Portland, Bennington and Princeton

After Boston, we headed up to Maine and stayed in Portland for 2 days, in a B&B called 'The Elms'! (My maiden name for those of you who didn't know me then)

On the Saturday, we left the shores of Portland behind and headed out for a whale watching cruise. We did get great views of the Atlantic, a few seals and a dolphin, but sadly no whales! So instead of whales, you just get to look at a few photos of us at sea, a light house (we saw many of these) and a fort. Here they are below!







So no whales, but it was a beautiful day all the same. Back on land we wandered some of the cute little streets of the Old Port and ate lobster, a Portland speciality.


Our next stop in our trip was the town of Bennington in Vermont. We had wanted to travel a bit further north in Vermont and see some of the Fall colours but we were just running out of time. However, we were lucky enough to see some of the leaves just starting to change colour and we could certainly feel the signs of Fall in the crispness of the air. We visited the Bennington Battle Monument and took the lift to the top, from where you get a beautiful view of the town and surrounding countryside. The monument commemorates the Battle of Bennington in 1777, in which British troops were defeated during the American Revolution.

The Bennington Monument as seen through some Fall leaves

Bennington is also well know for its covered bridges and we did a scenic drive which took us through some lovely winding roads and through 3 covered bridges. They are all made of wood, (built around 1840) can only fit one car at a time and are certainly very charming.



The moose is also a very popular symbol in Vermont and there are moose statues everywhere, all very brightly painted.


Our final full day of travelling took us out of Vermont heading to Princeton, New Jersey, our final university stop for the trip. On the way, we stopped for a few hours at Hancock Shaker Village, which was another fascinating open-air museum. The Shakers no longer live in this community, and most Shakers have died out in the US (there is a community left in Maine, apparently). But in this village, all their houses, workshops, barns and gardens are left as they were and there are guides dressed as Shakers who show you how they lived and worked. The Shakers believed that work was prayer and so they worked hard from early morning until evening, men separate from women, making their own furniture, furnishings and clothes, as well as tending to their animals and vegetable gardens.

Our 'Shaker' family

We posed as our own Shaker family (Pia thought we looked too silly and refused to dress up too - perhaps she was wise!).

Ella, as a Shaker girl, weaving fabric

Ella 'milking' the cow

Pia tries her hand at woodwork, 'Shaker-style'

The barns, buildings and farm land were beautiful and the girls loved walking around and visiting all the animals that were kept in the barn.




Then it was time to push on and head to Princeton, but on the way we made one more quick stop in New York State, at the magnificent Olana home. This beautiful home was built by the artist Frederick Church in Persian style, with detailed, colourful tiles and decorations, and also boasts breathtaking views over the Hudson River. Church designed the landscape and home on the same hilltop where he used to paint as an 18 year old.

Olana

The beautiful view from Olana

We finally arrived in Princeton early evening. We were staying at the historic Nassau Inn, the oldest inn in Princeton, which was just opposite the university. We had a bit of a walk around that evening and then visited the bar in the hotel, which has the original painting of the song Yankee Doodle hanging in it.

The next morning, we visited the Princeton University campus, which we decided was the prettiest of the Ivy League campuses we had seen on this trip. We were there at 9 in the morning and it was so quiet - hardly any students to be seen. When we asked someone about this, we were told classes didn't start until at least 10 so the students were all still asleep. Very civilised!! Here are some photos of the Princeton campus, including the Princeton Chapel and the Princeton black squirrels!

a Princeton squirrel

So that is the end of our trip. We had a great time and really enjoyed getting out of the big cities and seeing some of the smaller towns and beautiful countryside. This week, the girls have been back into their art classes and ballet classes and are looking forward to seeing Nonna and Dad-Dad who arrive tomorrow.