DAY 3 - MONDAY

When we awoke this morning we found that the beautiful, sunny skies we saw on Sunday had given way to gray clouds threatening rain.  We left our hotel on time at 9:00 a.m. and made a quick stop at the welcome center once we had entered the beautiful state of Vermont.

 

 

 

This welcome center was great source of information and even had very comfortable rocking chairs!  But we couldn't stay long as we had a two hour drive ahead of us to get us to Manchester.  Our concert at Equinox Village was schedule for 1:30 so that gave us time for a great lunch.

 

 

 

Although the picture above is a great one of the kids, what you don't quite see is what is behind them...

 

 

Now you can see some of the Vermont mountains in the background!

 

It was a short ride from the restaurant to Equinox Village.  They had rearranged tables and chairs in their dining room for our concert.  They were an appreciative audience and loved the kids!

 

 

 

 

 

In addition to our church anthems, the concert included the Broadway/Pop section complete with our Bye Bye Birdie medley.  Below is Allie Pocock (in her role as Mae Peterson) entertaining the audience.

 

 

 

After the concert the kids mingled with the residents and answered their questions about the group and our tour.  Also present at the concert was Estelle Burgess, (daughter of First Pres members Petie and Al Dorain) who lives in Manchester.  It was great to have a familiar face in the audience!  She made us some yummy cookies to take with us on the next leg of our journey.  We had another two hour trip ahead of us.  (It's not that we travel great distances but that we are on two lanes roads going through small towns---and a lot of road construction!).

 

Our concert at Waterbury Congregational Church was scheduled for 6:00 p.m. and we arrived at our hotel just in time to change into our concert attire and arrive at the church 20 minutes before concert time.  The outside of the church was quite impressive...

 

 

 

and we had time for a "photo op."

 

 

 

 

 Although this was our second concert of the day, the kids voices were strong and they did a great job. 

 

The audience loved the music and they especially loved the Bye Bye Birdie medley when the soloist would go right up to someone and sing to them.  The kids got a standing ovation from an appreciative audience.





 

After all that singing, it was time for dinner.  Although our first choice of restaurants had a wait time of 20 minutes, 100 yards down the street was another great restaurant that didn't have a wait time.  There were many items to choose from and I think everyone enjoyed their meal.

 

 

After dinner, it was a short ride back to the hotel and the some of the kids made use of the large indoor pool and hot tub. 

 

The little bit of rain today did not damper our great day of singing and entertaining.  Since we travelled so much today, we are very close to our venues for tomorrow.  This allows us a later departure tomorrow morning as our first activity is the Ben & Jerry's Factory tour at 10:00 am..   (Sorry, no samples will be brought home!)  We may even get to the Chabot Cheese outlet (free samples!) and the Green Mountain Coffee Store (more free samples!).

 

Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers---keep them coming!