New England Vacation – Day 12

You can catch up here:

New England Vacation – Day 1

New England Vacation – Day 2

New England Vacation – Day 3

New England Vacation – Day 4

New England Vacation – Day 5

New England Vacation – Day 6

New England Vacation – Day 7

New England Vacation – Day 8

New England Vacation – Day 9

New England Vacation – Day 10

New England Vacation – Day 11

On day 12 of our vacation, we turned away from the Maine coast and started for home. We figured from Machiasport, Maine to Rochester, NY, where we would return our rental car and hop on the Amtrak,  would take about 2 days of driving with a little time for a few stops along the way.

We left about 7am and by 11:30am, we had traveled 170 miles arriving in Augusta, ME, where we stopped to see the state capitol.

The Maine State House, as the capitol is known, was built in 1832.

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It was a quiet day there. Besides us wandering around the 3 storey building, there were just a few other visitors. The legislature was not in session either.

The lobby floor was tiled with those old fashioned tiny tiles:

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Here’s the view looking up into the dome:

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Below is the House chamber:

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and here’s the Senate:

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Other state houses that we’ve visited have been elaborately decorated with stenciling on the walls and ceilings, and stained glass. But Maine’s state house was plain by comparison. It seemed less formal, almost homey.

Here’s the little mail room where the different offices can collect their mail:

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Here’s a very low-tech way of publicizing the activities of the Governor:

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And check this out! If we hadn’t already decided this was the most relaxed state house we’d ever visited, the porch on the 2nd floor clinched for us.

Rocking chairs!

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So we sat a spell.

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Across the street from the state house, is the Governor’s Mansion – behind a white picket fence.

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You can’t make this stuff up. Maine definitely marches to it’s own drummer. We love it.

But we needed to get back on the road.

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Many tollbooths and 236 miles later, we arrived in Taftsville, Vermont where we stopped to see a newly restored covered bridge.

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Built in 1836, it is the 3rd oldest covered bridge in Vermont. It was damaged 2 years ago in Hurricane Irene and has been closed to traffic ever since.

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Recently remodeled at a cost of 2.5 million, it’s grand re-opening was scheduled for the day following our visit.

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All too soon it was getting dark and was time to move on.

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We drove a few miles more down the road stopping for the night in Rutland, VT.  We had traveled 430 miles that day.

The following day we would need to travel a further 296 miles to reach Rochester, NY.  It was fewer miles, but it would turn out to be a VERY LOOOOONG DAY….

Stay tuned….

See Day 13 of our Vacation HERE!

See Day 14 of our Vacation HERE!!

See Day 15 of our Vacation HERE!!

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Suzanne

Cattle, corn, wheat, beans, mud, snow, ice, and drought. Plenty of fresh air and quiet. Our life is sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes joyous, but never boring.

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6 Responses

  1. Tina says:

    Love the State House, the rocking chairs and the Governors mansion. I am also surprised they would let you up there to rock. This may seem like a silly question but…we don’t have toll roads out West, how much are they?

    • Suzanne says:

      We don’t have but one toll road in Kansas, so they are a mystery to me too. On the east coast, you can travel the same road all day, but only parts of it are tolled. So you spend a lot of time stopping to pick up a ticket, and then stopping 5 miles down the road to pay. Another few miles of free driving and you run into another toll booth. So you get another ticket drive another 10-15 miles, and then pay another toll. It’s crazy and it slows you down. Grrrr…

      • Suzanne says:

        As for the toll charges, that seems to be random too. Sometimes you can travel for just 5 miles and it costs a couple dollars. Other times you can travel for 50 miles, and it’s still only a couple dollars. Go figure.

  2. Teri Russell says:

    I’ve loved going on vacation with you. Would love to have you as our house guests the next time you come to Maine. We’d love to show you Portland and along the coast.

  3. Becca says:

    Beautiful country. Love the “deserted” courthouse…lol..!
    And I’m on pins and needles waiting for “the rest of the story” Suzanne ” Paul Harvey” !

  4. Jeanne says:

    Those toll roads must be a real pain for the people who live there and have to use them all the time!! We’ve had a few toll bridges, here in the west, but no toll roads. I LOVE that covered bridge!! Too bad you missed the grand opening, though. But at least you got to see it and get great pictures. Interesting difference about the bridges you’ve shown and the ones we have here in western Oregon: here the floor timbers go crossways, I’ve noticed that all the ones you’ve pictured have the floor timbers running lengthwise! I’ll bet ours here make a much nicer rumble when you drive through them!!

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