In late July we visited my son and family in New Jersey, and then my wife’s son and family in western Massachusetts. While in New Jersey my son took us to Greenwich and Old Greenwich, two very interesting coastal towns in Connecticut. I did a few sketches there in the upscale main street of Greenwich as he worked on his laptop at a coffeehouse. It was a challenge drawing in the hot weather with high humidity! There is a quaint quality in many of these old New England structures that makes them alluring as sketching material.
Vermont 2024
July 29, 2024
Beginning with a visit to Greenwich, Connecticut
A visit to ithaca
In addition, we spent a week driving to visit Ithaca, New York, where my wife once lived and where my son graduated from Cornell's architecture program.
We drove the campus, walked around the quad area, and spent a little time in downtown Ithaca with its hippie feel. Just north of town we took the short walk to Taughannock Falls, and next day to Buttermilk Falls and Lucifer Falls in Robert H. Treman State Park.
On to Vermont
We found many interesting and curious barns and churches on our drive into Vermont. I love the green rolling hills with pockets of woods – a mix of evergreen with many deciduous trees. I also love the kind of shale rock so prevalent here, and how it breaks so evenly.
We stayed in the town of Poultney, and saw a number of covered bridges. Several of them are in the beautiful town of Woodstock, Vermont.
From Poultney we drove north, stopping at Ben & Jerry’s headquarters, which felt more like a giant theme park than an ice cream stop. Our destination was the wonderful town of Stowe. A major ski area, it was packed with vacationers in late July. We took the short hike to Sterling Gorge Falls, drove further to Cadys Falls, and took a river hike along a wild cascading stream.
Our return drive took us through the White Mountains where we visited Sabbaday Falls, then south into Massachusetts to see my wife’s son in Northampton, another quaint college town.
The three sketchbooks used
I brought three sketchbooks on this trip, each a little different for size and kind of paper. It’s fun to mix it up.
Returning to Vermont for the winter holidays
We spent the holidays with family in the Vermont mountains, so I have added the six sketches from that trip here.
