Sunday afternoon was a series of tough ‘goodbyes’ …….and one last one on Monday evening as we said goodbye to Brian and Rebekah. It is ALWAYS tough to say goodbye to loved ones……. but it seems more difficult when everyone is headed on their separate ways - Laura and Dave, back to California, my Mom and sisters headed back to Louisiana, Brian was heading back to Iowa, and Rebekah was staying in Delaware (only, she is moving apartments in a week.) And us…..on a trip that will take us to New York state, Maine,Nova Scotia and Quebec.
Tues. May 31st , After all the excitement from Brian and Rebekah’s wedding, we needed a bit of a quieter pace and a place to just ‘process’ everything. We were headed to Cambridge, NY and a week of slow paced sightseeing as we had decided to hang out in this area to catch Cambridge’s hot air balloon festival and the open house and dog training demonstrations at the Monks of New Skete (more on this later). Cambridge was a perfect fit for what we needed. It is a sleepy little town (at least during the week) of about 2,000. And, like the little towns in this area, which were established before the Revolutionary War, full of charm and ‘Americana’.
I think that the thing that Cambridge is most famous for is “Pie a la Mode”. The Cambridge Hotel was the first use the expression “a la mode” – which was, in the late 1800’s a phase used to describe something that was very ‘fashionable’- with regard to pie with ice cream. The phase caught on, and the rest is history. And yes, we did have the apple pie “a la mode”! : )
The inside of the Cambridge Hotel dining room.
In Salem, NY, another small town just minutes away, we stopped at the Battenkill Creamery – a local dairy named after the Battenkill River in this area. (By the way, we learned that ‘kill’ is the Dutch word for ‘river’).
The creamery was noted to have the BEST homemade ice cream and dairy products in all of New York State. We just HAD to sample the maple-walnut ice cream……..Yum!
And these cows look quite contented…….also.
We did a bit of sightseeing in the area over the next few days. One day we drove up to Hudson Falls (about 40 min drive). The drives have been so very scenic….very pastoral, rolling farmland….a bit like Iowa, but with the Green Mountains in the background.
In Hudson Falls, we walked around the downtown a bit, and I remembered to take a few pictures of the houses and buildings which we had been ‘oohing and ahhing’ over.
Some very Colonial…..
And some wonderful old Victorian houses…..
Old brick and stone churches…..
And Government buildings…….
Hudson Falls has a town square with a fountain. You can almost picture the 4th of July parade and the band playing here. Real small town America at its best.
At Ft. Edward (only about 2 miles from Hudson Falls)…….this old train station, which is still in use.
And an old Blacksmith’s shop which is now “The Anvil ” Restaurant.
Beautiful post and beam construction, and a bar made from a single tree.
Also in Ft. Edwards – the ‘Old Fort House’ – which, actually is named for the original owners whose last name was ‘Fort’.
Their biggest claim to fame was that George Washington did NOT sleep there…… but he ate lunch at the tavern.
We had a very nice, informative tour of the Fort House and museum grounds, which included several other buildings…..like this one room school house which made me think of the stories that have been told of those “South Dakota days”
Quiet days….steeped in early American history, and a 1950’s way of life……preserved as only small towns can do……..
