Saturday Sep 15, 2018

Map and road video – Albany, NY to Killington, VT

Today was mainly spent driving scenic byways in Vermont. The state’s nickname is “The Green Mountain State” and  I’m not sure if this refers to The Green Mountains or just green mountains in general but both applied for me today.

Before starting along scenic route 9, which passes through the Green Mountains, I made a brief stop at Silk Rd Covered Bridge, one of many covered bridges for which New England is famous. The covering protects the structurally important parts of the bridge from weather and allows them to last much longer. After driving east through the mountains I turned north along scenic route 100 to Killington, VT.

Shortly before arriving in Killington I stopped at the President Calvin Coolidge State Historic Site in Plymouth Notch, VT. I knew nothing about Coolidge, except he was president, so this was a great learning experience. All of the buildings that were relevant in Coolidge’s life have been preserved; from his birth room, through the farm and factory he worked as a child and the family homestead where he took his oath of office to his final resting place – a simple headstone alongside the rest of his family in the town cemetery. There was a great introductory video, museum exhibits and an informative guided tour.

Silk Rd Covered Bridge is still in use (although you can see it better in the road video)
The Coolidge family homestead (foreground) and the cheese factory run by the family.
It was in the living room of the homestead where his father administered the presidential oath of office in 1923. He was in Plymouth when President Harding died.The oath, seal, bible and pen are those used at the time.
Coolidge is buried, alongside his family, in a row of simple graves in the town cemetery. His grave is second from the far end of the front row with two American flags.Here’s a better view. He is the only president to have been born on July 4th
There were many lakes at the side of the road along the way. This is one I particularly liked.