fall colors". We were helped on our way by many of the local people who gave us the final instructions "turn next left and it's just beyond the trees" We found all the bridges we were looking for and then it was time to head for Boston. We had driven over 2500 miles in two weeks. Our final count of covered bridges was twenty and we saw the State Capitols of Massachusetts (Boston), Rhode Island (Providence), Connecticut (Hartford), New York (Albany) Vermont (Montpelier), Maine (Augusta), and New Hampshire (Concord) First published in VISA issue 39 (winter 2000) |