Happy Mother’s Day!
After we took mom and dad out to breakfast, it was off on our trip! Pixie had to be left behind with a house sitter – and we will miss her, but I need a vacay!
We are driving blind so to speak. Our destination is Maine and we have no hotels booked or any itinerary. We are just stopping where it looks like fun and enjoying what there is to do.
We sure found something fun on Sunday! We wanted to see the Quechee Gorge in Vermont, but there was also a glass blowing workshop there by Irish glass maker Simon Pearce. Now when hurricane Irene went through, this workshop was flooded as it was in an old mill and right on the river. They had to rebuild the glass blowing area. It is so cool! Some of the tools:
The work area. There are a couple ovens for shaping and a big oven that just holds molten glass.
These ovens are hot!!
The guys working were really nice. They said to ask any questions while they worked.
This is a fresh dollop of molten glass ready to be made into a glass.
They will roll the glass and shape it with the tools.
They can heat the glass up again at one of the ovens.
This guy is making a bowl:
That glass is glowing hot and they aren’t wearing gloves. Eeeek!
They trim the glass with scissors, which is crazy.
So cool! Now I want to do glass. I would love to do this. One of the guys I talked to has been doing it for 3 years. He used to be a teacher and kind of fell into doing the glass and realized that was what he wanted to do instead of teaching. He said he went from teaching to learning.
The upstairs is all the fancy displays of the finished glass, which I can’t afford.
And the gorge is pretty amazing as well:
Wildlife exploring tomorrow and hopefully a visit to King Arthur Flour store!
Wow! So cool to see –I can’t believe they don’t have gloves either. It sounds like a really great road trip.
I used to love to go to WILLIAMSBURG and watch the glass blowers.
for some reason it was completely relaxing to me to watch….
When I started reading this post, I said to Bill, “cool, Lori and John went to that glass blowing place. Wonder if they bought anything?” I see your conclusion was the same as ours, but it was a cool, cool place to visit. We loved the gorge. You’ll be in trouble at King Arthur! I have just now used the last of what I bought and will order more soon. Sure would prefer a road trip and getting it in person. Wonder if I could convince Bill that gas from TN to Vermont would be cheaper than shipping! LOL! (Don’t forget to think about gifts while there. We got several Christmas gifts.)
There is a wonderful restaurant there at Simon Pearce. Enjoy your trip! I love just exploring the highways and byways with no set plans or destination!
I love the idea of just taking a trip and stopping wherever things look interesting. That’s a great way to find some interesting places/shops/restaurants!
I remember visit a glass shop and watching them play with different colored glass. They made everything out of tiny sticks of glass. It was mostly tiny figurines like hummingbirds and various animals. Really amazing the stuff they can make!
That is such a beautiful area! I grew up back east – upper east coast so …. I also have a sister-in-law in Maine so let me know where you go. She also works at a Trader Joes! 🙂
Just keep on enjoying that beautiful scenery!!!
Pixie may be mad when you get home but she will go back to loving you! 🙂
What a great way to start your vacation. I love it when people go on a trip and see where they will end but unfortunate I’m not that brave myself.
I hope you and John have a wonderful trip and I look forward to your pics. Have fun.
I love to watch glass blowers work – I could literally stand there for hours, it’s so mesmerizing. Hope you have a wonderful adventure!
What a fun weekend! Did you try it?
I have a few friends who are glass blowers and I’m always impressed by their creations.
WOW!!!!!! I love watching glass being blown. They make it look so easy, but I’m sure it take eons to get it right. Enjoy the adventure! Thank you for sharing it with us! And Pixie, no parties while mom and dad are away!!!
That’s exactly how our vacation is going to be next week – no timetable, only our destination and we’ll see where we end up along the way.
I would love to take classes like that – my Mom did a stain glass class and loved it. Happy travels!!
The KA store is one place that is definitely on my bucket list! I hope you have a great time!!
My husband & I got to see glass blowing at a factory in Bermuda – it truly is an awesome work of art.
Glass blowing amazes me! We got to see a demo in Portland at a Chihuly exhibit. I would love to try it someday. Looks like a beautiful trip!
I live in Western NY and I love New England also. Perhaps you could plan a trip eastward & go to Corning NY where Corning glass is located and also East Aurora, a suburb of Buffalo. There is a group of craftsmen there known as “Roycrafters” that I think you and your husband would enjoy. Check out this website:
http://www.roycroftcampuscorporation.com/index.html
So much history in our state and the Northeast!
I’ve been to Corning before – a few times, actually! It’s a lovely town.
Our state does rock with the history.