Rachael's Trip to Southern Vermont

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Rachael's Trip to Southern Vermont
By: Rachael Smith

Rachael Smith is a student from Iowa State University who is doing a photography internship for Vermont State Parks during the Summer of 2008. She's never been to Vermont before so she and her boyfriend Ryan took some time off to do some exploring.

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I planned a trip to Southern Vermont for a weekend in June. I wanted to travel to Southern Vermont because I want to make sure I see all Vermont has to offer. The state is small enough to drive around, so traveling is simple. The plan was to camp at Woodford State Park and visit Bennington and Brattleboro. I chose Woodford because it is along Route 9 which connects the two major towns. Molly Stark State Park is on Route 9 also, so I flipped a coin to decide which park to stay at since I hadn’t ever been to either. The weather was supposed to be rainy so I got a lean-to at the park, but it turned out to be perfect outdoor weather the whole time.

On my way to the park, I stopped at the Chelsea Royal Diner for lunch, which is on Route 9 in West Brattleboro. It was a very small diner that has a great atmosphere. It is somewhat famous in that area so I was glad I got a chance to try it. They offer

homemade pies for dessert, but my lunch was great and filled me up too much to try them.

The drive from Brattleboro to Woodford is about 28 miles and it is beautiful. There is a lookout point, lots of turns, and little shops along the way selling Maple Syrup of course! I got to Woodford and set up the tent at Willow, a lean-to. I noticed this park was a lot more wooded than the park I am used to in Northwestern Vermont. It was beautiful, and has a rather large reservoir with fishing, swimming, and kayak rentals.

After the tent was set up I went on to Bennington which is only another 10 miles away. Once I got into Bennington I noticed all the shops and statues. The town is very charming. There were lots of people out walking and there are statues of regular people doing regular things all around the

town. They look so real that you have to look twice! One thing I really liked about Bennington was that I knew I had a few points of interest I wanted to see, and they have signs pointing out directions to everything. It was extremely helpful because I had never been to Bennington before and didn’t know where anything was.

The first thing I stopped at was the Battle of Bennington Monument. This is a large monument that somewhat resembles the Washington Monument in Washington DC. You can pay to go to the top of it, and the prices were very reasonable. $2 for adults, $1 for children, and small children and people over 90 were free! The bottom floor of the monument had a lot of information and the history while the top had a great view of the area. The guide there told me that the monument is 306 feet tall which makes it taller than the Statue of Liberty. It sits not where the actual battle

took place, but on the land the Colonists were protecting from the British.

At the top, the guide showed me what you can see out each window. Out the west window you can see New York State, and also a mountain that used to have a mansion that belonged to the Colgate (toothpaste) Family. I was told that after the founder of Colgate died, his will instructed

At the base of the Battle of Bennington Monument

that the house be destroyed and the mountain put back the way it was. Out of the south window you can see the Old First Church. There is a cemetery there where Robert Frost is buried.

There is also a man buried there who died on the Titanic. This to me was very interesting and I made sure I went down there to take a look. A lot of the head stones were hard to impossible to read because of how old they are. I tried to think back to 150 years ago and picture what people may have worn to the funerals, and back even farther than that.

After walking around the cemetery, I followed the signs to where the covered bridges are. There are I believe 5 or 6 of them in the area, and I went across 3. They are little one lane lattice style red bridges.

The sign posted near one told me that they are replicas built in the late 1980’s. I also learned why they used covered bridges and why they were red. I like the noise they make when a car drives over them. They made the area look more warm and homey. Before leaving Bennington I made sure I

had matches so I could start a fire at the camp site. I got to bed early that night because I knew I had another day of activities ahead!

The next morning I got up and showered, and left by 8:45 AM. There was a parade in Brattleboro that Saturday morning called The Strolling of the Heifers. I parked and followed everyone else who was walking down the sidewalk. I set up my chair and got a great
front row spot, and I bought a Strolling of the

Heifers t-shirt. The parade was great, it started out with exactly what the name promised and so much more! The theme this year was going green so they had a lot of people walking with ideas of buying local and going

green, along with the cow theme. There were also local schools walking, marching bands, belly dancers, even bagpipers. When the parade was over, the whole crowd followed it down the street to the booths and activities set up. It was a really fun experience that seemed to tie the community together.

After I got back to my car, I was off to find Rudyard Kipling’s home that was called Nauhkala. Rudyard Kipling lived here for only 4 years, but it is where he wrote the Jungle Books.

I have read the Jungle Books and of course love the Disney movie that was inspired from them. The house isn’t open to the public regularly, but is available to stay in for a week at a time. It is hidden away from the street and sits on a lot of land. It was very beautiful and I was glad I got to see it. By this time I was hungry and tired so I headed back to Woodford.

Along Route 9 before Woodford there is a hamburger stand called Wahoo’s. They had everything you could have been hungry for and it was all locally bought and organic. I got a simple cheeseburger and hand cut fries. The employees were very friendly and the food was amazing. Just past Woodford towards Bennington there is a general store with just about anything you would need while camping. I got some bait there and headed back to the Park.

Fishing sounded like a great way to end my day. I put my hook on, put my worm on, and was getting bites right away! I was getting bites the whole time but I never caught anything. I didn’t mind though, I rather that happen then not get any bites at all. There were kids swimming off the sandy beach and it

made me wish I hadn’t forgotten my bathing suit. I went back to my lean-to, relaxed, and got to sleep.

The next morning I left and was really glad I had come to Southern Vermont. I have tons of pictures to share and lots of memories. I would recommend Woodford State Park to anyone, and I’m sure once I stay in other parks, I’ll recommend them too.