I flew into Burlington on May 17 and arrived at 1 o'clock in the morning. There was a list of the nearby hotels and the numbers to call for hotel shuttles but I could not find the one for the Holiday Inn so I took a taxi. It was about $15 including tip. After collecting my rental car in the morning and a quick trip to the bank and the grocery store I set off in search of Wilson Castle in Proctor. There was a lot of road work taking place I think on Route 7 and I sat in traffic for quite a while. My GPS seemed intent on telling me to turn onto every dead-end dirt road it could find which resulted in me driving around in circles lost. Eventually I found Wilson Castle but it was closed!
I then made my way to Hildene in Manchester a total of four hours after I left Burlington that morning. I passed it on my left hand side as my GPS was instructing me to keep driving! I spoke to another couple who had come from somewhere in New York and they said their GPS had sent them driving in the wrong direction for about three hours also. Hildene is beautiful and definitely worth a visit. However, the day I visited it was at least 90°. Hotter than where I live in Barbados! I could feel rivers of sweat flowing down my body as I trekked across the property in the roasting sun. The gardens are beautiful but I was too early for the flowers to be in bloom. I then made my way into town and had lunch at a small café before heading on to Bennington.
My first stop in Bennington was at Fiddlehead at Four Corners. You can find art from all over here and when you make a purchase they take your photo and write a small bio about you and your purchase on their Facebook page. The gentleman in the store also gave me several recommendations for restaurants in the area. I stayed at the Four Chimneys Inn which is a beautiful place. That evening out of nowhere a thunderstorm hit and a fallen tree knocked out the electricity. So the rooms were extremely hot and some people actually left to stay elsewhere. The rest of us sat around downstairs and chatted and it was a great way to get to know the other guests. The electricity came back on about midnight. The next morning I walked to the old first church to see Robert Frosts' resting place, and to the Bennington monument. I was most excited to tour the Park McCullough house but just before I left home I checked the website and found that it was not scheduled to be open until the 23rd of May. I was extremely disappointed because this was what I had planned to do on my birthday and was the main reason I was staying in Bennington. I emailed the contact listed and explained my situation and was delighted when they confirmed they would provide me with a special tour even though the house was not officially open.. My tour guide was Mary Feidner and she was absolutely delightful. We started the tour at 2:30 and I think it was several hours later that I left. This is why I love Vermont so much. It's the people. They are so nice and they go out of their way to help you. It was the best birthday present I could have asked for. I then picked up some take away at a place called Kevin's which had been recommended to me by the gentleman at Fiddlehead.
The next morning I made my way to Weston.. The country store there is not to be missed and then on to Chester. I wanted to take pictures of all the painted ladies there and they were lovely.. I had a slice of strawberry rhubarb pie and then commenced my very long journey to the Dog Chapel in St. Johnsbury.. The dog Chapel is not to be missed if you are a dog lover. There was an event on raising money for cancer research for Golden retrievers and there were gorgeous dogs everywhere you looked. I spent the night at a lovely airbnb house in Lyndon where my neighbors included donkeys and llamas.
The next morning I walked around the residential neighborhood in St. Johnsbury taking pictures of all the fabulous old homes. I then drove through Peacham. It was Sunday morning and the church bells were ringing as people made their way to service. I stopped in at the café and had a banana blueberry muffin which was delicious. The girl taking my order and running the cash register didn't look to be more than eight or nine years old as her mom supervised.. Absolutely charming..
My next destination was Lake Willoughby in Wesmore. This is stunning. It was rainy and cold and the mosquitoes were swarming but I still got some great pictures.
My final stay up was at an airbnb house in Newport. Because I was there on Sunday most of the stores in Newport were closed. I was staying here specifically because I wanted to do the lake cruise on the Northern Star. I had purchased my ticket online.. However a few days before I arrived I received an email saying the cruise had been canceled and would not be available until the 27th.. Again I was very disappointed. Apparently May is not the best time to visit
The airbnb house I was staying in was right on the lake and an absolutely stunning property.. When I arrived I was greeted by two soaking wet dogs who had just come out of the lake.. One of them proceeded to jump into my rental car and refused to get out. So instead of relaxing in my beautiful house for the night I spent an hour scrubbing out the car!
The next morning I headed back to the Holiday Inn in Burlington on a very cold and rainy day. Made a quick trip to Petco and the mall and that was it.
Overall I would say June is a better time to go than May because more things are open and in bloom.. Also, I come from a small Island where you can drive from one end to the other in less than an hour so the long driving times of two hours and more were really taxing on me and it was not such a good plan to go from the South to the North in such a short space of time. I think I should have just stayed south and explored more in that area. Also,, don't expect to rely on your GPS.. I learned to make notes ahead of time which routes I needed to stay on and turn on because when you are driving solo it is very hard to read a map and you have to constantly pull over to check you are in the right place.
Again though I have to note how much I love Vermont and the people there.. They make every trip special