Knight's Spider Web Farm

I imagine a LOT of people would want to give this attraction a miss. Knight's spider web farm encourages orb spiders to build their webs, then those webs are mounted and sold as art work.

I like it!  I don't mind spiders because I really hate flies. I don't suppose a mounted web would act as a deterrent?

Oldest Library

The first library was started on June 7, 1791 when 48 men, each paying 16 shillings ($2.67), became shareholders by signing the association's constitution whose purpose was to promote knowledge and piety. The books were "bid off" at quarterly book auctions held at first at a tavern in Brookfield Center where an old chest was kept. This was described as "a plain wood-colored affair, four or five feet long, about two feet high and as many wide, tightly padlocked, which is supposed to have held the first precious volumes of the library."

About 1850, when the question of women's membership arose, Howard Griswold, a library officer at the time, made a motion to allow the "fairer sex" to bid for books. His daughter Selinda had been attending the meetings to help him check out books. The motion was passed "more through fear of discourtesy than otherwise.... Miss Griswold braved alone the criticism of a woman who was so unladylike as to appear in public, for two meetings before her younger sister, and then two other women, joined her.

It's really hard to find a picture of the library. Even their own website doesn't have a picture, although it does have this spiffy floating bridge.

If you do a search, you'll also find pictures of the town offices. I don't know why, this is not the library. but here it is. 

Yay! The Vermont Country Store

Woot! Got the package from the Vermont Country Store. 

Cheese and maple syrup--life doesn't get better than that. Unless perhaps, you take a sip of Moonbeam Meadow. I've never looked at a non-Christmas catalog from this store. It's loaded with folk remedies. I dunno about "unpasteurized" apple cider, but my mother canned everything, and I know all about what happens to fruit based liquids that are left too long. I can just see Aunt Bea sneaking sips.




Moonbeam Meadow takes over when the sun goes down to promote a good night’s sleep, soothe jangled nerves and calm restless souls. A balanced mix of premium herbs prized in natural healing, including chamomile, hops, lavender, lemon balm and ashwagandah, are steeped whole to release vital nutrients and blended with unpasteurized apple cider vinegar made from organic apples grown in Vermont. Many claim this natural herbal tonic works wonders as a non-habit-forming sleep aid, while others take it to temporarily mitigate the effects of stress and anxiety.

"Derned if I ain't feeling --hic--stressed again, pass me the moonbeam"

Best Restaurant

The best restaurant in Vermont, according to the internet, is Misery Loves Company, a place that's a winner in my book just for the name.

Misery in located in Winooski, and sells fancy sounding things like Beef Tartare and Pate, but of much more interest to me is this humble sounding dish:

Bread, butter and fat $8.00

or , how about Bacon Beignets?? YUM!

and of course, Fresh Cheese.

Appalachian Trail

The Appalachian trail runs 150 miles through Vermont. Apparently, you want to avoid "mud season" which is in April and May, but the rest of the time it's gorgeous. I've always wanted to hike the trail. Naturally, I want to hike the whole thing despite the fact that I know nothing about camping and hate being cold, wet, dirty, tired or hungry--which I think pretty much defines the trail. Add to that old age and bad knees and perhaps through hiking isn't a great idea. But maybe I could hike through one state.

Ben and Jerry's

Holy ice-cream Batman! I forgot that the Ben and Jerry's ice-cream factory is in Vermont. That alone would be worth the plane ticket. The factory offers tours and samples. I know of at least one Make-a-Wish child whose wish was to visit the factory and make his own flavor.

Most fun of all I think, is the flavor graveyard, in honor of the "dearly de-pinted." All flavors get their own tombstone with an individual epitaph. In the winter there are even snowshoe tours of the graveyard. Because about 300,000 people visit the graveyard each year, Ben and Jerry's is slowly replacing the resin tombstones with granite.

The epitaphs are:

Sugar Plum

It swirled in our heads,
it danced in our dreams,
it proved not to be though,
The best of ice-creams.

This is Nuts
The name was meant to say it all
without the pompous prose,
Was it nuts we chose to say so
or was it nuts we chose?

Wild Maine Blueberry

Wild Maine Blueberry
from the land of puffin,
Now when we crave you
we turn to the muffin.

In honor of Ben and Jerry's, I've declared Friday, Jan 15 as my official Ben and Jerry's day at work. I'm excited about this! I never eat Ben and Jerry's because it's sooooo calorie loaded and expensive, but on Jan 15th bring on the Chunky Monkey!

The Vermont Country Store

Hey! My cousin tells me that she's moving to Vermont! I'm sure she'll be thrilled to have three house guests for an indefinite period of time. Flights are about $700 in October. Hmmmm. Could I actually use some self-discipline and save up?

Meanwhile, there's the Vermont Country Store.

We get their catalog every Christmas. It's just what a country store should be--selling everything and everything is comfortable. Even if you don't want or need it, it's just great that it's there. Take a look at the inside.

Happily, I can at least get to it online at vermontcountrystore.com.  Just as in real life, there is nothing I need, but I'm going to buy some real Vermont cheddar cheese and some maple syrup. I also want to buy pajamas, but that's only because it's cold and dreary here at work and my pajamas aren't actually here with me.  In my mind's eye it's never cold and dreary in Vermont. Vermont only ever has scenic Christmas snow and I would always have the time and money to take a sleigh ride.

Beautiful Vermont

Vermont is definitely one of the states where I would love to live. How can the scenery get any prettier? On Google, one of the first images I saw was this beauty--

I want to be here. For days and weeks and years I want to be exactly here.  This is a view of the hot tub at Twin Farms Resort, Vermont's only 5 star resort.  I like the story behind it. When author Sinclair Lewis proposed to his wife, she said she'd only marry him if he bought her a farm in Vermont. So he did--a lovely 1795 era farmhouse. Through the years it's been passed on and changed until it's now this high class place in Barnard, VT. I'm sure it's expensive, but I'm not about to look. I want to hang on to the fantasy that I'm actually there.