A little while back, while driving on the South Fork of Long Island, I got stuck in a major traffic snarl just west of “Pumpkintown.”Yes, there is indeed such a supernatural place in Water Mill, Long Island, and literally thousands of people had decided to explore it on that fine autumn day. The massive pumpkins were outer-worldly. One man was seen wheeling a 50-pound orange orb in a baby
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Got Syrup?
It is clear – even months before the annual sugaring season in February and March – that maple syrup pulses through the veins of Vermonters. It is the life blood of the state, blanketing every hill and valley with a glossy coating of sweet amber sap, even when the sugarhouses have gone dark and the steam has dissipated.In October, the maple leaves turn an incendiary crimson red and the maple
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Vermont Gold
The town of Grafton, Vermont has been called one of the ten most picturesque spots in America. During the autumn foliage season, the views along the historic Main Street are burnished gold. Grafton is a quintessential New England village, the type that only seems to exist in a Currier & Ives print. There is a pointed white church steeple, a country store, a history museum and the Old Tavern Inn,
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Apple Pie in a Bottle
The afternoon sunlight filters through the trees, and we hear the sound of water softly trickling under the footbridge as we make our way across. Just up the road, in the town center of Jacksonville, Vermont, we have passed a community pie sale that is drawing some attention.This is apple orchard country, producing a yield that is good for pies and much more. The Vermont climate is too dramatic
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The Chocolate Barn
In rural Shaftsbury, Vermont, cars from New York, Pennsylvania and Vermont are lined up outside an 1842 sheep barn for their afternoon chocolate fix.The barn sits on the edge of Historic Route 7A. Shaftsbury was established in 1761 with its first settlers from Rhode Island. Shaftsbury was sometimes referred to as “Little Rhode Island.”There is no clever, creative way to describe the exterior of
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Oh My Gouda!
If you travel west on Route 11 -- just past the town center of Londonderry, Vermont -- a battered green farm truck is tucked into the pasture that creeps up to the southern side of the road. Atop the truck cabin roof is a sign, hand painted in red block letters with an arrow that reads “Vermont Cheeses.” We turn right and climb the dirt road to Taylor Farm. At the top of a small hill is a
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