We had near record high temperatures here in CT today. The sky was bright blue without a cloud in it, and the young wife and I broke out the roadster and drove the back roads to Lebanon, CT, in the northeast portion of our state. We went across the Connecticut River on the
Chester-Hadlyme Ferry, which has been in operation for more than 250 years (it holds about 8-9 cars total). On the way to the ferry, we got stopped at the railroad crossing by the
Essex Steam Train. We exchanged waves with the engineers on the locomotive and with many of the passengers in the trailing cars.
Our destination was
Beltane Farm, where they have a herd of about 100 goats and make artisanal goat cheeses. Today, they were hosting a cheese festival, with cheese makers from a variety of local farms. We tasted and bought enough cheese to last the next few weeks. We also tasted some locally made wine and bread. We made sure to visit all the goats, to scratch their heads and thank them for the cheese. The farm also has cows and chickens, which the many children in attendance found to be fascinating (as did I).
When we returned home, we got out some salami we had been saving, along with a little port wine, and had a wine and cheese feast for dinner. All in all, a very pleasant day.