Yesterday we traveled from the Litchfield CT area to a wonderful campground in Pownal, Vermont, called Pine Hollow Campground. It is about 7 miles north of the Vermont line. It is an independent campground that is just picture perfect. We talked to them about possible monthly or seasonal rates, but they are so small and the 50 amp sites are not seasonal yet. Since this place is so peaceful, we have decided to stay another day. We had planned to "chill" out and check our trip route but the car started sounding funny on the way to our day trip today so we are going to take it into Bennington tomorrow to have them check it out. Don't you know it....we made the last payment the day before we left on this trip. So, we'll take care of that and then (hopefully) relax and plan some more of our trip.
Today was splendid! Apparently, I am going to continue to say that "it's beautiful here" an awful lot. The further north we go, the prettier it is getting. Vermont is just like the pictures say it is!
Yesterday, after we set up camp, we went to Deerfield. This place is described as "the street." There are 70-80 historic homes built in the late 1700's and early 1800's all of which are restored and well maintained. The majority of these homes are private homes today. You can tour the homes that are not privately owned. Also in Deerfield is a very prestigious boarding school called Deerfield Academy. It just so happened that we got to see parents dropping of their kids at the school. By the way, Ron Chiasson may be able to explain this to you, but in this entire area there is an abundance of Mercedes automobiles (ha).
We combined our "Tours 4, 15 and 16" together on today's drive. It was a long day but well worth it.
We started our trip out in Bennington where we went to the Hemming's Sunoco Gas Station. It is an operating station so we filled up the car, of course. It has a wonderful gift shop and Van was in hog heaven going through there. For those of you that don't know, Hemming's publishes "The Hemming's Motor News" which advertises for sale cars from the 1900's through the present. Van purchased two shirts and subscribed to their monthly magazine. Five of the 7 bridges were located near Bennington.
We drove through Shaftsbury, and saw and photographed the Robert Frost home/museum. From there, we went to Manchester and shopped at Orvis then onto Weston. Weston has two country stores that are across from each other and are rivals. It was a very cute little town so we decided to eat our picnic lunch there. Then onto Ludow and Plymouth. Plymouth is the home place for President Calvin Coolidge. All in one cluster was President Coolidge's birthplace, his father's general store and the Wilder house, his mother's childhood home. The "summer white house" used in 1924 by Coolidge
was actually a large room above his father's general store. His father founded the Plymouth Cheese Company, also on site. The building is now occupied by Plymouth Artisan Cheese, which still makes cheese the old fashioned way. By the way, Calvin Coolidge, 30th President o f the United States, was born here on July 4, 1872..
Then we went to Woodstock. It looks like a Vermont town should!!! It is regularly voted one of America's prettiest towns. While we were there, they were having a craft fair on the green in a park right across from a covered bridge. We purchased some Vermont syrup and homemade bread made from organic ingredients. We learned that this town is a destination for the vacations of the upper-crust. All of the homes were phenominal and many backed up to the river running through the town. The stores were little quaint shops. Even the country store, which served as an all purpose store, had an incredible wine selection from all over the world. It was apparent that this was a picturesque area that attracted many well-heeled visitors. I have now decided that THIS is where I want to live.
Oh, by the way, at least every mile or so there is a veterinarian and/or animal hospital. We even saw a pet cemetery. Apparently, it is easier to be a veterinarian up here than it is in Georgia.
Wish us luck on the car tomorrow and big hugs and kisses to all
Deerfield homes:
Hemming's Sunoco Station:
Calvin Coolidge birth place
One of several covered bridges we saw today
We couldn't help but take a picture of this sign:
2 comments:
Boy, now you're close to where I grew up in Massachusetts. We lived about 20 minutes from Old Deerfield. If you're still nearby, go to the Yankee Candle main plant/store, fascinating. Bennington is where my ski buddies and I stay when we go skiing in VT. The main bar in town has a SKIHIGHLAND plate in its bar. If you're near Mt. Snow, or any of the big VT ski resorts (Killington, Smugglers Notch) you might want to take a chair lift ride up to the top of the mountain. Breathtaking. I'm loving your New England trip.
Ron
We were eating at Madison Brewing Co which is downtown. Would that be the place? I didn't get this until on way back so we didn't know to look for your sign. What a small world. I told you that you guys needed to join us and be our tour guys
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