Thanks for posting these (ongoing) travelogues. I, for one, thoroughly enjoy them. I trust you had a fantastic time in "my" general corner of Vermont!

 

ok, this might be my favorite Fit picture EVER. lol

 

If Andrew Wyeth had ever painted a picture of a Honda Fit, it might look something like this, which is what you see when upon approaching the Shelburne Museum. It was founded by Electra Havemeyer Webb, a New York City socialite and one of the first collectors of Americana and folk art.



I enjoy all sorts of steam-powered vehicles and had always wanted to see the side-wheel paddle steamer Ticonderoga, which Electra Webb had rescued and restored. Originally it was in service on nearby Lake Champlain.



Not many places where you can see original Grandma Moses paintings, but you can at the Shelburne Museum. It is just an absolutely amazing collection and should be on everyone's must-see list.

Drew, I found your state of Vermont to be very civilized and it was apparent by the way the locals had their cars tricked-out that they had an appreciation for the outdoors.

Crawly, Tow Mater might say, "Shoot! Yer makin' me blush!"

 

Leaving Vermont, we headed south for about three and a half hours and arrived in the vicinity of Stockbridge, Massachusetts, where the museum devoted to the artist Norman Rockwell is located. His work was featured on more than 300 Saturday Evening Post covers. My father's company made the color ink for those covers so I feel like they're part of our family history.



Norman Rockwell lived right in the center of Stockbridge and his studio was behind the house. After he died a museum was built in West Stockbridge and the studio, seen above, was moved there for preservation.



Today many Americans still remain fans of Norman Rockwell. Each year, for example, my bank gives out calendars with his pictures and every month as I turn to a new page I get to see one of his old favorites. At his museum in western Massachusetts you get to see the originals.

More to follow...

 

The last stop on our road trip was the Hancock Shaker Village on Route 20 about three miles west of Pittsfield in western Massachusetts. The Shakers got their name from dances they would do while experiencing religious fervor. I had read about this place in Yankee Magazine and had always wanted to visit.



The Shakers supported themselves by running farms, selling seeds, and also making distinctive and influential furniture, which can be found in leading museums and collections today. The round barn in the background is one of the iconic buildings at the site.



The brother and sister Shakers led a celibate life and lived in this building, the men on one side and the women in the other. Sometimes people would drop off foundlings and the Shakers would raise them. Eventually the Shakers, and there were up to a hundred at a time in this village, went extinct at this location. One of the guides explained that there are still a few old-timers at a village in Maine.

During our trip we saw about 15 Honda Fits, with three of them being 3rd generation models. Unlike the Amish, the Shakers embraced modern technology. The community did own cars in the early 20th century. I believe they would have liked the Honda Fit thanks to its clever design.

Till the next road trip!

 

Fall is a great time to travel in the Fit so my wife and I headed to the vicinity of Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia, where this time of year the weather is great and the hotel prices are economical. At right is the powder magazine, and in the distance the courthouse.



There are a couple of spots where you can cross the famed Duke of Gloucester Street which is ordinarily closed to motor vehicle traffic. So at one of them I took the opportunity to take a shot of my Fit.

This spot is 300 miles from my home, and I got there, as I recall, with about a quarter of a tank of gas left in my car. On this leg of the trip I got 44 mpg.

More to follow...

 

One of the goals of this trip was to see the recent archaeological discoveries at Jamestown, Virginia, the location of the first successful English colony in America more than 400 years ago. The site can be seen in the background.

Then we boarded the ferry to cross the James River to head into southern Virginia.



Since my Fit was last in line aboard the Jamestown Ferry, it got a chock behind the back wheel. This is its second ferry ride... remember when it crossed Lake Champlain a couple of months ago.

You can't beat the price of this ferry: it is absolutely FREE!

More to follow...

 

While visiting below the James River we stopped in the town of Wakefield, Virginia, which is about 30 miles above the North Carolina border. This is peanut country, so we stocked up at this picturesque store on the main drag. Right across the street is the Virginia Diner, famous for its peanut pie.

So long for now. Get out there and enjoy your Fit with a road trip. It makes traveling economical and fun.

 

Awesome, I love your pictures and adventures! Thanks for sharing

 

KMCG, thanks for checking out my pictures. Still enjoying being afflicted with wanderlust.

