News reports today suggest that Vermonters are working hard – with considerable help from friends/government – to recover from the devastation caused by Irene which is good news on many fronts, primarily of course for Vermonters, especially those living in a dozen or so particularly hard hit small towns, but also for us tourists who love the place enough to travel thousands of miles (in our case from Iowa) to visit. Here’s hoping we can get there next week – although the road damage remains a big issue.
Category Archives: THE EAST COAST
Finally picked a place to stay in the Berkshires
After much research, I’ve finally settled on staying at River Bend Farm B&B when we are in Williamstown, Mass. next month. I was taken by its historic charm, location, and price. It’s a 1770 Colonial home – “magnificently restored” according to one review with only four rooms – and two baths to share. It’s a mile from town and costs $134 a weeknight (including tax….which is good for the pricey Berkshires.)
Filed under Massachusetts
Where to stay in Manchester Vt and eat in Bristol Vt.
A friend in-the-know emails this lodging recommendation for Manchester: The Palmer House, upscale motel for about $150 a night. Large rooms and beautifully maintained grounds make for a comfortable stay.
She also recommends Mary’s Restaurant at the Inn at Baldwin Creek in Bristol Vermont for a treat after a pretty drive, not far from Burlington and Middlebury College. The owners are very involved in the slow food movement. The Inn also looks lovely.
Filed under Vermont
Finally picking an inn to stay at in Vermont!
After reading up on lots of inns in southern Vermont, we finally picked the Old Tavern Inn in Grafton (after I found a less expensive room than was listed online). Very hard call but I think Grafton will be the quintessential inn and village I’ve been looking for to show off Vermont to my husband – who has never been there. I was captivated by the beautiful Inn at Manchester – which is not in town but in the bucolic countryside with a pool – but was a bit put off by the outlet malls nearby. Also liked the more affordable and perhaps laid-back Stone Boat Farm Bed & Breakfast in Jamaica, Vt. Next time.
Filed under Vermont
VBT – a long way from Vermont Bicycle Touring
I guess there’s a reason Vermont Bicycle Touring changed its name to VBT – they don’t seem to offer many trips in Vermont, judging from their latest catalog of hiking and biking vacations all over Europe, South America, Central America and the U.S. My family was among the first to go on VBT trips back in the early 1970s (I see from the catalog that the company is celebrating it’s 40th anniversary – so that’s about right) and they were wonderful. We biked from beautiful country inn to beautiful country inn w/great food and scenery. Now looks like might not be in our price range. Oh well.
Filed under Vermont
North Adams and Vermont (again) inns
Okay, so I’m also told I should look into inns in Chester Vt. and in North Adams, Mass. (the Berkshires) there are several great albeit pricey options including Porches of MassMOCA (the contemporary art museum I want to visit there), which looks retro high-design trendy, and River Bend Farm, which looks just the opposite (it’s a 1770 Georgian Colonial one mile from town.) Another high design/price option is Field Farm Guest House in a Bauhaus box built in 1948.
Filed under Massachusetts, Vermont
Vermont inn’s cont’d:
My dad reminded me about the Old Tavern in Grafton, one of the nation’s oldest operating inns (according to its website) opened in 1801. Another cool thing is it’s part of a nonprofit dedicated to preserving the vitality of rural Vermont communities. Can’t argue with that.
Dad also suggested looking at where Vermont Bicycle Touring (VBT) stays on their trips – which I used to go on as a kid with my parents. Good ideas all.
Filed under Vermont
Where the ramble on the East Coast – Berkshires and southern Vermont?
So I’m thinking, with our four free days on the East Coast in early September, we can go so many places in a few hour’s – which I loved when I lived in Boston and later Stamford, Connecticut. (So different from Michigan, where I grew up…and here in Iowa.)
Right now, since we’ll be in NYC and then Connecticut and then end up on Long Island, our best bet may be to go to the Berkshires (North Adams, perhaps) and then to southern Vermont (maybe the famous Dorset Inn in Dorset or a splurge at the Inn at Sawmill Farm in West Dover, which oddly enough was formed in part from my cousin’s vacation home that I visited as a child.) Both are places my husband’s never been to and places I long to return.
Filed under Massachusetts, Vermont
When next in D.C.
I haven’t been to Washington D.C. in several years but I inevitably end up returning and when I do, here’s some suggestions from a recent NYTimes article about the Columbia Heights neighborhood in NW DC.
– Room 11, 3234 11th STr. NW. “tiny bodega turned wine bar.”
– Bloombars, 3222 11th St. non-profit “art bar” showing late-late night indie movies from 2:30 to 6:30 a.m. (don’t think I’ll be doing that.)
Filed under Washington D.C.
Baltimore art scene
Baltimore is one of those cities I collect travel info on since I may actually return there sometime (for work.) So here’s some suggestions from the NYTimes on the art scene in Station North, an arts district near Penn Station, the city’s railway hub (which itself sounds like it’s worth seeing):
Metro Gallery, 1700 North Charles st.
Joe Squared, 133 West North Avenue, serving great pizza (one with bacon and clams, yum), plus has exhibitions and live music.
The Charles Cinema, 1711 North Charles street – longtime artsy film house.
Tapas Teatro, 1711 North Charles – Iberian-influenced tapas including asparagus w/Serrano ham (my brother just returned from Spain and raved about the ham there – and Gaudi buildings!) and crab/spinach in sherry cream sauce (which would probably kill me but sounds delicious.) Plus rare wines like Txakoli from the Basque region.
TakeBetsywithyou 