Quechee State Park
Our stay in Vermont was rather quiet. The weather was not cooperating, lots of rain and clouds made it difficult to do any activities. Still, we enjoyed the campground, which is close to Quechee Gorge. All the gorge trails are closed, due to damage from flooding earlier this summer. All we could do is see the Gorge from the bridge, still pretty spectacular. You can see debris on the side, I can’t imagine how bad the flooding was in this area.
Campground itself is very wooded, with some very large sites with lots of evergreens and other trees. They have lean-to’s and cabins, overall pretty though small campground.
We explored the one and only national park in Vermont, the Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park. The park includes model farm created by Frederick Billings and family house of George Perkins Marsh, which was renovated by Billings and then finally by Laurance Rockefeller.
I was not familiar with George Marsh or Frederick Billings as conservationist. Marsh wrote a book on conservation, still in print, called “Man and Nature, or the Physical Geography as Modified by Human Behavior” which sparked early conservation movement. He was moved by the alterations to the landscape of Vermont as it changed from forests to sheep farming and almost total deforestation. When Marsh moved back to his family farm in Woodstock VT, he began to re-forest the area around his house. It was the first managed forest, with Billings continuing the work and creating model dairy farm (he called sheep a menace) and helping to change Vermont’s economy. Billings was a very interesting and complex character, even though he strongly supported conservation, he was instrumental in development of the transcontinental railroad (think of Billings Montana) and all the environment and cultural damage (think of all the displaced native population).
After Billings death, it was his wife and daughters that continued the conservation work and spread the ideas from this house in Woodstock. His granddaughter married Laurance Rockefeller and they eventually donated the property to the government, converting it into National Historic Park in 1992.
The ice cream is from Woodstock Scoops, I’ve opted for VT Maple Walnut because on a rainy day, ice cream helps! That’s the mission - try ice cream from various place!
Another interesting visit for to the Sugarbush Farm, which specializes in maple syrup and cheese making. We met some nice (male) goats and learned about syrup making in the Sugar House at the farm. Of course we sampled and bought plenty of cheese, Mountain Jack, 6-yr Cheddar and smoked cheese based on Gouda. We explored the farm, the sun was out for a bit so it was very nice.
We spend time in Lebanon, NH and West Lebanon, VT. It’s a nice town with White and Connecticut Rivers converging. Best part - we found a great little BBQ place, The Little Store. They smoke all their meats, we talked to one of the owners, and the smoker is right outside. Tom and I got pulled pork sandwiches, he chose the Carolina sauce and I got the tradition BBQ. If you in the area, visit them!
