Bright World Images
Travel Stories
The Doogie Times (is back)
God is my travel agent.
More Fun Stories: Travel Makes the World Serious Stories: Today You Woke Up
Keep in mind that these stories are meant to be fun and true, but that I do use exaggerated humor from time to time. Most details describing the merits of visiting a place are genuine and true to the best of my knowledge at the time I had visited, which may have been, let's say, a while ago. If you find some details need updating, any tips are appreciated. If you get lost following my advice, I hope you had a fun detour. That's how I found the magic in our big bright world.
- David
Vermont: The Green Mountain State
or as it was so eloquently called by the French explorer
René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle (‘Bob’ to his friends):
“Vermont: The Green Mountain State”
(Topics of interest may appear in bold.)
After our recent trip to Vermont I was asked "So, do you love Vermont ? Do you want to move there ?!”
I replied:
Vermont is a beautiful state. Almost too monotonously pretty. I rarely say that about a place, but all the little towns, hills and rivers really do look much the same. The white steepled protestant church, a Masonic temple, a stone Catholic Church, a 'country' store, and little trendy shops (if the town is big enough.)
All the towns have very English names. Fair Haven, Roxbury, Woodstock, Waitsfield. There's even a Blissville.
Almost all small towns have tiny 'satellite' towns. e.g. If you go to Clarendon, and go east you run into... East Clarendon... and if you go north you run into North Clarendon. But if you go North West, you won’t find Northwest Clarendon, no. You run into the completely unique town of Clarendon Springs !!!
I'm am not making this up.
However, if you want to go to the center of the town of Manchester, then you go to Manchester, and NOT to Manchester Center, which despite it's name, is actually NORTH of Manchester.
Just one more while I'm on a roll. If you're in Dorset, then you go South to South Dorset. But to get to East Dorset, you continue Southeast and THEN go north. And close by to East Dorset is, of course, North Dorset.
Really, I am not making any of this up. And, as far as I can tell, the only way you can tell which town you're in is the sign that says 'Welcome to.' Otherwise they are the much the same, but they do come in three sizes. Small Town. Tiny town. Medium rare Big town.
Other than all that, there are six month winters, lots of ex-hippies and liberal politics. I'm fairly open minded, but it took a while to get used to same sex couples walking around town with their babies (past the white steeple church next to the camping supply store next to the coffee shop). This being juxtaposed to the old historic towns where, apparently, the lifestyles are not necessarily as ‘traditional’ as the architectural styles or the recipes at the country store.
Then there is the fun of negotiating the roads.
The roads, which often run along cute little rivers, are mostly small, curvy, windy, and hilly which I love, but also makes getting around this small state tedious at times. This is especially true if you're lost in the dark and end up west of Eastbury, but are definitely NOT in Middlebury.
But the air is clean, the sights are gorgeous, and the people are for the most part, relaxed and friendly. There are lots of places to get good locally grown organic foods. Which is nice. We saw lots of coffee shops, but not one single Starbucks. Dunkin' Donuts ? Yes. At least one in every decent sized town. You can organically caffeinate yourself for a wonderful trip.
So, Vermont ??? I liked our visit, but would need to see it in the other seasons before wanting to move there. And as 'Bob' de La Salle was often heard saying during expeditions in his whimsical explorer manner: "C'est la vie !"
David
Phone (708)250-2732 or Email
View my stock photography at Oz Images.
