In July, Trace and I decided to go back to Vermont. We had been there quite a few years ago and absolutely loved it there. Now I know everybody usually travels there during “leaf-peeping” season (a.k.a. the fall), but I love the summers up there just as much. Plus, it is not as crowded as it gets in the fall when the rest of the country descends upon this state. An added bonus for us is that it gets us out of the stifling heat of the Texas summer. As it turned out, Vermont was having a “heat wave” while we were out there. Vermonters were just melting away in the 80 degree weather. Trace and I thought it felt pretty darn good compared to the 95+ degree weather we were having in Texas at the time. So I guess it’s just a matter of perspective.
For this trip we stayed in Burlington which is right there on Lake Champlain. It’s a beautiful area and as usual I had lots of fun taking photos. But I wasn’t using my trusty camera to take the pictures. I actually opted to leave the camera at home and just use my iPhone for taking photos. I have to admit, as I became more familiar with its features, I was quite impressed with the quality of some of the photos. Plus, it’s a heck of a lot lighter than toting around all that camera gear. Who knows, I may do this more often.
We took a few side trips from Burlington while we were out there. We visited Montpelier (the Vermont State capital). We also visited the Vermont Country Store in Weston, Vermont, where I did copious amounts of shopping. Then on a not-so-weather-friendly day, we took the car ferry across Lake Champlain and drove around the little towns on the New York State side of Lake Champlain. We stumbled on a really cool place in Ticonderoga, NY. It’s a “museum” where the original Star Trek studio sets were recreated from the original blueprints obtained from the Desilu Studios. I say “museum” with tongue-in-cheek, as this place was actually housed in a strip mall!! But, if you remember anything about the original Star Trek series of the 1960’s, you will be amazed at the detail and the articles they used at the time to create these “futuristic” sets. We took the tour and I will share some of the photos from there. Truthfully, I was not much of a “Trekie”, but Trace was like a kid in a candy shop!!
But enough of my gibberish. It’s better to tell the story of our trip in pictures. So here we go…
The above photos are of the Lake Champlain harbor in Burlington. There’s a really nice marina there and a plethora of small pleasure craft that dock there. As you can see, we had some gorgeous weather while we were there. The land you see in the distance is New York. Unlike the Great Lakes, where you cannot see land when looking out from the shore, Lake Champlain is not a very wide lake. But it is really long and it basically separates New York State from Vermont.These two pictures above were taken along the Lake Champlain shore. We were taking a boat tour of the lake. I just had to capture these two photos. These two guys were cliff diving from this rock into the lake. Notice the guy standing on top of the rock in the top photo. He is getting ready to dive off the top of this rock into the lake while his buddy is in the water below watching. In the bottom photo, you can see the other guy getting out of the water and getting ready to climb up the rock and do it all over again. It was quite entertaining to watch them!I have no idea what kind of bird this is, maybe some sort of crane. I just thought it was a good subject for a photo.This is a statue of Ethan Allen that is outside the capitol building in Montpelier. Ethan Allen was one of the founders of Vermont, and best known for his capture of Fort Ticonderoga during the American Revolutionary War. The top photo above was taken in the Senate Chamber. The head of the state senators presides from the top seat at the main desk there. The bottom photo is of the House of Representatives Chamber. The head of the House of Representatives (i.e. the Speaker of the House) would preside from the desk directly below the portrait in the picture. Since neither House was in session during our visit, we were able to go in and take photos.This is the office for the Governor of Vermont. Check out his chair. Looks far too uncomfortable to have your butt parked in that chair for eight hours a day! But despite the chair, I must say that the rooms in this capitol building were quite extraordinary.Look familiar?? That is an EXACT replica of the model that was used to film the outside view of the starship Enterprise. Beam us up Scotty!!!The top photo above is of the doctor’s office onboard of the Enterprise. The bottom photo is of the sick bay. I believe this was the room onboard the Enterprise where they could see and communicate with others outside of the spacecraft.I have no idea what this was supposed to be on the spaceship. I just thought it was really neat how they created the illusion of depth looking down a hallway or passageway.And there it is. The main bridge where the starship Enterprise was driven and controlled from.And there is Trace, doing his best imitation of Captain Kirk in the Commander’s chair.
So there we have it…a synopsis of our trip to Vermont. We thoroughly enjoyed our trip there and wouldn’t mind returning again someday. Hope you enjoyed the photos as much as I enjoyed taking them. So, until our next venture, ciao!!
