Our Vermont Travelblog

Trip 22 - Isle La Motte

Long time since our last trip, and this was our first with Sits In Utero weighing Baby Momma down.

Haha, we're going for arideinthecar and you're not!

Trip 21 - Derby

3 dogz?  Not so bad to control in general, 'cept for when trying to get them to settle for a picture.

On our way to the Fortress this morning we decided to detour a bit north to Derby (history, demographics):

It was not until 1788 that Derby was actually chartered, the document back-dated to when the grant was made by the Legislature to Timothy Andrews (sometimes Andrus in early records) and 59 others.

Himself a carpenter by trade and a land speculator on a big scale in both Vermont and Connecticut, Andrews came from a prominent Connecticut family which produced a number of clergymen, educators and statesmen. He was involved in the charters for a half-dozen towns near the Canadian border, including East Haven, which was named for his home in Connecticut. He died in Vermont 1789, never having taken any advantage from his Vermont holdings.

Some of the earliest proprietors' meetings took place in Derby, Connecticut, so it is quite certain that town provided the name for the new Vermont venture. In turn, Derbyshire, England provided the name for the Connecticut town. An authority on English place-names says Derby originally meant "homestead frequented by wild animals."

Neat, eh?

The Haskell Opera House. The audience sits in the US and watches a performance in Canada.

Lady parked her truck behind us in the Canadarian territory, asked us something in French (we gave Gallic shrugs) and walked across the border into the building with her little girl (presumably for story hour). 

Neppy apologizes for any international ill will: he crapped on Canada.

ntodd

PS--New official blog pic coming...

This Car, Er...Man Climbed Mt Washington

Since we'd just been to Mt Washington, I thought this story I saw in the Messenger at the Steeple Market was interesting:

Ask a serious runner about fundamental tips for success, and you might doze midway through a lengthy lecture about proper biomechanics, shoe science, and electrolyte replenishment.

Then ask Gerald Barney, of Swanton. Three-plus decades into his running career, he could write a one-page runner’s guide with seven simple syllables: “Get out the door. Stick with it.”

That philosophy – along with an admirable, consistent determination – earned Barney the course record among 65 to 69 year olds at the grueling Mt. Washington Road Race in 1999. His time was 1:34:59. He was 65.

“It didn’t mean much,” Barney said Thursday, in his gentle, soft-spoken manner. “Records are just something that someone else is going to break. I just like to run. And I like to race.”

Today, at a young 75, Barney will run back up the mountain. He is one of two Vermonters to hold a Mt. Washington record; the other is John Pelton, of West Rupert, who broke the record among 60 to 64 year olds in 1999, with a time of 1:24:32.

“I’m a little apprehensive,” Barney said. “But I think I’ll make it up there.”

The Mt. Washington race is like stretching the steepest part of St. Albans Hill for 7.6 miles and then running up. The course has an average grade of 11.5 percent, with extended sections of 18 percent. The last 50 yards is a 22 percent climb to the finish. Walking is expected. Downhill doesn’t exist.

The course is almost 5,000 vertical feet from start to finish. The race motto?

“There’s only one hill.”

I'll stick to driving up the auto road.

ntodd

Trip 20 - Guildhall And Lunenburg

This is Ericka's last visit as a barbarian from the hinterlands--next 251 Club trip she'll be a resident of Vermont (though, like me, she'll always be a flatlander according to Vermont natives)!

Just before heading out, a flock of Canada geese came over to the pond for a flyby.

Trip 19 - Marshfield And Irasburg

I'm stretching the concept of The Trip Singularity a bit since today's post is about 2 towns on 2 separate days, but this is the inaugural 251 Club event with Ericka (sans Neptune this one time) and it's during one of her visits from PDX, so what the hell.

We visited Marshfield yesterday and had a little difficulty getting the Dogz back in the 251 groove what with the excitement of meeting Olive, our Guest Star.

But What About Al Gore?

