10.30.2012

project365 week 41... new england cont.


1. Americans know how to put on a fair. This one, the Fryeburg Fall Fair, in Fryeburg Maine was
    fantastic. Huge and thoroughly American. I absolutely loved it. We spent about 4 hours there. 
    From the brochure:

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE FRYEBURG FAIR
The West Oxford Agricultural Society (present- ers of the Fryeburg Fair) 
was incorporated on June 3, 1851. 
Originally nine Maine towns were included, with six New Hampshire 
towns added in 1888. After moving from town to town for the first few years, 
a permanent fair site was purchased in Fryeburg. 
After nearly 30 years it moved to its present location, north of town, with the 
purchase of 26 acres for $133. The first fair was held there in October 1885. 
During the next 100 plus years it has expanded to 180 acres 
and includes 100 permanent buildings, with over 3,000 camping sites. 
Currently, about 300,000 attend the fair annually. 


2. In Vermont. On my birthday. As fall is my absolute favourite time of year, this day in Vermont,
    filled with gorgeous fall foliage, was pretty perfect.
3. The Vermont Country Store. Wow. This place is huge. And really neat. Definitely worth a stop.
    We actually almost missed it! I fell asleep in the car and happened to wake up right as we
    drove past the store. No really, we were literally driving right. past. the. store. Although I'd told
    Glen numerous times to keep an eye out for it as I wanted to check it out, he was pretty
    obliviously just driving along. Anyway, we went. We saw. We bought a can of New England
    pork and beans.
4. Sleepy Hollow. Not as cool as you might think. But oh well. It was on our way.
5. Amish country. Lancaster Pennsylvania. Although this area is filled with mostly cheesy touristy
    'amish' crap that isn't actually made by the Amish, it was still neat to experience. My family is
    Mennonite so I guess I feel a small    connection to the 'plain people.' We certainly weren't
    raised in the old order. We had tvs and phones and cars and jeans. But I was interested in the
    history of the Mennonite and the Amish and what the main differences between the two are.
    I just enjoyed being there. There's certainly something intriguing about their way of life. I did a
    bit of research after we got back. This site was clear, simple and informative.
6. We walked across the border via the Rainbow Bridge from Niagara Falls, NY to Niagara Falls,
    ON. I'd never been to Niagara Falls so we figured we might as well incorporate it into our trip.
    The falls themselves were beautiful. We wouldn't have made a special trip any other time so it
    was nice to get to see them. The town however, horrible. What is up with that? It's like some
    kind of crazy haunted house Disneyland on steroids. So awful. When/why did Niagara Falls
    get so cheesy?
7. Waiting at the Hamilton, ON airport. On a miserable, grey, rainy day. At this point we just want
    to be at home but have 2 flights and a layover in Calgary to look forward to. Blech. But really,
    nothing to complain about. We had a fantastic trip. Pretty sure we'll go back.

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