Sometimes, all you need is a cheap rental car and an excuse, and you can be a million miles from Boston in about two hours. Metaphorically speaking, of course. Due to a wedding in this weekend, we got to explore Planet Vermont for a little while. Some notes I took on the Mapquest direction printouts:
* Richmond, VT: The gas station mart sells worms and night crawlers in the beer case, right next to Mike's Hard Lemonade. They also sell Damn Good brand jerky, in Original, Peppered, Beef BBQ, Teriaki, Hot, and Death By Jerky.
* Williston, VT rest stop: Picnic tables shaped like tractors. Signs inside for the Vermont Sheep & Wool Fair, the Civil War Expo, and the unfortunately-named Alzheimer's fundraise, "Memory Walk 2002."
* Georgia, VT: a US flag on *every* telephone pole on Route 7
* Burlington: Cute without inducing vomiting. Definitely a college town. Kids skateboarding in the parking garage. Music fest called "MooseJam" being advertised. Bumper sticker reading "Boycott corporate snowboarding" -- whatever that means.
* St. Albans: The street signs are white with green lettering and little green maple leaves...aw...
And then we reached Highgate Center, the wedding site. If by some strange chance you ever need to host a party near the Vermont/Canada border, I heartily reccommend Highgate Manor which is Victorian and impressive without a trace of snootiness. The women who run the place are charming and serve a mean breakfast quiche. We had this room, so now I know what a sap bucket looks like. Since they kept to just a best man and a maid of honor, I got all the wedding attendant perks (room at the inn, sitting at the bride and groom's table at the reception) without actually having to be an attendant. Which is good, since I would have gotten some funny looks at the tux shop :)
To elaborate, I'm friends with the bride, too, but I've known the groom since we were 14. We have an unspoken vow not to casually reveal what screwed up little devil teens were were back then, so I used all my willpower to refrain from telling embarassing stories. Anyway, nice (short!) ceremony, fun reception, the bride's father played the bagpipes, the DJ took requests, and we all danced like fools.
The next day, we stopped by one of the scariest places on earth, saw a lot of almost-as-disconcerting leaf people, wondered why the store where we bought turkey sandwiches has a website, drank excellent beer in Brattleboro, and eventually made our way home in the dark the long way across Massachusetts, feeling like we'd been gone much longer than 36 hours.
Upon returning home, we found that Tabitha the Wondercat had managed to upchuck in four different rooms. We missed you, too, kitty.
Back to the grind.
* Richmond, VT: The gas station mart sells worms and night crawlers in the beer case, right next to Mike's Hard Lemonade. They also sell Damn Good brand jerky, in Original, Peppered, Beef BBQ, Teriaki, Hot, and Death By Jerky.
* Williston, VT rest stop: Picnic tables shaped like tractors. Signs inside for the Vermont Sheep & Wool Fair, the Civil War Expo, and the unfortunately-named Alzheimer's fundraise, "Memory Walk 2002."
* Georgia, VT: a US flag on *every* telephone pole on Route 7
* Burlington: Cute without inducing vomiting. Definitely a college town. Kids skateboarding in the parking garage. Music fest called "MooseJam" being advertised. Bumper sticker reading "Boycott corporate snowboarding" -- whatever that means.
* St. Albans: The street signs are white with green lettering and little green maple leaves...aw...
And then we reached Highgate Center, the wedding site. If by some strange chance you ever need to host a party near the Vermont/Canada border, I heartily reccommend Highgate Manor which is Victorian and impressive without a trace of snootiness. The women who run the place are charming and serve a mean breakfast quiche. We had this room, so now I know what a sap bucket looks like. Since they kept to just a best man and a maid of honor, I got all the wedding attendant perks (room at the inn, sitting at the bride and groom's table at the reception) without actually having to be an attendant. Which is good, since I would have gotten some funny looks at the tux shop :)
To elaborate, I'm friends with the bride, too, but I've known the groom since we were 14. We have an unspoken vow not to casually reveal what screwed up little devil teens were were back then, so I used all my willpower to refrain from telling embarassing stories. Anyway, nice (short!) ceremony, fun reception, the bride's father played the bagpipes, the DJ took requests, and we all danced like fools.
The next day, we stopped by one of the scariest places on earth, saw a lot of almost-as-disconcerting leaf people, wondered why the store where we bought turkey sandwiches has a website, drank excellent beer in Brattleboro, and eventually made our way home in the dark the long way across Massachusetts, feeling like we'd been gone much longer than 36 hours.
Upon returning home, we found that Tabitha the Wondercat had managed to upchuck in four different rooms. We missed you, too, kitty.
Back to the grind.
Labels: travel
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