Freep:

For the handful of people who reside in Buels Gore, there truly is no place like home.

Consider that Buels Gore:

Is the fastest growing community in Vermont.

Is the only community in the state with 100 percent voter turnout in the past three elections.

Has Chittenden County's smallest municipal budget by far: $45,675.

"We've also got the highest per capita income in the state," Buels Gore resident Chris McClure said one night last week as he eyed a well-stocked plate of cookies at the home of Cynthia Clarke and Oliver Carling on Gore Road.

"No, no. That's not true anymore," said Garret Mott, seated at the table next to McClure. "Norwich is higher now." Mott is supervisor of Buels Gore, a position he was appointed to three years ago by Gov. Jim Douglas.

"Oh, well, they've got people in Norwich," McClure joked.

Ah, people. That's something Buels Gore mostly lacks -- and hopes to keep that way.

The pie-shaped sliver of land at the southern tip of Chittenden County is home to just 19 residents, up from 12 in 2000. Its tiny population helps create the statistical oddities that often put Buels Gore at the top of the demographic charts in the state.

State-owned forest land accounts for two-thirds of Buels Gore's 3,520 acres. The community has just one public road besides Vermont 17, a state highway.

Now the gore -- it doesn't classify as a town -- is doing something very un-gore like: It's drawing up a plan to guide future growth in the community. Buels Gore wants to have a municipal plan.

"People don't want to see uncontrolled or inappropriate development," explained Mott, who is also chairman of the gore's six-member planning commission.
...
Buels Gore, named after Maj. Elias Buel, a Revolutionary War militia leader from Connecticut, is one of three gores in Vermont. Gores are small pieces of land that were never absorbed by a neighboring town.

Residents either commute to jobs in Middlebury, Burlington or elsewhere, or work by computer out of their homeshouses. Mott, who runs a software design business out of his home, joked that he moved from Hanksville, a part of Huntington located a few miles to the north, to Buels Gore because "I couldn't take the winters anymore."

Despite its remoteness, the community is one of the few that can count the governor as a regular visitor to its environs. Governor Jim Douglas, who lives in Middlebury, rides through the gore on Vermont 17 each weekday on his way to and from Montpelier.

"We've watched the number on his license plate go down over the years," said McClure, referring to the low-numbered license plates bestowed on state officials. Douglas served as a state representative, gubernatorial aide, secretary of state and treasurer before becoming governor in 2003.

Buels Gore has no school, post office, town hall or commercial businesses. Clarke and Carling said they get their mail in Starksboro, vote in Huntington and send their two children to school in Lincoln.

"When you're raising kids, you look for a community to be a part of," Clarke said. "There's not a lot of activities here for them."

She said she sometimes wishes Buels Gore had an annual town meeting like other communities. The Chittenden County Superior Court staff provides the services a town clerk would, maintaining land records and filing birth and death certificates.

"I'm so jealous of other towns on Town Meeting Day," she said. "It seems so exciting and it's hard not to be a part of that."

On the other hand, living in the gore has its benefits, she said.

"It's very peaceful," Clarke said. "You can hear the wind, the leaves, the birds and maybe a car once in a while. I can even hear what music my sister's playing on her stereo at her house on top of the ridge."

Readers might recall that Stef, Cairo and I took Elizabeth Brown of the LATimes to Buels Gore a few years ago.  Part of our 15 minutes of fame!

ntodd

PS--Expect Neptune to be joining the fun this summer...

(x-posted at Dohiyi Mir)

Trip 18 - Highgate

Finally, a day with normal temps in the 70s instead of the 90s, with blue sky rather than haze.  Perfect for a 251 Club trip.

I'll be dropping the Dogz off at The Resort on Wednesday morning, so it seemed like the surrounding town was a good choice to explore today.

