We had an early start this morning as we needed to get Liam to JFK airport with plenty of time to spare before his flight to Los Angeles. The traffic leaving Manhattan was pretty appalling but we’d expected that, so about 50 minutes after leaving our hotel we were hugging him goodbye at Terminal 5. It’sbeen wonderful having him with us again ! Then we set off through more hopeless traffic across Long Island to head up north. We crossed into Connecticut first and made a stop at Kent Falls State Park to see the pretty waterfalls there. There was a little covered bridge to cross as we entered tha park.
Not much further up the road we passed into Massachusetts and eventually arrived at Stockbridge, where I was keen to visit the Norman Rockwell Museum. Norman Rockwell was one of the the most famous and beloved American press illustrators in the United States. he has been described as the “storyteller” of America, largely through the cover illustrations of everyday life he created for The Saturday Evening Post magazine over nearly five decades. His works trace the history of the United States in the 20th century, and I love them. The museum housed a selection of his large paintings as well as every cover that he created for the Post.
As today was one of those “travelling” days there werent any other memorable sights until we crossed the border into Vermont, State 48 for us! Then we arrived at our hotel at Brattleboro, where we are booked to stay two nights. It’s a lovely spot right on the Connecticut River and we enjoyed a relaxing evening looking out over the river.
Next morning we had a bit of a sleep in before a light breakfast in the room ( breakfast not included in the room rate here so we’d bought juice, fruit and muffins yesterday in anticipation) It was pretty cold on the verandah as we ate, watching the mist rise off the river. The weather has definitely turned cooler for us now, Fall is here in the NorthEast!
Now we had a relaxing day to spend with two nights here in southern Vermont. So what did we do as a little break on our long roadtrip? We went for a drive of course! The plan was to do a loop drive around the southern part of Vermont, taking in part of the Green mountains as well as the Taconic Range. We set out west towards Bennington across the southern end of the Green Mountains and here we started to see the change in the colours of the foliage. They’re definitely not at their peak yet but are getting there.
We then headed north to the Equinox Skyline Drive, an unforgettable drive to the summit of Mount Equinox on the longest private toll road in the country. We stopped at the visitor center to buy our token that would let us through the gate and then started the climb which ascends 3,248 feet over 5.2 miles. When we climbed out of the car at the top we could smell the hot smell from the engine!
After driving back down the mountain we headed East across to Weston, the home of the Vermont Country Store. Founders Vrest and Ellen Orton, first established the business when they published their first catalog in 1945 and mailed it to the people on their Christmas card list. The mail order business prospered, and they opened the brick and mortar Vermont Country Store in Weston in 1946, selling merchandise that was both durable and practical, according to Vrest’s true Yankee spirit. It has thrived and prospered ever since. I loved it! They stock “everything Vermont” from warm red flannel shirts to Maple Syrup. We strolled around and bought some Cinnamon Maple Doughnuts and then stopped for lunch at Mildred’s Grill the stores cafe.
We enjoyed more of the pretty foliage on our drive back to Brattleboro, for another easy dinner on the verandah. Tomorrow we head further north!