October 13, 2003

Road Trip - Day 9: New York to Vermont!

We got a little later start this morning than we had planned, and it was after 11:00 before we finally got on our way across New York. It took a while to get packed and loaded, then it took longer to get across the border back to the States.

Once we finally got underway we made good time. We had planned to stop in Auburn at the Harriet Tubman house, then make Albany our end-stop for the day. But the Harriett Tubman house was closed today, so we got a couple of pictures then hit the road again. Joel just happened to spot a historical marker in front of a beautiful old house, the Fuller Manor in Skaneateles, NY, on the main road that had been a "station" for the underground railroad that Harriet Tubman had organized. We stopped to see if we could get a tour only to discover it was owned by an individual, and merely a residence now.... (Jenna thought that was just wrong! and wanted to know if they knew it was an important historical place! --How cute!)

Anyway, we were making such good time we decided to skip the two little historical stops in Albany, and drove straight through to Bennington, Vermont. I'm so glad we did too! There are lots of things to see in this beautiful old town--covered bridges, beautiful fall leaves on the trees, a historic battlefield, plus lots more.

We arrived in town just in time for dinner at Friendly's--a friendly little ice cream parlor disguised as a restaurant. ;-) Of course they gave the kids *free* sundaes with their meals, so Joel and I had to join in the fun....

While at the restaurant, Joel tracked down a room for the night, so we made a b-line for the Knotty Pine Motel. We tried to bring in only the necessities tonight, but then ended up making umpteen trips back to the van to get things we needed.... But Socrates is happy, and in the end, isn't that all that matters?

Anyway, we're all tired from a long day in the car, but we're happy to be in beautiful Vermont!