This was an incredibly beautiful visit to Vermont, and one that took me to places with genuine small town charm. Leaving Burlington early Sunday morning, we ate breakfast in a little town just northwest of Stowe, the scenic ski village everyone's heard of. After listening to the locals banter-and trade insults-we forged onward through some really cool villages.
Among these was Hardwick, which is a gorgeous little village that, while very economically depressed, is apparently undergoing a bit of a sustainable/organic revolution! I hope to return someday to learn more, but until I learn something more substantive, I'll just point out that they have a really awesome suspension bridge to walk across. When you jump, it really wobbles!
After that, it was on to Glover, which was definitely in the Northeast Kingdom. There were gorgeous sights, friendly people, and lots of free parking (miles of it)! Potentially the neatest little place was Red Sky Trading Company, a country store of sorts located in somebody's small barn. The entire store operated on the honor system, and it had lots of things that you'd want to steal (e.g. homemade doughnuts, homemade pies, antiques, Adirondack chairs, homemade doughnuts, lots of baked goods, and HOMEMADE DOUGHNUTS!!!) It is a testament to the mentality of the people living up there that, somehow, nothing gets stolen. The rest of our country could learn a valuable lesson.
Alas, it was off to Parker Pie Company, which is a great pizzeria that you'd never find unless you were a local (or had a GPS). Nestled next to a dairy farm, it actually occupies the rear half of the country store pictured here (and obviously has no sign of its own). The tables are either inside, or out in somebody's backyard, but the pizza was really quite good!
However, we ate quickly, since we were about to go somewhere that Charlotte had been wanting to see for a long time-and somewhere that defies description. Bread and Puppet!
Elaborate puppets combine with (rather left-leaning) political and social commentary here to produce a very entertaining "theater" experience. Everything (except the cheap art they sell-they started the "Cheap Art" movement, after all) is free, which is why the donation is the only good nation these days! And for that donation, you get a tour of a barn that has been converted into a museum to document their existence since the '60s...
a fantastic outdoor performance...
and yes...
Bread! Baked in an outdoor hearth! Mmm!
It was another truly enjoyable trip to Burlington, and since this post is already outdated, stay tuned for an update of where I spent this most recent weekend (hint: it rhymes with Shmermont).
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