Liberty Tour Day 4: Beautiful Vermont down to Philadelphia

   If you have been reading these each day that I post them, I thank you. If you have stumbled upon this post as a first then welcome. Today I am writing about the last day of our quick four day trip from our home in Tennessee to New England. Arriving in Vermont the night before brought my 'visited states' total to 40. Despite my not feeling well the day before, I had a wonderful time and loved being able to form actual opinions on a place rather than relying on assumptions.

   We stayed the night in Brattleboro, Vermont. Beautiful little town, just like the ones you imagine are in Vermont. Even all of the people we talked with in this town and the next we would stop in were so nice, it was almost hard to believe! We had breakfast at Dunkin Donuts(those things are absolutely everywhere in New England, I had no idea about this but it became a running joke with us) and then wandered the Molly Stark Trail from Brattleboro to Bennington on the other side of the state.

   This is an overlook at Hogback Mountain. My camera really could not do the view here justice. I can only imagine how beautiful this would be as I write this, in October, with the changing of leaves. Arriving in Bennington was like being in one of those postcards you see of small town Vermont: quaint and oozing with history. We made three stops in this town, to see the Battle of Bennington Monument(tallest man-made structure in the state), History Museum(which was closed but had interesting displays outside), and a historic church and cemetery(and grave of Robert Frost).

   The Battle of Bennington Monument was built in the late 1880's to commemorate the Revolutionary battle that took place nearby. The Old First Church was built in 1805, the graveyard contains the graves of numerous Revolutionary War soldiers as well as the poet Robert Frost(Road Not Taken). Across the street from the church is the historic and haunting Walloomsac Inn. Dating to the 1770s, this old tavern has hosted presidents as well as travelers. It looks abandoned, but I do believe people still live here. It is a fascinating and beautiful old structure.

   I almost didn't want to leave Bennington. We bought souvenirs at the monument gift shop-maple syrup, maple candy, postcards and a hat pin. And then we had to leave beautiful Vermont. I really do hope to return some day.
   Crossing into New York, we passed through Troy and Albany before entering the New York Thruway, I-87 south. I'm not really used to toll roads, I don't think we have any at all in the state of Tennessee, but we certainly traversed our fare share on this trip. 'Fare' share. Heh. The highlight was stopping at the travel plaza near Woodstock(yes, that one) and having Nathan's Hot Dogs for lunch. No, it wasn't Nathan's at Coney Island(bucket list), but it was Nathan's in New York and that was good enough for me. And despite being $8 for a plain hot dog, it was the BEST expensive dog I've ever had! (I'm a cheapo and would never have spent this much on any food much less a hot dog, but...Nathan's!)

   Next came the New Jersey Turnpike and I got to experience what so many people joke about. It didn't seem all that bad though. The one plaza we stopped at was crazy busy, but aside from that it was a pleasant drive. I'm sure there are bad areas, every state has them, don't they? Trying to figure out how to get into Philadelphia, that was a little tricky. We were all tired, the maps rarely show the nuances of certain exits. Let's just say it took a little extra time but we got there! Here is a view of downtown Philly taken from the Walt Whitman Bridge.

   I've been to Philadelphia before, back in 1986 I flew up to attend a convention here. I have seen the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall and Ben Franklin's grave. Showing these places to my family though was priceless. My daughter is obsessed with the movie "1776"(as am I, really) and seeing the real thing was pretty cool for her. It was also the first place we stopped where we had to dodge people taking selfies all over the place. But that's a post for another day.

   Then it was time to go home. We drove through Baltimore, which I had never been in before. Through DC and its massive traffic. Found a motel to spend the night in Virginia.
   Tomorrow I will be writing a summary of the trip(more maps and talking, less photos). It was an amazing experience and I really want to thank my husband for suggesting it. I didn't think we could pull off all those sights in such a little time, but we did it. And it was awesome.