It was raining this morning and we didn’t want to spend the day inside so we made a little road trip up the New Hampshire / Vermont border about 60 miles to see the Cornish-Windsor Bridge. The 460 foot length makes this the longest wooden covered bridge in the United States and the longest two-span covered bridge in the world. It spans the Connecticut River between Windsor, Vermont, and Cornish, New Hampshire. It is a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Cornish-Windsor Bridge

There is room for two lanes of traffic through the bridge.

Cornish-Windsor Bridge

Cornish-Windsor Bridge

Walk Your Horses or Pay Two Dollars Fine

Just a few miles north of the bridge in New Hampshire is Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site. This was the home of Augustus Saint-Gaudens, one of America’s greatest sculptors. The exhibit galleries and the studio will open for the season in a few days so we could not see them and so there was no charge for the visit today. Tour guides were in rehearsal mode and we arrived just in time to be a practice audience for them, so we and a few others were given a free tour of the house.

Aspet

Little Studio

View of Mt. Ascutney from The Little Studio

Tulips in Bloom in the Flower Garden

Most of the sculptures are inside the studio and other buildings that are not open yet so we could not see those. But there were a few on the grounds outside for us to see.

The Shaw Memorial is Saint-Gauden’s final version of the monument to the Civil War service of the Massachusetts 54th Regiment of African American Volunteers in Boston.

Shaw Memorial

The Farragut Monument is Saint-Gaudens’ first commissioned public monument and commemorated Civil War Admiral David Glasgow Farragut. The success of this piece assured Saint-Gaudens’ reputation as a leading sculptor.

Farragut Monument

I was surprised to see this fish sculpture, it seemed out of place here. Then I learned that this year is National Park Service centennial and The New England Sculptors Association is partnering with the NPS in three New England parks to exhibit works by 50 artists that were inspired by these parks. The exhibit begins June 4 and runs through August 22.

Toothed Fish by Thomas Berger

• Distance Traveled:  110 miles round trip
• Gasoline:  $22.20 @ $2.25
• Admission:  free