Robert Frost's House

Today the kids and I went to Robert Frost's Farm in Derry, NH.  

We have been there several times in the winter (it is fun spot to read "Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening" or "The Mending Wall"), but this was our first time going on the tour of the house.  At first it was interesting - "Here's the indoor outhouse that they had to shovel out each spring (ewww!) . . . See how small they had to chop the wood to fit into the kitchen stove (very small) . . ." etc., but then we moved into the main part of the house.  

For any of you who visited us on Becker Street - It's the SAME HOUSE flipped backward!  (check out the sketch in the link I posted above)  Not only the layout, but everything: it had the same 2 pane windows, same mouldings around the doorways, same skinny staircase with the same newell post downstairs.  It was eerie!   It's not like this was a tract house, these are 120 year old farmhouses, usually built by the original owner.  Either Sears & Roebuck was selling many of these products, or both houses were built by the same family & friends.  What a strange coincidence.  

The kids had a great time looking at all the "old stuff" and really enjoyed walking on the trails and having a picnic in the field.  The unexpected highlight for both of them was finding a snake that was immediately dubbed "Wallace."  The snake spent over an hour sitting on the stone wall staring at us while we stared back.  Unfortunately, we took a different car today (mine is in for repairs again) so we didn't have our pencils to draw him.  Instead the kids got the thrill of using mom's camera and we took his picure instead.   He is hiding on top with his head to the left of the center rock, and his body on the right.     

Go figure - bring them to a great historical building and what do they enjoy the most?  Being outdoors!