Friday, July 10, 2009

Day 19 (7/10/09) - Lake George to Colchester, VT

We departed Ledgeview RV at 8:10 (57 degrees). First stop was Ft. Ticonderoga. To our surprise it is not a National Monument. It is a non-profit site that wants $15 to walk around the Fort. Seemed a little steep, so we moved on.

The next stop was the Shelburne Museum (http://www.shelburnemuseum.org/) just South of Burlington. Frommer's said it best ..

"Think of this sprawling museum as New England's attic. Located on 45 acres on the shores of Lake Champlain, the Shelburne Museum not only has the usual exhibits of quilts and early glass, but also entire buildings preserved like specimens in formaldehyde."

The Tiffany Glass and the hooked rugs special exhibits were the most impressive to Donna. Her favorite "formaldehyde" building was the 195o's house.

A couple of buildings were closed for a special event, which we learned was a visit by the Governor, Senator Leahy, and the French Ambassador. Turns out the Ambassador was presenting the wampum belts for a special exhibit. They must have had some scheduling problems as that exhibit was supposed to open on July 2. Bummer.

Next was a visit to "Snowflake" Bentley's Museum in Jericho (a Frommer recommendation). Housed in an old red mill, in a small town, the photographs of Wilson Bentley (http://www.snowflakebentley.com/museum.htm) were displayed. "From the time of his first successful print in January 1885, he took over 5,000 microphotographs of snow crystals. This was done with the simplest equipment: a microscope, a bellows camera, light from a window for his exposures, sunlight to develop his prints, and a brook to wash negatives" - Museum Brochure

Bentley's work was published in National Geographic, Scientific American, and the National Weather Service Research Journal. He died in 1931 shortly after his book, "Snow Crystals", was published. He was one of the first to profess the uniqueness of each snowflake. "Each snowflake is as different from it's fellows as we human beings are from each other."

Distance Traveled: 126 miles
Travel Time: 4 hrs
MPG: 23.9
Fuel: $37.07 (13.7 gal at $2.69 per gal)
Camping: $44.52!!!! Might as well stay in a motel. Seems a little high for camping next to all these kids.

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