Our Fit has nearly 16K miles on it and will be a year old next month. My wife and I try to put miles on our Accord too (only about 5K this past year) but find we'd rather use the Fit due to economy and convenience. Great on the highway, and easy to park when in a city.

 

Yes, I love the versatility of the Fit too. I haven't had mine for long and have only taken one real day trip, but I hope to do more over the next few months. Cheers.

 

These are such great pictures and a real inspiration for weekend "one-tank" travels!
All I did was an Oct 23-25 trip to the Celtic festival in Richmond -but I've only had my Fit 6 weeks now!

 

Webgal, so many interesting places to visit thanks to our Fits. The day I was at Jamestown a piece of dated pottery from the late 1500s was discovered. It had been imported from Europe by the earliest settlers.

One bit of advice: The speed limit in that area is strictly enforced. For example, on the road approaching the ferry the limit is 25 mph. A cruiser was waiting nearby for violators. I try to do no more than five miles over.

 

Not a very good picture of my Fit as seen from the IKEA store in South Philly but in the background can be seen the legendary SS United States, built in 1952, which now lies in the Delaware River doing its best to avoid a cruel date with the cutting torches.

My Fit is now one year old and just turned 17K. My wife loves the car as much as I do, so we'll probably get another a few years from now when we retire our 2007 Accord, which is our second car.

Browsing the magazines at the bookstore recently I saw that Consumer Reports has awarded it "recommended" status and also that 77 percent of owners say they would buy another, which was the highest on the list of similarly-sized cars.

I just wish we could rent one at our destination when we take an airplane trip. It has been a pleasure on short and long trips.

 

Just returned from a road trip to western and south central Virginia covering 1,040 miles and I must say the weather was quite nice along the way. On the last day however we had to beat it home fast to South Jersey since a snow and sleet storm was on our tail, but we made it safely. On the leg home we drove one stretch for three-and-a-half hours without stopping in relative comfort. Usually we stop every two hours but the impending storm urged us on. After the rest stop there was another two-hour drive to home.

Here's our Fit on the famous Skyline Drive, just north of Charlottesville, Virginia. The elevation at this point, as I recall, was a little over 3,000 feet providing an awesome view of the Shenandoah Valley below.





One of the goals for me and my wife was to visit Appomattox Court House where the Civil War ended in 1865. Located in south central Virginia in a somewhat remote spot, this has been on my bucket list for some time, but the Fit got us there with no problem.



This is the house were Generals Grant and Lee signed the agreement to stop the fighting. To me it is one of the most important locations in American history and I finally got to visit there.

I had to think how difficult it was for the soldiers to travel in those days but we here in the 21st century arrived in comfort averaging over 40 mpg. Isn't it great living in the future!

 

looks like you had a nice time!
thanks for sharing

 

Once again taking advantage of the nice weather, my wife and I and another couple took a ride up to Princeton, New Jersey which is about an hour and a half north of us.

My Fit pauses across the street from the house, the one with the porch, that was the residence of Albert Einstein for two decades before his death in 1955. Not sure if Albert even drove, but he would have enjoyed the ingenious design of the Honda Fit. Perfect for conducting experiments with relativity.



We enjoyed lunch at the famous Nassau Inn, a Princeton landmark. Travel hint: bring money.



Our reason for lunching there was just not the great food, but also the chance to see the Yankee Doodle mural by Norman Rockwell. Now I can cross that off my bucket list.

Frank, thanks for checking out my pictures. Sincerely appreciated!

 

Saw this in a window in Princeton. According to this I live in the Bogs.

I do keep a cushion in the Fit but it is an elongated flexible one that I got at Walmart. On trips my wife and I share it as a center armrest.

 

Nothing like a little road trip during the shoulder season before the prices go up. This time it was to the Delmarva Peninsula, between the Atlantic Ocean and the Chesapeake Bay, where the states of Delaware, Maryland and Virginia are contiguous.

My wife and I stayed in West Ocean City, Maryland, at a hotel that included breakfast and an indoor pool, and bargain priced now before high season arrives. We used it as a base to spend time on the beach and take day trips.

Above is a shot of our Fit on the famous Assateague Island, just south of OCMD.



Assateague and Chincoteague Islands are famous for their wild ponies. Pretty easy to take pictures of them right from your car window.

More to follow...

 

Thanks for documenting your wonderful journey!

Are you getting your mileage with the manual or CVT?