My god, we were spittin' distance from The Socialist Republic of Canadaria!  Somehow we survived Highgate despite the looming threat of universal healthcare (history, demographics):

A totally fanciful story about the town's name says there was once a toll road closed by a very high gate, and that people began saying they were "going to High Gate" when traveling to the area. Not even acceptable as folklore, for the area had no roads at all when Benning Wentworth named the town.

Wentworth probably had the well-known London suburb of Highgate in mind. That area did take its name from an old gatehouse which had been an important part of London's defenses, but dismantled by Wentworth's time. There are but two other Highgates in the world, both known to have been named for the London suburb: Ontario, Canada and St. Mary's Parish, Jamaica.

John Godrey Saxe was born here: lawyer, educator, newspaper editor, state's attorney, collector of customs, gubernatorial candidate, lecturer. It was, however, as a poet that he gained his greatest fame. His poems are still included in anthologies of American verse, and his story "Four Blind Men and an Elephant", the classic treatise on differing viewpoints, is one of the most successful children's picture books.

On the outskirts of town, this bridge over the Missisquoi by the Swanton Generating Station caught my eye. 

I like dams.  Never been close enough to a spillway to see that the apron controlling flow over the dam was canvas-reinforced rubber. 

You gotta fight!  For your right!  To parrrrrr...SHIT, THE COPS! 

C'mon, everybody back on the bus! 

Gulls hang out on the roof of the Highgate Sports Arena. 

Another exciting adventure comes to an end...

ntodd

Trip 17 - Wolcott

Had to run some errands and decided it was a lovely day that should have Dogz out with me enjoying it...

We tried doing this without leashes, but Kayla wanted to go visit the family fishing by the bridge, and Mex only sat in one place for about 30 femtoseconds.

We were all alone for a while, so off-leash wasn't an issue and the pups could run around.  Kayla was surprisingly not barky, but there were no MILFs around in contrast to our last trip.  Sigh. (history, demographics):

The second-named grantee, General Oliver Wolcott, was held in only slightly less esteem by Vermonters than George Washington. Son of one of Connecticut's most outstanding colonial officials, he graduated from Yale and became a noted juror in Litchfield. He later served as a Captain in the French and Indian Wars and became a Commissioner for Indian Affairs, in which role he brought about settlement of the Wyoming Valley - New York - Vermont boundary dispute. He was a member of the Continental Congress and a signer of the Declaration of Independence. During the Revolutionary War he rose to the rank of Major General, after which he served as Lieutenant Governor, then Governor of Connecticut. The Allens, the Chittendens and many other early Vermont leaders were from the Litchfield area, and they all knew and respected General Wolcott.

I've seen Fisher Bridge from the road many a time to and fro the Fortress of Solitude, and it was nice to finally get a closer look.

This is the most popular angle to shoot from, probably because it's the easiest one to catch the full bridge without bushwhacking on the other side of the footpath.

Harsh lighting made for some challenges.

Mex really wanted to walk across the bridge, but Daddy was too scared and wouldn't let him.

Some info:

Bridge Carries:       Railroad Line
Bridge Crosses:      Lamoille River
Bridge Traffic:      Railroad
Truss Type:      Town-Pratt double lattice
Year Built:      1908
Builder:      St. Johnsbury and Lamoille County Railroad
Structure Characteristics:      Length:  109'-0"
Span:  103'-0"
Width: 15'±
Tracks:  1

On our way out of town.

I should've ridden my bike today.  Of course, I could say that for most of the days this summer...

ntodd

Trip 16 - Waterville

Taking advantage of a not-rainy window, we piled into my new Ford Escape hybrid for a quick 251 Club excursion.

We need to do this more often so the Dogz get into the habit of cooperating when I'm taking the picture.

Actually, Mex and Kayla are well-behaved when I'm setting up, but they can't seem to get settled for the shot itself.  I think it's because we're moving fast to beat the timer, so they think we're going to run and play.  Regardless, as you can see in the photo we went to Waterville (history, demographics):

Waterville was created out of three parcels: Coits Gore, Belvidere Leg and part of Bakersfield. The town contains a little more than 10,000 acres, being essentially the valley through which the North Branch of the Lamoille River flows. Probably the town was given its name because the river was the most important feature, in the same way that Brookline was named in 1794.

