Day 2 - Southeastern Vermont

Our first day in Vermont began at the EconoLodge in Brattleboro.

We don't have bugs like this one.  I found this moth on a motel column this morning and just had to take it's picture.

 Our rental car was an upgrade to a Chevy Impala.  "See the USA in your Chevrolet".

 The motel roses were in full bloom with a wonderful fragrance.

 We crossed the Connecticut River to see Brattleboro from New Hampshire.

 Brattleboro is an old mill town now heavy into art, artisans, and a counterculture element, but with the old trappings of the Puritan beginnings.  We talked to a man on the street who left Seattle and Microsoft for a more laid back lifestyle here.  But I could tell we were not locals.  We were too friendly.

 As we set out this morning, we were in search of several things:  Countryside, charming old villages, and covered bridges.  In addition there were two local products to track down, cheese and syrup, maple of course.


This is a farm that bears the name of the Grafton Village Cheese company, but it was not in Grafton, and it was not open yet.  We continued on.

 Our first covered bridge was a beauty, the longest of them all.

And we began to find those charming villages too.  Like Newfane.

 Scott Bridge is closed to traffic, but was at one time the longest non-supported covered bridge in the state.

 We couldn't resist a stop at this old farm house antique store.  It was an adventure.

 On to Townshend and the village green.  Tom got some company as he sat to text while I took photos.

 This bridge didn't really go anywhere, so I suspect it was strictly for tourists, but it was part of the Grafton village cheese company.  this one really was in Grafton, but it was also closed.  No Cheese, but there were directions for finding the shop in town where there was cheese!

 Ah.  Cheese at last.  The samples were great!  It was too hot to be carrying cheese around (about 85) so we bought a cheese server instead.

 Grafton has been preserved very well and is owned mostly by a foundation.

 The old inn now includes some old houses as well.  I guess the rooms are a bit pricier than the Econolodge.

While we were having lunch at a little deli in Grafton, we asked about that other product, the maple syrup.  It seems we had missed the Plummer Sugar House, so we backtracked to find it.

Here's the sales shop.  The sugar man came out to help us.

 We bought two of the small jugs.  We do have to go home by plane.

 And then we got a guided tour!  Here's the sugar house

 And here's the modern equipment inside.

 No more horse driven sleds, no more sap buckets.  It's all done with plastic tubing, pumps, oil fired burners and "reverse osmosis to draw out the water.  But it was very interesting, and we love talking to the locals.


Back to Grafton. we stopped at the General Store for some ice cream.

 And then wandered across the street to the old fire station where a woodworker artisan has set up shop.  We had another very interesting chat here with another local craftsman.

 And we just happened to stumble on another bridge.

 This is the Hall Bridge. The sign says "Speed Limit, Horses at a walk, Motor Vehicles 10 miles per hour.  

It looked to be used by only a couple of houses. They had their mail boxes on the bridge.

 We were on our way to Bellows falls, our final destination for the day.  We used our GPS to find the famous Vermont Country Store.

 It was a lot of fun, especially the food samples.  More cheese!
 We knew it was coming, those thunder storms.  They struck with a vengeance, even tornado warnings in some areas.  They cut short our exploring and we were not able to do the walking tour of the fabulous historic homes in Bellows Falls.  Here's the view from our motel.

So we were in for an early evening, which is why I've had time to post so many pics.  


Better weather will come in the morning, along with more exploring.