Vermont Report
Just returned from a lovely weekend in Vermont. You might be asking yourself, “What is up with this guy and Vermont? He seems to talk about it a whole lot”. Well, as I chronicled here on this very blog last year, (October, 2004, if you’re interested), I’ve long had a fondness for the Green Mountain State. There’s just so much right about it… the fresh clean air, the mountains, the open space, the progressive attitude of many of the people who live there, the Norman Rockwell connection, the abundant skiing opportunities, the fact that this was the first state in the USA to legally recognize gay civil unions, the dairy cows, the red barns, the maple syrup…oh, yeah, and that insanely gorgeous Fall foliage, which is something everyone should experience at least once in their lives…an Autumn in Vermont, when the leaves are blazing and the mountains are a fiery patchwork of red, orange, yellow and green.
I am thinking about relocating there at some point. Don’t get me wrong, I love Northport, and there are great things about being here on Long Island, with such close access to NYC. For now, though, I’ve been travelling on mini-vacations to VT every month or so, just to check out the place and connect with that peaceful energy. Even though it is a relatively small state, there are lots of cool towns and a number of distinct regions of the state, of which I am just beginning to explore. I know Burlington pretty well now, and yes, it’s a great city, (more like a large town, really). Don’t know that I’d ever want to live there, because if I was moving to VT, it wouldn’t be to live in a city. But it’d be nice to live close by, maybe within a half-hour to an hour away. Lots of nice towns in that range… Bristol, which I’ve now visited three times, (and this past weekend, I climbed up to the Bristol Ledges…. a spectacular vantage point to view the Champlain Valley, the Adirondacks and the Green Mountain range from a bird’s-eye view). Richmond, also a cute town and nice surrounding areas…..Bolton Valley, centered around the Bolton ski resort, but what a spectacular drive up the mountain to get there! Huntington…pretty much everything I’d ever imagine a Vermont town to have, (pretty ironic, too, if I did move there, that the town I grew up in here on Long Island, and which Northport is a part of the township of, is also named Huntington).
And then there’s this gorgeous stretch on the southwest corridor of the state, which I at first didn’t really consider as a place to live. Too far from Burlington, which is way up north in the state. And too touristy, centering around Manchester Center, which is a freakin’ shopping outlet center! But, you know, aside from that little commercial center, a great deal of the rest of this section of VT includes some of the most gorgeous, unspoiled areas of the state that I’ve seen so far. And Arlington is there, too, which I finally got to see on this last trip….Arlington, the town where Norman Rockwell lived, one of my greatest artistic influences. And from what I saw, it didn’t look like too much had changed since he lived there, (I got to see his house, too….a classic New England style house just over a covered bridge along the Battenkill River in West Arlington. It’s now a B&B…. which I really hope to stay in some day!).
Well, before I go on too long here, (and I probably have, already!), I’m going to sign off. I do ask, if you’re from Vermont, or have any insight on the state, please do e-mail me at KylesBnB@aol.com, just to share your thoughts and observations. I’d love to hear from you! Now, if you haven’t already done so, go on over & check out the newest episode of Kyle’s B&B, which is awaiting you as we speak!. And I leave you with this image I took of Vermont in full Fall splendor last October. Enjoy!
