The Road not Taken

The Old First Church, Bennington, Vermont

"Walloomsac Inn", I believe it was the first inn in Vermont

 

To me one of the most beautiful places is New England. Regulary I get "homesick" for that area (I only lived there for 3 years but that kind of qualifies me as a local and thus I can get homesick!) and lately I have been wanting to just hop on a plane to Boston and drive around Massachusetts, Vermont and New Hampshire and Maine. It probably also has something to do with a friend of mine who is doing exactly that at the moment.  

One place that always puts me in a happy mood is Bennington, Vermont. The moment I drive around the corner and see the Walloomsac Inn and then the "Old First Church" I am amazed by that little town. The cemetery and Robert Frost's grave, the Bennington Monument, the covered bridges, the little country stores...

A few years ago my mother-in-law and I wandered into a little store that sold wine from their own winery, "the North River Winery". They had samples, they were delicious and we ended up buying a few bottles. Most of their wines are made out of apples and have such great names like "Vermont Pear", "Blueberry Apple" or "Vermont Harvest" (the last one being the most delicious one, made out of apples, cinnamon and Vermont maple syrup.) 

Of course, shortly after we moved, a great organisation called "the friends of Robert Frost" opened the "Robert Frost Stone House Museum" for the public. The poet has lived there for many years and written a lot of his poems there. Nowadays, they have events called "Sunday Afternoon with Robert Frost". How I would like to attend!

They also had a "apple tree sale" a few months ago. I guess, you can buy a little apple tree that was cultivated from Frost's trees and grow your own "Robert Frost-Apples". (And then you could make wine out of them, add cinnamon and maple syrup and never miss "Vermont Harvest" wine again!!!)