Montpelier and Surrounds

Vermont State Capitol

Montpelier, Vermont
In some ways Montpelier, Vermont hasn't changed a lot since I was a kid growing up there, while in other ways it has.  It's a place that for 13 years I went to school along side the same 100 or so kids from Kindergarten through my senior year at Montpelier High.  After that, I saw these same people throughout the summer and during college breaks.  Sure, some kids moved out and others moved in, and friendships evolved with the usual cliques that all school-age kids experience.  There were the popular kids, the smart kids, the geeky kids (such as yours truly), the athletic kids and the kids that seemed to transcend the "labels" and got along with everyone.

In Montpelier is was common to live amongst the people who represented you. I had a state senator up the road, the parents of a U.S. Senator two houses away, this same U.S. Senator was the God son of my uncle, a widowed former U.S. Senator's wife down the road, and a popular former Governor two streets away who had grandkids that my brothers and I used to play with.  It's also a town where I used to babysit for the Mayor who lived in the neighborhood behind my house.  Even my high school science teacher became a state representative.  I guess that's the way it is in the country's smallest capital city.

While there aren't as many "dignitaries" living in town these days, it is still a town where your neighbors owned their own businesses in town.  And much like it was during my childhood, your neighbors were also the ones with whom you'd do business downtown. 

In high school my friends and I often talked about getting out of this "boring" town to unnamed places that we were sure would be more exciting.  But as an adult, I appreciate the culture and vibe of this little city of nearly 8,000 people, and I ponder how I might some day return and take advantage of the things I took for granted when I was growing up.

We get to Montpelier a couple times a year to visit my father, who still lives in the house in which I grew up.  And while the guest room happens to be my old bedroom, very little evidence of my possessions exist after my 20 or so years of absence, save one little brick door stopper.

During our latest trip, my family visited the State Capitol.  In all the years we've gone back to visit, my family has never been in, which is kind of ironic since my mother worked there for a number of years.  For me, going to the State House was no big deal.  It's just where mom worked.

Ashton and Bethany looking at the "wall-sized" Civil War Painting in the State House

One of the people who greeted us in the State House was the wife of my 7th grade French teacher (there's that small-town thing again).  We opted for the self-guided tour, but you can take a guided tour as well.

Adamant, Vermont
Another interesting place we visited during our trip was the quiet hamlet of Adamant.  As a kid watching Saturday morning cartoons in the mid to late 60s, I remember Atom Ant, the insect super hero.  But this is definitely different.  Where is Adamant one might ask?  Here are the directions from a former Montpelier "local".  Well, if you take Main Street out of Montpelier, it eventually turns into the County Road.  Follow the County Road until you get to Cutler Cemetery and bear right onto Center Road.  Follow Center Road until it drops you on the doorstep of the Adamant Co-op/Post Office.

Adamant Co-op

This out of the way little gem is the lifeblood of the community.  It is the store, post office and library for this little corner of Calais.  Upon entering this unassuming building, you discover a mixture of handcrafted Vermont products, standard groceries, fresh baked goods, the town post office and a small shelf to books, also known as the "Annex" to the Kellogg-Hubbard Library in Montpelier.

Ashton perusing the Adamant Co-op

You will notice that the word "Annex" is surrounded by quotes.  That's because the library consists of a single wooden shelf with an armload of books and books on CD, along with a clipboard that is used to sign out them out.

The library "Annex"

Inside the store we bought maple syrup from the Adamant Sugar House run by Rick Barstow and family, a peanut chocolate chip cookie, goat's milk soap from Elmore Mountain Farm, a couple bottles of Adamant Root Beer, a bottle of Adamant Raspberry Lime Rickey and some candy for Ashton.  All told we dropped $38.50.  My father also bought a bottle of wine bringing our shopping spree up to around $50.

Outside the Co-op and across the (dirt) road is a nicely mowed area where a family was having a picnic.  It's a lovely spot next to the small waterfall that drops out of Adamant Pond and flows into Sodom Pond across another (dirt) road.

This is definitely a quintessential Vermont experience, so stop by next time you're in the greater Montpelier area. I also heard there's a great little theater called Quarryworks in town that offers three shows a year.  My father insists that he's going to check it out one of these days.

A short drive from the co-op along forested dirt roads is another attraction in the area - the Old West Church.  This building joined the ranks of the National Register of Historic Places in 1973 and is a well-preserved historical building that was built in 1825.  While it doesn't have the historical cachet of say, Old North Church in Boston, it is a great little piece of history that you should take the time to visit when you're in the area.

Old West Church in Calais, Vermont

It's not a tourist attraction in the typical sense.  No one's there collecting admission, but the doors are unlocked so you can go in and walk around.  Inside you'll find dueling woodstoves that used to keep the building warm in the colder months, boxed family pews and a wonderful balcony overlooking the raised pulpit.  If you go in, I encourage you to leave a cash donation in the basket in the church's entrance.  Donations go towards upkeep of this precious old building.

