Let's Try Again...

Hey David...hope you liked your picture at the table!!!  Strange things happened...Verizon keeps taking us OFF.  AT&T may be back in our future if we have much more of this.

Let's see how long I stay on today.  

In yesterday's short blog, we had breakfast with Marianne's delicious coffeecake.  

I am a good dishwasher...it's best if Marianne puts things away.








We had a long list of things to see and do today with the first and most important being a tour of the State House.  David gives tours there on Friday's and he knows his stuff!!!  He gave us a personal tour which we really enjoyed.

It is a beautiful building...I will try to do it justice.

The statue at the top is Ceres, or the statue of Agriculture with wheat in her arm.




The gold in the dome is 23.75 carat gold leaf, as pure as can be obtained.

Montpelier is the smallest capital city in America.  The House and Senate chambers are the oldest legislative chambers in their original condition anywhere in the country.

There are only 30 Senators and Wallace is sitting in #7's seat.

The Representatives' Hall is home to 150 members.

The plaster lotus blossom has petals that weigh approximately 500 pounds.  From its center hangs the original bronze and gilt chandelier, one of America's most important surviving gas fixtures.

The staircase was impressive as it swoops around.

There were decorative cast iron steam screens that disguised the original steam radiators that caught my eye.

The marble floor in the lobby were marble tiles with fossils embedded in many of the black tiles.

A bust of Abraham Lincoln can be seen from the lobby.

This is the Governors Office.  He doesn't have a mansion to live in. This is where he does all his work.

Behind David is one of the radiator screens I mentioned earlier.

The Constitution Chair is carved from the timbers of the frigate U.S.S. Constitution, better known as "Old Ironsides" and has served the governor since 1858.

This 10 X 20 foot painting dominates the Cedar Creek Reception Room.  It depicts the battle of Cedar Creek during the Civil War. The Old Vermont Brigade in the center of the canvas leads a rally that would reverse a Union retreat, Vermont's finest moments in the Civil war.

Above our heads I couldn't help but notice the stained glass sky lights.  David told us they are originals that were found in the attic, they had been stepped on and were in pieces when found. They were pieced back together as part of the buildings restoration of the room to its 1888 splendor. There are two of them, so be sure to look up in this room.

The scene in the middle is shown on the flag of Vermont.

There is so much more about this beautiful State House.  It is one we thoroughly enjoyed.  Thank you David for the introduction and the fabulous tour of this beautiful building.

This page is officially stamped in our newest collection of books.

This State House was constructed of Barre Granite from the nearby town of Barre.  We will go there next for our second stop on our itinerary.

Until next time...