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New Hampshire & Vermont June 8-18, 2018 |
Each year we explore one of our 50 states; this year we will travel to New Hampshire and Vermont. On our journey, we will discover the rich and storied history of this beautiful region of New England. We will tour the homes of Robert Todd Lincoln, Daniel Webster, and Presidents Calvin Coolidge and Franklin Pierce. We will learn about the northernmost land action of the Civil War as we walk the ground of the St. Alban's Raid in Vermont and, at Hubbardton, we will learn about the only American Revolution battle fought in Vermont. We will visit the Canterbury Shaker Village and Harrisville, an intact 19th century mill town. We will ride the cog railway up to the summit of Mount Washington. We will visit a farm to learn how they make maple syrup; we will sample Plymouth Artisan Cheese in Plymouth Notch; and taste ice cream at Ben & Jerry's factory in Waterbury. We will also see as many covered bridges as we can fit into our trip. We hope you can join us on this exciting new tour! ITINERARY Friday, June 8 Individual arrivals in Manchester, NH. Join staff and fellow travelers at this evening’s welcome dinner. Overnight Best Western Plus, Manchester, NH
Saturday, June 9 This morning, we will tour the Canterbury Shaker Village. With 25 original buildings, the village is one of the most intact surviving Shaker community sites in the country. Following lunch, we will visit the Daniel Webster Birthplace. Continue to Whitefield and check into our resort hotel for a 2-night stay. Overnight at the Mountain View Grand Resort, Whitefield, NH
Sunday, June 10 Today we will travel to Mount Washington (6,288 feet), the highest peak in the Northeastern United States. Dubbed the "home of the world's worst weather," the stone buildings on the summit are anchored to the ground with chains. On April 12, 1934, a wind speed of 231 mph was recorded at the summit, the world record until 1996; it is still the record for measured wind speeds not involved with a tropical cyclone. We will ride to the summit on the Mount Washington Cog Railway. Constructed in 1868, it is the world’s first mountain-climbing cog railway and it is the second steepest rack railway in the world. Overnight at the Mountain View Grand Resort, Whitefield, NH
Monday, June 11 In Montpelier, we will take a tour of Vermont’s gold-domed State House. Just outside of town, we will stop at the Morse Farm Maple Sugarworks, where the Morse family has been making maple syrup for eight generations. On our guided tour, we will learn how maple syrup is made, from tapping the trees to the distillation of the sap. We will end the day with a tour of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream factory in Waterbury. I scream! You scream! Overnight Stowehof Inn, Stowe, VT
Tuesday, June 12 We will begin this morning learning about the St. Alban’s Raid (Oct. 19,1864), the northernmost land action of the American Civil War. We will continue to the Shelburne Museum of Art and Americana on Lake Champlain for a tour. Overnight Middlebury Inn, Middlebury, VT
Wednesday, June 13 At the University of Vermont’s Morgan Horse Farm, we will learn about the Morgan horse, one of the earliest horse breeds developed in the United States. The farm is dedicated to the preservation and improvement of the breed. Proceed to the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum for lunch and a tour. We will learn what made this area so pivotal to Benedict Arnold’s fleet during the American Revolution and we will step aboard a replica of the 1776 gunboat, Philadelphia. Time permitting, we may take a cruise on Lake Champlain. Overnight Middlebury Inn, Middlebury, VT
Thursday, June 14 Long before the American Revolution, the British and French both laid claim to the Champlain Valley and the strategically important Crown Point peninsula. At Crown Point Historic Site, we will see the remains of Fort St. Frederic, constructed by the French from 1734-1737 as a base for raids on British settlements in New England. After several failed attempts, the British took control of Crown Point in 1759. They immediately began construction of Fort Crown Point, one of the largest fortifications built by the British in North America. We will continue to Mount Independence, one of the largest and most well preserved Revolutionary War archaeological sites in America. We will end the day learning about the Battle of Hubbardton (July 7, 1777), an engagement in the Saratoga Campaign. Overnight Okema Jackson Gore Inn, Ludlow, VT
Friday, June 15 In Woodstock, VT, we will visit the Marsh-Billings National Historic Park. The boyhood home of George Perkins Marsh, one of America's first conservationists, it later became the home of Frederick Billings (for whom the town in Montana is named). When the railroad executive retired in 1871, he returned to Woodstock, Vermont to start a dairy farm. Influenced by George Marsh’s book Man and Nature, Billings embraced its ideas of sustainable land use and forest conservation. He created a model farm whose cows and produce gained national attention.
We will proceed to Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site where we will tour the studio of Augustus Saint-Gaudens. One of the pre-eminent sculptors of monuments commemorating Civil War heroes, his most famous works include the “standing Lincoln” statue and the memorial to Robert Gould Shaw and the 54th Massachusetts. The sculptor’s estate became an influential artists’ colony, drawing artists and celebrities including Frederic Remington, Edwin Booth, Isadora Duncan, and Woodrow Wilson. Overnight Okema Jackson Gore Inn, Ludlow, VT
Saturday, June 16 We will drive to the village of Plymouth Notch, VT, to tour the birthplace and boyhood home of Calvin Coolidge, the 30th President of the United States. Essentially unchanged since the 1920’s, Plymouth Notch has been dubbed “Vermont’s Brigadoon.” While in town, we will also visit the Plymouth Artisan Cheese Factory. Founded in 1890 by Calvin Coolidge’s father and four other local farmers, it has been making cheese ever since. We will see how the present owners make, wax, and wrap cheese by hand. Overnight Riverside Hotel, West Chesterfield, NH
Sunday, June 17 Today we will visit Harrisville, the only industrial mill community of the early 19th century in America that still survives in its original form. In Hillsboro, NH, we will tour the Franklin Pierce Birthplace. The temporary calm of the Compromise of 1850 shattered during his tenure as the 14th President. The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 and the resulting violence in "Bleeding Kansas" sharply accelerated the nation’s slide toward the Civil War. Overnight Best Western Plus, Manchester, NH
Monday, June 18 Individual departures. NEW HAMPSHIRE & VERMONT PROGRAM INCLUDES: COST: 11 DAYS/10 NIGHTS Single Occupancy: $4495 (NOTE: All costs are based on a minimum of 20 participants.)
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