Biking Again

This morning we got on our bikes and headed downtown again. This time we planned to go to the Flynn to get tickets for Menopause, the Musical, which we had seen advertised on their marquee yesterday, and to visit the Firehouse Gallery. Ken is taking me to the musical to celebrate my birthday, and he managed to get some good tickets.

Then we rode over to the Firehouse Gallery, which had caught our interest because the Microhouse we saw yesterday was part of an exhibit there titled ”HUMAN=LANDSCAPE: Aesthetics of a Carbon Constrained Future." A number of artists were invited to produce works to explore the theme--some more successfully than others. Many of the entries were thought provoking. As you enter the building the main room is dominated by a huge mobile by Ethan Bond-Watts entitled "Solaneme." It's supposed to convey solar and wind power. Another entry that we found intriguing was a small model of a sustainable house design entitled "The Hale Hibiscus Project." The "hibiscus" in the name comes from the roof design, which is shaped like five yellow hibiscus petals open to catch rain water.

The Firehouse Gallery is next to City Hall

Colorful blown glass looks like Chihuly's work, doesn't it?

After lunch we headed to the bike path again, but this time we turned north to explore the causeway over to South Hero Island (also called Grand Isle). The recreational trail is called the Island Line Trail, but it no longer reaches to the island. Instead it stops just short at "The Cut"--where an old railway bridge was dismantled. On summer weekends a new bike ferry takes riders across, but Labor Day was the final day for the ferry, so we could only look across the gap. The views along the causeway were spectacular.

Ken pauses from his photo taking

Sailboats at anchor on Lake Champlain

On the way back we stopped at Leddy Park, where there is a nice sandy beach and the Leddy Arena. In back of the arena, Lee found the makings of a September snowball.

Wood and canvas sailboat gliding through "The Cut"

Snowball fight!!!

We finally decided to unhitch the truck, both so I could go pick up some milk and so that we wouldn't have to ride our bikes home in the dark tomorrow after the show.