When an old friend visited recently from another part of the country, not having been in New England for many years, we took a couple of excursions to reacquaint her with this part of Vermont. Remember: Vermont's claim to charm is all about its success in offering its own particular anachronistic look and feel. Down-home stuff. 1940's. There are no bill boards along the highways. There are plenty of dirt roads to say nothing of winding two-lane by-ways over hill and dale. It's the sort of place where you drive by white steepled churches, country general stores, cows, plus a good number of brooks which earn the adjective, "babbling." Of course, it was those very babblers that overflowed during Hurricane Irene a few years back, bringing on disastrous flooding. Otherwise, yes, they're delightful.
1. Bennington. The Old First Church and Robert Frost's Grave
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| The Old First Church |
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| The Frost Family Gravestone. (You can see the pennies people have put there.) |
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| His name is at the top, along with "I had a lover's quarrel with the world." |
2. Manchester. The Equinox Inn. Or I guess it's now called "The Equinox, a Luxury Collection Golf Resort and Spa."
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| Established in 1853, the Equinox Inn is next to the Old Marsh Tavern (1763). We stopped here mid-day for a glass of white wine before carrying on. |
3. Weston (population 566). The Vermont Country Store, the Weston Village Store, and the Craft Building
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| The Vermont Country Store calls itself the "Purveyors of the Practical and Hard-to-Find." |
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| The old wood stove is still cranked up on winter days. (If something works, don't haul in one of those modern gadgets!) |
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| Dating from 1946, the store prides itself on its old-time merchandise. |
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| The Weston Village Store (across the street) and its whirligigs. |
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| This gorgeous building with its artistic shingle-work has been a firehouse, a machine shop, a studio for craftspeople, and now houses the red Concord coach used as a bandwagon by the Weston Cornet Band from 1880-1930, one of only two in existence. |
4. The village of Grafton with its Grafton Inn and old White Church
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| The Grafton Inn (rockers and all), once called the Old Tavern at Grafton. |
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| Life in a Vermont village. |
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| The quintessential New England church--this, Grafton's "White Church." |
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