Rock of Ages quarry - Vermont

In the north central part of Vermont, about a dozen miles or so to the east, is a town called Barre (rhymes with 'marry'), population: around 9,000. Barre is self-proclaimed as the "Granite Center of the World" because of the huge granite quarry located in the hills above the city.

We visited the Rock of Ages quarry and nearby Hope Cemetery to see the amazing granite monuments and tombstones.

The granite field has been measured at 2 miles by 4 miles in area and 10 miles deep. The granite field is so extensive that they estimate they'll have enough granite for about 4,500 years!
This that you're looking at is about 600 feet deep. The water is left over from Hurricane Irene that came through August 2011.

Naturally, their entrance sign is made from a block of granite.

We watched from a fenced platform which provided a bird’s-eye view of the quarry. The workers (quarries) in the depths below cut Barre granite into mammoth blocks then lift them to the surface by derricks (cranes) capable of lifting up to 250 tons!

The supporting cables extend in all directions to spread out the loads when raising the blocks.

The holes are drilled 2 1/2 inches apart vertically, then the same goes for horizontal underneath. Then it's blasted to separate the block from the rest of the granite wall.

This photo shows the drilling machine in operation as it drills the vertical holes. This also helps to show how large the blocks are compared to the worker.

I wonder what OSHA would think of checking your cell phone while working 600 feet above the ground?

Another great perspective photo to show how huge the granite blocks are.

Inside half of the factory where all the carving/cutting/shipping is done.

How many hearts can you see in this monument?

Some cut tombstones ready for engraving.

The other half of the factory. Notice the wood crates being made to ship the finished products.

Granite tabletops are a part of the business. They last and do not discolor like marble (so said the tour guide).

First the design needs to be applied to the stone. Nowadays the engraving is mostly done by machine.

Cute story....the Rock of Ages people had the idea to diversity into making granite bowling lanes. This is the first one they made. Local officials showed up for the revealing along with a major official from the bowling industry. With a lot of hoopla, the bowler stepped up and rolled the first bowling ball. Everyone cheered. The bowling official turned around and said to the quarry people, "Don't ever make any more of these". "Why not?", asked the manufacturers. "Because the granite surface has no grip! Therefore the bowlers cannot spin the ball", came the reply. Thus ended the bowling lane business.

They had some plastic pins and a plastic ball to try. I set up the pins and threw a gutter ball right off so I got a little closer. Same result.

Even closer.....finally, a strike!

The tour director said that 95% of their business is tombstones and monuments. Granite for these purposes will always be in demand, especially as the baby-boom generation comes along.

Next stop was the Hope Cemetery in Barre which had many many fabulous granite tombstones.

A small section of the cemetery is shown here. All granite. No marble.

Look at this one particular famous tombstone. Famous because of the intricate detail as shown in these photos.

This was all carved by hand.

Next....examples of some of the more unique tombstones and monuments we found in the cemetery. Everywhere we turned was another wonderful engraving masterpiece. Most of the engraving in the past was done by Italian craftsman who came from Italy and the Boston area to work in the granite and carving industry. A great number of tombstones were Italian names. They ended up engraving their own tombstones as well.

So many of the monuments had great feeling that you could not help but get overwhelmed and choked up looking at them.

A wonderful stop in our journey across the states. Please stop and visit this place if you're ever in the area.

Kim and Steve

Charleston, South Carolina

From Savannah we headed north a bit to Charleston, South Carolina.

Typical street scene in Charleston.

Charleston used to be the richest city on the east coast at one time due to the tremendous exporting of a particular kind of rice called Carolina Gold. Supposed to be very tasty. The rivers on either side of Charleston had plantations all along them where the rice was grown, harvested and shipped. This crop needed much intensive labor, even more than cotton needed, thus South Carolina had one of the largest populations of slaves. After the Civil War, the labor pool was gone and a couple of hurricanes brought in too much sea water with surges that upset the water balance needed to grow the rice so the industry died as a result.

An old map of Charleston is the peninsula in the middle. Ashley river to the south, Cooper to the north.

Modern day aerial of the rich part of town. The Cooper River is to the right. Most of the city's population is in the 'burbs off the peninsula. That's where we stayed.

Nowadays, the big revenue stream for the city comes from the shipping port, the 4th largest container port on the east coast, Piggly Wiggly (the grocery store chain) has its headquarters here, Boeing just opened a new plant to build the 787 plane and there is a tremendous medical research community.

What's interesting about Charleston is that there is no skyscrapers, no tall business buildings like you see in SF, NY, etc. The business is tourism and the businesses listed above.

We took a tour of the city on Gray Lines and then the next day went around on our own with the car.
LOTS of gorgeous homes....as you can see below....

We toured this house....Joseph Manigault's home.
http://www.charlestonmuseum.org/joseph-manigault-house

Charleston is known as The Holy City due to the prominence of churches on the low-rise cityscape, particularly the numerous steeples that dot the city's skyline, and for the fact that it was one of the few cities in the original thirteen colonies to provide religious tolerance, albeit restricted to non-Catholics. Many Huguenots found their way to Charleston. Charleston was also one of the first colonial cities after Savannah, Georgia to allow Jews to practice their faith without restriction

Always a nice thing to see in the south.

Market Hall...a four-block long structure with outdoor and indoor (air-conditioned) shops, food, and tourist traps.

The perfect activity for a hot day.

The famous Pineapple Fountain.

This is the celebrated "Rainbow Row" near the water that you see in all the Charleston literature and brochures. http://www.sciway.net/sc-photos/charleston-county/rainbow-row.html

This is the residence of the owner of Piggly-Wiggly (that's a grocery store chain). He has two pigs, one on each side of the entry stairs. It drives the hoity-toity neighbors nuts ! http://www.pigglywiggly.com/

I did a search on zillow.com for homes near here in the $3M to $12M range and came up with 17. The highest was $8.9M. It's an expensive town to live in...well in this part of Charleston, which is at the very west tip of the city.

The are actual ballast stones that used to be put in the bottom of the sailing ships for....well...ballast.

We toured a couple of homes as well as the South Carolina Museum, which was terrific.


One day we took the boat out to Fort Sumter which is where the Civil War "started". This was not as fascinating as I thought it would be....just an old, beat up fort. But, we had just come from Fort Pulaski, which was terrific. However, in a few weeks we'll be in Appomattox, Virginia where it all ended so we can bookend the war with these two visits.

The submarine, H.L. Hunley Museum is located here in Charleston also. We did not go. They open it up for viewing only a few times as they are still restoring it as it's immersed in water. http://www.hunley.org/



Hunley submarine immersed in refrigerated storage tank at the WLCC upon recovery. Note the cathodic connection to the sub at the spar attachment and the titanium anodes in the white pipes along the submarine.

 Lots to see and do in Charleston if you have the time (and money).

Next stop: Jamestown, Virgina