Perfect weather for a day out

Today was a glorious early Fall day with a blue sky and trees that are just beginning to change color. The October calendar is loaded with events every weekend that offer a way to enjoy a day out.

Every year the town of Waterford holds it's homes tour and crafts exhibit over the first weekend in October and I decided to visit this year which is the 69th annual event. The entire town is a National Historic Landmark District and the townspeople are very proud of that and come together for this three day event. The streets within the historic village are closed to traffic, selected homes which have been beautifully restored are open for touring and many very fine craftspeople come and set up their booths in a tent or inside one of the Waterford buildings. There is food, music and demonstrations along with events relating to he Civil War era.

I missed seeing the music group that plays in this area. Many of the homes were built in the late 1700's and into the 1800's. The most common roofing style is the raised seam metal roof.

 This home is known as the Pink House. It is in use as a B & B today and was one of the homes open for the tour that I was fortunate to see inside of. Many homes were built of Waterford brick which proved to be quite soft. This house, painted pink over the brick, has become a known landmark; "just opposite the Pink House" or "four doors up from the Pink House".

 The town was originally a Quaker town and also was home to many African-Americans. One thing that I noticed today that seemed to mar the view was the proliferation of political campaign signs. This home, the Marshall Claggett house, was originally on a farm north of Waterford. In 1870 it was dismantled by African-American Marshall Claggett and moved to this lot. The Claggett family raised nine children here and it remained in black ownership until the late 20th century. It will be open for viewing on Saturday and Sunday.

 Tents for the crafters are located in several locations in the town - this one is the Bond Street Barn exhibit area. Here is a vendor tent where the craftsman was making walking sticks from chestnut fence rails. The craftspeople are in period costume and very happy to demonstrate their craft. There is a rigorous application and jurying process to ensure that the craftspeople are producing high quality products.

 Another picturesque cottage on Main Street.

 Here we saw the blacksmith's assistant heating the iron.

 The village area is built on quite steep lots and for many houses the main living areas are a floor above street level. It was quite common for there to be no interior staircase linking the floors - in some instances this was perhaps because the building housed a business at the street level with living accommodations above.

 A number of the homes have clearly been added on to over the years. There seemed to be no compunction to use the same material for the addition and thus many homes appear like this - part brick and part stone.

 All the homeowners make an effort to decorate the exterior of their property. In this case there were pops of color from the seasonal chrysanthemums but also the two bright blue chairs on the rear side porch.

Before I left home I thought about taking my sun hat but that was all I did - think about it. This lady was smarter than I was. Note the two front doors on this house.

You could easily fill the entire day here and perhaps more. I was only able to visit for four hours today and wished I could have been there longer. You can find out more by going to http://waterfordfoundation.org/waterford-fair