The Village Squire, 1981-10, Page 15A young city couple runs this country store in Newfa,,e Vermont,
where Henry Kissinger spends his summers. It's full of beautiful
local crafts.
beautiful, but somewhat lifeless place the
day we visited.
There are countless sidetrips within an
easy afternoon of southern Vermont. In
search of the ocean, we drove through
Brattleboro and across New Hampshire on
route 9 to Kennebunkport Maine, about
200 miles. The old seafaring village has
been thoroughly developed with many
tiny boutiques that are, a local man told
us, too rich for many peoples' pockets. But
you can look, there's a terrific beach
nearby and there are some inexpensive
restaurants where you can sample the
local seafood. Fried clams are a specialty.
Our native friend recommended visiting
before July 1 or after Labor Day ... then
beaches are so quiet you might see a
porpoise. The Rachel Carson National
Wildlife Refuge is nearby.
After a full course $1.35 breakfast at the
Corner Restaurant in North Berwick you
can head north from the Maine coast
through the White Mountains of New
Hampshire. Highways 112 and 118 go
over some spectacular chasms and
passes. From there we backtracked south
along the Connecticut River, which
divides New Hampshire and Vermont,
then headed across Vermont on Route 4
and eventually caught up with the New
York Thruway near Amsterdam.
Now, the New York Thruway will get
you from Buffalo to Vermont fast, but it
bypasses some of the most beautiful
sights in our neighbouring state. Some
stops are recommended.
The most important is the Montezuma
National Wildlife Refuge, a six thousand
acre site, just off the thruway near Seneca
Falls. A restored marsh area opened in
1937, the refuge has had 140,000 Canada
Geese in April and as many migrating
ducks in fall. It's open from dawn to dusk
and a welcome rest from the pace of
thruway driving.
Seneca Falls itself has some interesting
Victorian artchitecture. The town hosted
one of the earliest women's rights
conventions but we failed to find a plaque
commemorating the occasion. Seneca
Falls is just slightly north of the Finger
Lakes district, a popular, slow-paced New
York resort area that is worth a visit.
The Mohawk Valley, west of Amster-
dam has museums and restored forts from
the 18th century Indian Wars. And there's
a restaurant near Fultonville, the Poplars
Inn, which serves the biggest porterhouse
steak we'd ever seen, for $12.50. It was
good too, though the rest of the meal was
pretty ordinary.
Then if you're a traveller with lots of
time, you really should get out of the car
and wander a bit at Niagara Falls. Eat a
picnic in the park and marvel as we did at
all the international visitors who come to
this Canadian -American wonder of the
world.
And as you head for home. your only
problem will be finding time and money to
visit New England again.
VILLAGE SQUIRE/OCTOBER 1981 PG. 13