New England Adventure

While this visit to the Dog Chapel in St. Johnsbury, VT was not the highlight of my trip. I must say that it was one of the more unique venues we visited. Inside and out there were shrines, momentos and messages to dogs who have passed on. There were several dogs with angel wings as noted on top of the spire. And inside definitely smelled "doggy."

Benson heading off to school on my last day. We got a kick out of the mother/son matching outfits.

Liberty and I pause for a photo on top of a Maine lighthouse we toured. It was most interesting and we were lucky that our schedule matched with Lighthouse Open House Day.

Not all lighthouses are tall. One (not pictured) was very short and named the Bug Light.

Jeff, Libbie, Benson and Sadie pause in the famous Maine port town of Kennebunk Porte. It was very quaint and touristy. The lobster rolls were awesome. I bought a signed copy of Barbara Bush's cookbook, and we drove by the Bush compound and saw a white-haired women riding around in a golf cart. We surmised it was Barbara.

It was a chilly day, but Libbie and Sadie waded in the surf and Benson built part of a sand castle.

Sadie wasn't the only one who enjoyed chocolate, chocolate, chocolate! We stopped at quite a few chocolate shops throughout Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont.

Here's the famous candy counter in Chutter's. They say it's the longest one in the world. The kids picked out some true "penny" candy. I bought fancy fudge. Yummy!

Benson, Sadie and Jeff with their candy bags in Chutter's.

This was an extremely long covered footbridge in Vermont. I loved all the covered bridges.

This Portland Head Lighthouse hasn't been open to visitors for 10 years. We were among the 250 visitors that day who got tickets to go up inside of the lighthouse. They even allowed Benson to go up. It was awesome!

My visit has included Lighthouse touring; LL Bean and the Freeport Outlets; quaint old general stores and buildings, covered bridges, Camp Joseph and the Joseph Smith Monument; visiting friends and a famous artist, Frank Magleby; picking apples; making applesauce; eating lots of lobster, chocolate, ice cream, cider, cider donuts, chocolate, pancakes w/ maple syrup, pizza, Cabot cheese, lobster, chocolate and ice cream.

The leaves are just starting their process of adding crimson, orange and gold. I'm coming back next year about 2-3 weeks later in the season. It's been awesome seeing the sights and most of all seeing my kids and grandkids! I love you all. Thanks for a great trip!!!