US Senator Justin Smith Morrill was the Vermont visionary who created the legislation for the Land Grant colleges in 1862 that opened up higher education to many middle class students, and then another version in 1890 that ensured these colleges would educate black students as well.

Morrill was a blacksmith's son who was formally educated only to age 15. He made a small fortune in local mercantile trade, and build this fine house in Strafford, VT. He became an accomplished speechwriter, and was elected to Congress at a young age. He became one of our longest-tenured Senators.

We enjoy visiting historic houses, which often bring us into otherwise unexplored pockets of New England.

We had another reason to be in east-central Vermont: I know that the  Quechee Gorge Village includes a variety of sizes and grades of Maple Syrup. Having just succeeded happily with a Maple Cream Pie  for another event, I wanted to make it again, but I was out of maple syrup and unwilling to pay Boston supermarket prices for it when I knew we would be in Vermont.

 What I did not take into account was the Memorial Day Weekend crowd of tourists from all over. In the shop, they set out free samples of Cabot cheeses and other things, including a nice array of different maple syrups. I could hardly approach the table; it was mobbed by children from India going bananas tasting all the maple syrups, the older ones legitimizing their lust by sagely intoning their comparisons of one or the other. They were fun to watch. After a little while I saw an opening and grabbed a pint of Grade A Fancy and made my escape.