VERMONT

 

II didn't make it to Vermont on this trip, but I did spend a couple months there working on a movie. We were working in Peachum, with trips every weekend to Burlington (the closest thing to a big city). Here is what I remember about Vermont:

It gets dark at night. I'm not talking about "out in the country" dark, either. I grew up in Maine - I'm used to a lack of city lights. What I wasn't expecting was TOTAL BLACKNESS. Normally when you turn off the lights at night it starts out pitch black, then as your eyes adjust you start to see - the night sky through a window, or the silhouettes of objects in the room. Here it didn't matter how long you waited - it just stayed pitch black. It was creepy!

It rains a lot in spring. In March they had three sunny days the entire month.

 

You gotta watch out for moose. You see a lot of pickup trucks with metal bars welded across the windshields - that's moose protection. Moose are tall animals. If you hit a moose with your car it'll probably go right over the top. It'll be fatal for the moose but you'll be okay. If you hit it with your truck it'll most likely go through the windshield - neither of you are likely to survive the encounter.

Maple is king. You can get maple sugar candy, maple ice cream, maple egg creams, and (of course) real maple syrup. It takes about 45 gallons of sap to produce a gallon of syrup.

There are some REALLY GOOD RESTAURANTS tucked away in some of the small towns. I don't just mean good for Vermont, either. There are some serious gourmands hiding out in the Northern Kingdom. One of my favorite dishes while I was there was a baked polenta topped with sauteed fiddleheads - it was sublime. Come to think of it, I think there was maple syrup involved in that, too!

If you're near Lake Champlain you should keep an eye out for Champ, the American cousin of Nessie. I was hoping for a sighting, but the closest I got to the Lake Champlain Monster was a bag of Champ Chips.

That's all for now. I'll tell you if I remember any more!