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I drive up to Vermont with a friend to vacation for a few weeks...

Vermont

Domz
2004-04-06 20:02:16

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I drive up to Vermont with a friend to vacation for a few weeks in this very pretty state that has controlled growth so well (one town recently stopped a Wal-Mart from coming in!) that there are still several small, quaint little villages that time has forgotten. Strip commercial and sprawl development all seem avoided. We hike the Long Trail, engage in wild-eyed mountain biking on Stratton Mountain (a big activity during the summer non-ski season), canoe the BattenKill River, see several covered bridges, and visit the very quaint towns of Woodstock, Manchester, see the Granite Rock Quarry, and the amusing Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream factory (where we get to sample a number of tasty ice creams, and learn how truly politically correct they are).

More about Vermont
The last New England state to be settled. The first state to prohibit slavery and the first to allow universal male suffrage. Dairy products lead the farm production. Over 22 percent of the labor force, however, is in manufacturing. Vermont leads the U.S. in production of marble and granite. Tall steeples dominate the many quaint little towns. The Long Trail is 260 miles long. Vermont has one of the highest concentrations of alpine ski and cross-country ski areas in the U.S. Statehood came in 1791.

Burlington

This is a college town (home of the University of Vermont) that is the progressive nerve center of the state. The downtown still retains its charm, and the city benefits from having a number of greenway trails running through it (see photo).

At one point along one trail, we meet two elderly women who are out for their daily walk. When I tell them how much opposition to a proposed greenway trail we were facing in Gainesville, they tell us to go back down there and tell people how much older people, like them, enjoy going for a safe and pleasant walk on the greenway each day.

It is the largest city in Vermont, site of the oldest newspaper, and the oldest university in the state, and burial place of Ethan Allen. His family founded the University of Vermont in 1791. Allen was described as an "able, self-taught, self-made man with an arrogant swagger."

The city was settled in 1773 and incorporated in 1865. The city was the scene of an unsuccessful British naval attack during the War of 1812. Philosopher John Dewey was a native of the city. Ben & Jerry's politically correct ice cream is based nearby.