Shaker Village tour - Canterbury New Hampshire - Sept 27, 2019

Today's tour of the Shaker Village was so interesting.
The Shakers were an outgrowth of the Quakers.  They were so charismatic that they became known as "The Shaking Quakers".  They started living in communes, created self sufficient villages, and became entrepreneurs, had many inventions and patents, and have embraced technology.  Their beliefs were radical and after a period of time their numbers decreased,  since many were not able to maintain the strict doctrines. 

They have become known as excellent craftsmen in furniture and textiles.

The meeting house for worship - plain, simple, and had no center posts so that they could dance as part of their worship.  (They had 'toned down' the "holy roller" aspect of their worship and they invited people 'of the world' to come to their Sunday worship services)

The entire community was separated into "brothers and sisters"  (no more 'husbands and wives').

When they signed the Covenant, it included celibacy.  

(and the Shakers have almost died out ??)

The community is now a National Historic Landmark-open to tours .

Notice the visiting school children, and the way the leaders keep track of them!!

The building used for sewing and textiles

She is hooking rugs and she let me try a couple of hooks.

It is harder than it looks!

The Shakers are famous for the "Dorothy Robes"

They used the best wool, lined with fine silk and sold them to New York celebrities for huge amounts of money (even though they only wore the plain and simple garments)

The Laundry House- Hot water tank 

Fun to see the huge cylindrical washing machines, and large mangle.

The hoist system to get the soaking wet laundry to the second floor where they had elaborate systems to dry all the laundry.

These apples  really looked good- Surprise!!!

I guess the trees produced better tasting apples in the 1800's

Lake Winnipesaukee - lunch cruise - Sept 26, 2019

Today we drove to our new campground 

and went on a lunch cruise on Lake Winnipesaukee.

That is the huge lake that we saw from Castle in the Clouds. 

 It was fun trying to spot the Castle from the ship, 

but challenging because of the fog and rain. 

The original  MS Washington (1872) was a paddle wheel steamer.  After a fire in 1939, it was eventually replaced with this ship.

We had a terrific lunch and a nice cruise.

Small touches of color in this region, but Lou managed to get this great photo.

Deann Mooney enjoying the views and cruise

The only sail boat we saw  on this gray and drippy day.

Mount Washington Cog Railway - Sept 24, 2019

A wonderful day - seeing the fall colors change - 

Then - experiencing what is supposed to be  "The Worst Weather in the World"

The 'Silver Cascade" has a lot of water since we got a good amount of rain last night.

One of the most luxurious summer resorts, built in 1902, 

designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1986

The Mount Washington Cog Railway 

The engine is straight, but the mountain is crooked!

The average grade to get to the summit is 35%

The steam engine uses 1 ton of coal and 1000 gallons of water to make one trip to the summit. 

(about 3500 feet elevation)

That is a gain of about 1000 feet per mile!

 Since the steam engine only carried 750 gallons of water, they had to add water half way up.

 Our group filled this car going up the 3 1/2 miles to the summit

 This is the first third of the journey at a grade of 35%

Weather turns rapidly

 At the top, there is so much fog that you can barely see the cairns (for the hikers) and the alpine tundra (much like the terrain much further north)

Before the railway, there was an auto road and a Stanley Steamer came up here from Boston.

That took several days!

When we arrived at the top the weather was FREEZING!!

After we reached the summit, we learned that the average number of days of a heavy fog is 300.

On a clear day you can see 100 miles and even see the outline of buildings 

in

 New York city.

Back to pretty weather!

Castle in the Clouds - Moultonborough, NH - Sept. 23, 2019

This elegant mansion was built in 1914 by Thomas Plant. 

Thomas was 14 when he dropped out of school to go to work to help the family.  By the age of 32 he owned a shoe factory.  When he retired in 1910 his shoe factory was the largest in the world.

This estate has 6300 acres, a 16 room mansion, stable, garage, 2 gatehouses, greenhouse, golf course, tennis court, and 45 miles of carriage and bridle trails.

Unfortunately, he overspent and made bad investments - he bought Russian bonds before the Bolshevik Revolution, and eventually lost the house.

"Back yard"

The property extends to the Lake Winnipesaukee 

This organ had resonating chambers that allowed the sound to carry to the lake.

The intercom - 1917

This shower actually looks like some of the more elegant and expensive ones today.

So- shower bathing for women should be resorted to only under advice of a physician???

The one I have is a bit older - mine was build in 1934. 

The ceiling glass is made by Tiffany

Lovely grounds, lovely day.