We’ve walked many miles already in the historic district:  just lovely.  Huge homes from the early 1800s that survived the “War of Northern Aggression” since Sherman gave this town to Lincoln as a Christmas present the year he was marching across the South.  The town had several fires and epidemics, but the homes were reclaimed by historians and preservationists in the 1950s and some of them are astounding.   What has particularly surprised me and means I have some reading to do is how much colonial and revoluationary war history took place in this town.

The many many squares in the district make for an even lovelier place to explore.

Some lovely photos over the last few days:

As we walk back and forth each day to our bed and breakfast,  actually depending on the cloud cover which so far (and we’re told is most times) is always there; we get peeks of the Chugach Mountains.  This morning they were particularly majestic and bright in the bit of sun we were treated to today!

Native art is everywhere.  This is hubby standing next to a Totem placed in front of a Court House.  When I have time another day I’ll write more about a special lecture we went to by David Boxley, a Native totem maker.  We hope to see more of his work on Wednesday at a celebration of a totem being raised in the local Native cultural museum.

And, this is for our Avi-do – our lover of all things dog.  We haven’t seen any sled dogs yet; except for a puppy and I’ll post that  photo another day.  But we knew that our Avi-do would like to make every single one of these stuffed huskies her friends!

Anchorage is so different from the rest of America — much of which we have traveled over the years.  It is rich in history, rich in art, rich in culture, rich in peoples with opinions, and rich in respect.  The lower 48 could learn a lot from these folks.

First we went over to Williamstown MA to see the Clark Art Museum’s special exhibit on O’Keefe and Dove, then the Williams College Art Museum nearby to enjoy Prendergast in Italy.

We stayed overnight with fellow teachers whose accommodations we found through Educator’s Bed and Breakfast.  Next morning, after a delicious breakfast in their home, we joined the bus trip organized by the Clark Art Museum to the Hyde Collection in Glens Falls.

The four feet of water has to do with while we were enjoying the two museums, over four inches of rain fell in yet another exciting day that New England has experienced this summer!   This picture is of the New Lebanon Race Track that we went by on the way to Saratoga, NY (on a day where the sun came out – rare in this New England summer!).

Then two days later, we enjoyed Hill-Stead’s in Farmington CT collection.   They were having a special tour of their basement and afterwards we stayed to take in some of the beautiful art there.  This picture is of a label in the basement’s wine cellar.  None of the wine exists but it was fun to see what would have been served!   (After Hill-Stead we stopped in Bloomfield CT to visit a couple of friends — who made us a delicious lobster dinner!)

We love art if you haven’t guessed it yet!   Looking at and experiencing beautiful things is one of my favorite things to do with my time — I need to do it because although I am creative, I don’t have the skills to produce these types of treasures!   Here’s one of my favorites from our four days: