An Adventure to Remember

      My version of the famous church and covered bridge just below the home of Norman Rockwell.

Vermont is a beautiful state--especially if you like mountains, and I do! My adventure is now over and what a trip I had! God kept me safe, accident free, and this 65 year old girl went exploring on the back roads!

I made the drive in one day and explored for two full days. The weather couldn't have been better.

My lodging was in the home of Norman Rockwell which is now a B&B called "Inn on Covered Bridge Green." I was able to go inside his study, behind the house, where he painted his scenes of life. I was in the ground floor room on the left with a private entrance. I splurged, and I'm so glad I did!

The white church and covered bridge sit just below his house, and I love the top snap I took early the first morning. The fog was still resting on the trees. I also like the pictures below of how it looked years ago and today. I was standing just outside of the covered bridge facing the house.

My hostess, Julia, said a movie is being made of Rockwell's life and will be filmed there this winter. Photographers were coming in this week to film fall scenery.

The town of Bennington, where I came in to Vermont, is a good welcoming town. I found these moose (above) at the Welcome Center, and the two chocolate moose, Benny and Molly, below in a local chocolate shop!

 

While snapping the scene below, a man driving by, stopped and asked if my car was a rental car from Maryland or if I was from Maryland. Turns out he lived in Ellicott City, and after visiting Vermont two years ago, he and his wife moved up there. This happened twice. Another man stopped and asked the same question when I was snapping pictures another place. He was from Odenton and misses the Jimmie Cone stores. I bragged that there was one five minutes from my home!

Of course, I visited Weston, home of the Vermont Country Store. I've been buying from them through their catalogs for years. It felt like being home in familiar surroundings.


Just above Weston I visited Ludlow and their Sugar Shack. They give tours on how they make maple syrup. I picked up a few containers to enjoy. A sugar shack in Arlington, the town I stayed in, had a museum of Norman Rockwell's work.

                                     I love the layers of mountain. They were everywhere.

Arlington is also home to the Robert Frost museum, and I stopped by one afternoon. I picked up the children's book illustrating his famous poem "Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening." It is beautifully illustrated and this child wanted it!

I loved the roads that curved around like the one below. I could drive on those kind of roads all day long!

Of course, I visited a number of covered bridges, some in poor condition and others quite lovely. At one near the town of Brattleboro, when I got to the end of the bridge I saw a mirror completely opposite of me and there I was in my car! It gave me a chuckle so I had to snap a picture of it!

Grafton is said to be one of ten most loveliest towns in America, and it was indeed charming. I drove 9 miles on a dirt road to get there. :)  I brought home this little green enamel pot, which was being used as a decoration in the general store. The proprietor let me have it for $5. It's seen better days, but it was quite a bit cheaper than the sculptures and quilts that were selling in the thousands.

                              This covered bridge was just outside the town of Grafton

I enjoyed a hearty laugh when I bought gas at the station in Grafton. The pump machine was an old model, with the credit card machine on the end. The manager assured me that everyone has trouble figuring out how to operate it. It sure asked a lot of questions and finding the right buttons to push was frustrating. But he was friendly and helpful, and I got my gas.

I also visited a local farm and found week old piggies! Isn't he cute!

My two days were packed full, and I was ready to return home. I arrived home to two very big, happy puppies, and a happy husband. They presented me with this lovely bouquet of flowers and a quart of chocolate hagen daz ice cream! Jerry said the first morning after I left he woke up to a puppy sleeping on both sides of him and he felt like a squashed sausage! They're getting close to 70 pounds now. I do believe they got along just fine.

My desire to visit Vermont was well satisfied with this visit. I'm sure over the course of a few weeks you'll see pictures showing up in future posts from my trip.

                   I didn't see any real bears, but at least I found one on the dirt road to Grafton!