The legislative records give the reason for the establishment of Waterville as a separate town: "It appears to this assembly that it is inconvenient for the inhabitants of the southeast corner of Bakersfield, and that part of Belvidere called the 'Leg' to attend town meetings and transact town business in their respective towns, and that Coits Gore ought to be incorporated and form a part of a new town...." The inconvenience was the hills and mountains that effectively blocked communication from east to west, as it has been elsewhere in Vermont, be it within a town, a county or the state as a whole.

The records of the Governor and Council show that Coits Gore was also called Williamsburgh, part of a grant that had been made to Vermont's second Surveyor General, James Whitelaw, James Savage and William Coit. It was the latter's first name that inspired the Williamsburgh name. Another part of the grant was first known as St. Andrews Gore, then became Plainfield.

James Savage and William Coit were surveyors who worked with General Whitelaw for the state; and their grant was given to them in lieu of back salary, as were grants to Tom Chittenden, Ira Allen, and some of the other founding fathers of the Vermont republic.

One of my best friends in elementary school lived in Waterville, OH.  And I went to college in Waterville, ME.  Hmm...

The meeting house.

The Dogz accosted this lovely woman and her little girl, so I was mortified

She was very nice and understanding, and we chatted about the 251 Club.  She asked what was the most beautiful town I'd seen thus far.  I thought, "this one because you're here."  Since that might've been rather forward, I ended up telling her about Granville instead.

A little footbridge in the town green spanning a brook.

On the way back out of town.

These cows found barking dogz to be fascinating.

Not in Waterville, but something we saw in Fletcher on the way home:

We were asked to stop as this dumb cow was crossing River Road--the farmers had just extricated her from mud on the other side.

And now the clouds are really rolling in.  Looks to be a wet coupla days in God's Country...

ntodd

Trip 15 - Berkshire

It was just a smidge over a year ago that Kayla got to enjoy her first 251 Club trip.  As it turns out, that was the last trip I'd been able to manage until today--I decided it was a lovely day and we needed to go explore the state for just a little bit.

Looking back at that trip last July, I'm amazed by just how scrawny Kayla, having been with us for not even two weeks, really was compared to Mex:

And now she dwarfs Mex in all dimensions!

Anyway, once again we hit Rt 105, then took a promising little road toward Berkshire (history, demographics):

Berkshire was one of six towns (the others being Enosburgh, Montgomery, Richford, Wyllis [now Jay] and Westfield) authorized by the legislature in the spring of 1780. Vermont was desperately looking for ways to raise money to supply her troops (the Continental Congress was disinclined to help) and the grant fees paid by those seeking land was a simple source of funds.

The petition requesting the charter flowed with admiration: "Whereas we have long been Spectators of the Struggles you have had in establishing and defending a New State on our Frontiers and being convinced of the Justice of your Cause as well as captivated with your Magnanimity and Heroism..."

How could the legislature refuse? The first man named in both the petition and the subsequent charter was William Goodrich of Stockbridge, Berkshire County, Massachussetts, a Captain in the militia which had marched to Lexington in 1775. Commissioned as a Major in 1777, his brigade was part of the Berkshire Company which helped win the Battle of Bennington. Many of the other grantees were his neighbors and most fought under him at Bennington. It is for their Massachusetts home that Berkshire is named.

Mex loves to do the Dog-in-a-Car-Window thing.  Kayla just makes herself comfy and stays out of the wind.

Katano farm, just south of Berkshire on Water Tower Road.

It's not easy controlling 2 dogz and a camera--this shot took three takes.

The church in the center of town, across the road from the clerk's office.

And this little shop rounds out "downtown."

We'll try to fit a few more trips in this summer.  Certainly won't let it go on hiatus for another year...

ntodd