August 27, 2024
The rain moved through last night. Sunshine and warm today. Tammy has a 25-ish item list that she made on the 2nd or 3rd day we got here of all the things she wants to do before we leave. It is my pleasure to assist her in achieving that goal. I checked the list and came up with a plan.
An hour later, we arrive in Canterbury, NH to visit the Shaker Village.
Other than the iconic wooden "pegs" that are associated with Shakers, I knew nothing about them. This community in New Hampshire settled in 1792, and was among the six villages established nationwide. It lasted exactly 200 years (the last shaker here died in 1992), and did it with all members taking a vow of celibacy. At one point, this community grew to 6000 members, all by "adopting" people of various ages.
There are still about 15 buildings on the site, and most of them are original, restored and maintained beautifully for 2 centuries
Our tour guide was fantastic, sharing her knowledge about the lifestyle of the people that lived here.
These people were skilled craftsman. Their fine workmanship is evident throughout the village.
I'm particularly impressed with the way they built things with purpose and efficiency. As only one example, this is a clothes drying rack, one of many within a very small space. Steam was run through pipes in the floor to provide heat and start the de-wrinkling in the process. Totally ingenious.
The other thing that impressed me was how they embraced technology, something (I feel) is generally counterintuitive among religious sects.
The shakers were the first to use electricity in New Hampshire.
In all of the "industry buildings" (painted brown), the use of motors with leather belts was everywhere. Dangerous, but effective.
Tammy's enjoying this a lot. Like me, she loves history, and this 150 year old Sugar Maple has been through a LOT of history.
I'm sitting in the "boys section" in the meeting room, as we shakers (for the tour) must abide by strict seperation of genders. I got my eye on that gal in the striped shirt!
Clearly function over form, but it's archetectural simplicity is marvelous, none the less.
We had a good time learning. I drove a few miles into the town and we got sandwiches at the Country Store for lunch. On the way back, I stopped at this Covered Bridge to poke around.
In Laconia, we stopped at the old mill, hoping to take a tour, but they closed at 1 pm. Who closes at 1 pm on a Tuesday? Oh well, we will try another time.
One last stop in Plymouth before we go home. Purple Cow for Pants - Raspberry Blackberry with white and dark chocoloate chunks - damm fine if I don't say...
Made it back to the ABB with plenty of time to hit the gym before dinner. So that checks off 3 list items:
- visit the Shaker Village
- visit a museum
- see 5 covered bridges (today's installment makes 4 out of 5 for Tammy)
Another adventure awaits for tomorrow!
Stay thirsty, my friends....