Justin Case: Our New England Vacation-Part Two

Our Days In New England, Again

Our departure from the ferry put us at the Grand Isle, Vt., dock. We then had to traverse the Apple Island Causeway onto mainland Vermont. I saw what I thought was a historical roadside plaque. It turned out to be a plaque outlining what had been done at that point on the causeway, mere hours after the Twin Towers Muslim Attack. The granite monument says:

"This flag is a memorial to those who lost their lives in the Attacks of Secpember 11, 2001."
"It was erected by Grand Isle County residents during the 24 hours following the event."
"Flying from a birch pole set on a sand bar in the lake. It was later moved to higher ground."
"On September 11, 2010, the flag was moved to this permanent site in a ceremony involving firefighters, police, rescue personnel and ordinary citizens."

Sadly, I lost any photos taken of the Flag, itself.

From Causeway, Facing South

9-11 Monument

We continued on, along US Route 2 into--and through--the capitol city of Montpelier. As we passed just east of the small village of Plainfield, Vt., we saw a small covered bridge with a parking area. The parking area was empty so we decided to stop and have a look at the bridge. What we found was:

The Martin Covered Bridge, Marshfield, Vt.

The Martin Covered Bridge, Marshfield, Vt., again

The Martin Bridge was built for William Martin in 1890 by Herman Townsend and his sons. The bridge utilizes a Queenpost truss and was built solely to provide access to Martin's agricultural lands on the far side of the Winooski River.
The Martin Bridge is the only covered bridge remaining in Marshfield and is the only original covered "farm" bridge left in Vermont. A "farm" bridge was a bridge built solely for agricultural use. The Martin Bridge and surrounding land was acquired by the Town of Marshfield in November, 2003.
Despite it's sporadic maintenance, overall the bridge is in good condition for its 119 years. However, due to extensive rotting at the ends of the bottom chords and shifting of the abutments, the bridge had tilted significantly and was in danger of complete collapse.
William Martin was an early settler of Marshfield. He bought a farm about a mile north of Plainfield Village and resided there until 1840. His farm was reputed to be one of the finest on the headwaters of the Winooski River.The Martin Bridge is believed to be the last surviving example of the work of Herman F. Townsend. The forty-five-foot queenpost-truss structure stood high on abutments of cut granite and rubble stone laid dry. A cattle gate is hinged at one of the queenposts.

Suspended by a crane during restoration.

The Martin Bridge is a 'must-see!!' It's pretty much deserted during the day and is a wonderful site to explore. Inside there are many photos stapled to the walls, showing all the steps undertaken during it's restoration. One can get a close look at the heavy-duty joinery used to ensure the bridge is solid and will withstand the weather, foot traffic, etc.
After the footings on either side of the traversed river were restored, three pieces of granite were used to make a bench on the approach outside the far end.

The 3-piece granite bench, far side bridge.

The abutments prior to restoration.

As we left the Martin Covered Bridge area, little did we know that our taste buds were in for a treat!! Tom-Tom had picked a route to our various business destinations, the next one being Freeport, Maine. Though not a 'business' stop, I've always been enthralled with L.L. Bean products and wanted to see their home store. That being said, we were on U.S. Route 2 which parallels I-89, between Burlington to Montpelier, Vt. Within a half-hour or so, we began to see signs for the "Ben and Jerry's" Factory and Visitor facilities. What-the-heck, why not?!?! This IS a vacation, right?!?!

Ben'n'Jerry's Roadside Sign, Waterbury, Vt.

The Ben'n'Jerry's Ice Cream Production Facility, Waterbury, Vt.

It costs a 'whoppin' THREE BUCKS to take the Ben'n'Jerry's Factory Tour!! Although short, both in time and in things to see, a very enjoyable foray into economic socialism. There are several tour guides; our good luck gave us "Bob" who has a helluva sense of humor! He made the tour a real learning experience, though there's so many 'trade secrets' he couldn't tell us much as we looked down from a second floor, glassed-in, balcony onto the production floor. He was able to explain the manufacturing process in general terms; the peculiar traits of ice cream, in detail. At the end of the tour, "Bob" treated us to a mint-chocolate chip sample, as well as a recap of what we saw. We did discover that along with a terrific sense of humor, his parents blessed him with height: 6'10-1/2"!!! Practically everywhere he led us, he had to duck under the door frames!!
After that DELICIOUS treat, we continued on into Vermont's capitol city, Montpelier. There we changed to U.S. Route 302, which seemed a more rural--thus more scenic--route to Littleton, N.H. I had picked Littleton as the second-day stopover, simply because I had at one time, purchased coins from 'Littleton Coin,' thus it was a familiar name. We stopped for the night at the Hampton Inn (580 Meadow St., Littleton; [603]444-0025; http://www.littletonhotel.com/ ). The "Young Miss Lovely" and I much rather dine in the local eateries over the chain restaurants, so we asked the desk staff for a recommendation. They gave us a few and we settled on "The Littleton Diner (145 Main St., Littleton; [603]444-3994; http://www.littletondiner.com/) ," for no other reason than it just sounded like 'good food' to us!! GOOD FOOD it was!!! I can't remember what 'Lovely' had, but I ALWAYS opt for breakfast, if available. GAWD!!! DELICIOUS!!! I ordered Scrambled eggs, corned-beef hash and rye toast--my standard. In all my years of eating 'someone else's cooking,' I had never had HOMEMADE hash!! This stuff was FANTASTIC!! While most CANNED hash is 20% meat, 80% potatoes; this stuff was atleast 75% MEAT!! I also can't remember the prices; I DO remember that they impressed me as a great value for the money!!!

Littleton Diner, Littleton, N.H., http://www.littletondiner.com/

The Littleton Diner was the only place on the trip that I bought a souvenir T-Shirt (16 bucks)!
The next day (a Tuesday) we continued on our rural trek to Freeport, arriving mid-afternoon. After we got our lodging for the night, we went directly to the L.L. Bean facility. I was most concerned with their 'outlet' store, thinking (wrongly, as it turned out) that there would be the deals!! NOT SO!! I've been all-over-the-world with both the Air Force and the Army; I've NEVER BEEN SO DISAPPOINTED as I was with the Bean Outlet Store!!! A colossal "waste-of-time!!" It was partly my fault--I didn't realize that the outlet store primarily had stuff that had been returned for one reason or another.
We spent the next next morning having an early lunch at an eatery adjacent to Freeport's 'Town Wharf' and eating at Harraseeket Lunch and Lobster (36 Main St., South Freeport, Me., [207]865-4888; http://www.harraseeketlunchandlobster.com/) and getting some photos: