How could one not love Vermont?! A state that is 80% trees...beautiful mountains...small historic towns...vistas as pretty as a postcard...and very friendly people. We love, love, love it here! Granted...we are visiting during one of the most beautiful times of year...but still, there is just something extra special about Vermont.
Lance and I are staying in the capital city of Montpelier.
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| The state capital |
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| Senate Chamber |
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| Above and below...the House of Representatives |
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| The ceremonial office of the governor of Vermont |
Montpelier is a small town with a population of about 8,000 people...but...don't let that fool you. There is literally something going on here every day of the week. They have live theatre ..two movie houses, with one that features Independent Films, lots of live music, and plenty of affordable classes and activities...many which are geared toward the older crowd. There are also many artists here...including some who teach weaving, painting, rug hooking, pottery, etc. The Vermont College of Fine Arts is located here and they offer private or group instrumental music and voice lessons to the local town folk.
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| The Vermont College of Fine Arts |
Montpelier is very historic and the streets are filled with beautifully restored buildings, cute little shops, quite a few churches and lovely homes. If you are from Wisconsin...just imagine a town that is hip like Madison and beautiful like Door County. That is the best way to describe Montpelier.
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| A picture that captures several of the church spires near downtown Montpelier |
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| A beautiful Inn located near our apartment |
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| I love all the homes with wrap around porches |
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| The porch of our AirBnb apartment. Lance bought the pumpkins. |
While in Montpelier, we've enjoyed spending time at the North Branch Nature Center. We even joined a birding walk early one morning.
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| The Nature Center building |
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| The group who gathered for the Friday Morning Fall Bird Walk. |
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| The woods we walked through on our way home from the nature center |
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| Elm Street Cemetery which dates back to 1815 |
There are two very nice grocery stores here...one, which is a coop that offers all kinds of organic foods...similar to Whole Foods. The Kellogg-Hubbard Library is a great place to hang out if you want to get some work done in a quiet atmosphere. We began utilizing the library because the wifi in our apartment is a bit spotty from time to time.
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| The Kellogg Hubbard Library which was completed in 1895 |
We've also taken advantage of several presentations at the library...including one that presented a documentary about Vermont entitled...One Town at a Time. This film was about three young people who traveled to all 251 towns in Vermont.
While visiting here, Lance and I were lucky enough to meet up with some friends that we made when we were hiking in the Czech Republic this past summer. Bob and Sally, who live about 35 minutes from where we are staying, picked us up early on Saturday morning and took us on an all day road trip so we could see the surrounding area. We are very grateful to them for showing us such a marvelous time.
We started with a visit to the Cabot cheese market where we got to sample an assortment of different cheeses. Then, we took a short hike on a trail near one of the neighbouring towns.
Next, we stopped in Stowe, and took a stroll through a street market that was selling a variety of things, including tasty food, jewelry, and other crafty items.
After visiting the street market, we searched for the Von Trapp Brewery and Bierhall so we could enjoy some lunch. For those who may not know, the Sound of Music was a movie based on the life experiences of the Von Trapp family. After leaving Europe, the family settled on some land near Stowe, Vt...where their ancestors still remain today. First, they built a cross country ski lodge...and more recently, the brewery and restaurant where we ate.
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| Von Trapp Brewery and Bierhall |
When lunch was done...Bob drove us to Smuggler's Notch, where we took some time to hike around the massive rocks that can be found there.
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| Our new friends...Bob and Sally |
The last stop of the day was at a covered bridge. As you can see, we had terrific weather and enjoyed a wonderful day.
Of course it's not all fun and games. Later in the week, Lance took some time to cook up his favorite treat...homemade applesauce.
Please stay tuned. Next week Lance and I are going to rent a car to do some more exploring of the area. This will give us a chance to do some leaf peeping before departing from this beautiful state.