Behind the church is a small cemetery whose gravestones give some clue to the early settlers of the area.  In it are names like Bliss, as in Bliss Pond a couple miles down the road; and Morse, as in the Morse Farm a few miles farther down the road.  The Morse Farm is now a tourist attraction and farm stand where generations of Morses have been selling fresh farm goods for 200 years.

View of pulpit from balcony

View from pulpit

Another church overview

Bethany & Ashton on the pulpit

Dueling wood stoves

It's funny how when you return to a place you really haven't explored in years, how interesting it can be.  My next exploration goal in Vermont is to find the old barn along one of these dirt roads near Calais that had the entrance to the top level of the barn going over top of the dirt road on a bridge.  I know I've seen it, but whether or not it has survived the years is yet to be determined.

Incidentally, please forgive the exposure on some of these images.  Most of them were taken with my Smart Phone and I haven't figured out all the tools they have to get the proper depth of field  and compose photos in different lighting situations.

Bar Harbor Part I - Biking the Carriage Roads

The Bar Harbor blog posting will be presented in multiple blogs given the number of things we did during our vacation.

In early July my family traveled to Bar Harbor for four nights at the Bar Harbor Inn.  We figured that we'd pretty much experience everything we wanted to during our four nights and five days, but it didn't take long to discover that we needed at least a couple more days.

The family at Intersection 7.

One of the highlights for me was biking.  The carriage roads in Acadia National Park are somewhat addicting.  Where else can you ride for miles through beautiful forests and past clear lakes without ever worrying about cars approaching from any direction?  Plus, since the carriage roads were originally designed for horsedrawn carriages, you never really find a trail with too steep a grade up or down.  Also, most trails have a plush tree canopy, so on hot, sunny days, you can stay relatively cool. Finally, the trails are very well marked, so it's next to impossible to get lost.  Be sure to pick up a Carriage Road Use Map either at the Visitor Center or at one of the parking areas along the trails.

Eagle Lake Loop
During our stay in Bar Harbor, I took three different bike rides on the trails.  The first ride was with my family.  We started at the Eagle Lake parking lot on Route 232.  It was a cool morning and there was an ever so slight sprinkle in the air, so I think that kept some people in their hotels.

On the shore of Eagle Lake

We pulled the bikes off the rack and hung a left under one of the famous stone bridges, then stayed on the west side of Eagle Lake.  This is a great beginner ride because it is relatively flat for the first mile or so before heading up a gradual incline to Intersection 8.

From here we kept left at the intersection and headed down a long hill.  The biggest challenge on this hill was keeping Ashton in sight as he cruised down the hill, presumably without ever squeezing his brakes.

At Intersection 7, we took a short break and wandered down to the lake shore.  The thing to remember about the lakes is that many of them are fresh water supplies for the residents of Mt. Desert Island, so please refrain from taking a dip.  After all, you're on the largest island off the coast of Maine and one of the largest islands on the East Coast with salt water all around, so where else would the residents and visitors get water to drink?

Bethany and Steve enjoying the view of Eagle Lake

The east side of the lake was pretty flat with the exception of a couple minor undulations, but again, it made for a nice leisurely ride back to the parking lot.

Hadlock Pond Loop

This loop started near one of the old gatehouses, that is now privately owned, near Intersection 18.  The parking area is right on Routes 198/3, not far from the Asticou Azalea Gardens.

Hemlock Bridge

This started out on a pretty flat road for about mile to the Hadlock Brook Bridge, a small stone bridge crossing Hadlock Brook.  Then there was a pretty steady uphill climb to Intersection 12 where I got a view back towards Upper Hadlock Pond. From here it was a pretty flat ride over to the Hemlock Bridge and Waterfall Bridge.

Waterfall Bridge

The best way to see these bridges is to get off your bike and follow the paths that lead below them.  Pretty much all the bridges have trails that allow you to get a better look from below.

After climbing around the ravines beneath the bridges, I hopped back on my bike and continued along the road.  From the Waterfall Bridge back to the parking lot was an easy coast down a long hill.  I'm not sure I had to pedal at all until I got back to Intersection 18 and headed back to the car.

Witch Hole Pond Loop
The last loop was the Witch Hole Pond Loop which I accessed from the north end of the Visitor Center Parking Lot.   You can also get to this loop from Duck Brook Road, or if you wanted to add an extra two miles, from the Eagle Lake Parking Lot.

This one had a lot more ups and downs.  The first up, was probably the steepest climb of all the trail I rode.  If this was your first experience on the trails, I could see where it might be discouraging because the climb from the parking lot to the loop was about a half mile uphill.  Once you got to Intersection 1, it wasn't so bad.  The road meandered past Witch Hole Pond and a couple other ponds before getting to Intersection 4.  Just for kicks, I rode this 1.1 mile trail over to the Eagle Lake Parking Lot, then turned around and headed back to the Witch Hole Loop.

About half way through the ride, I came to the Duck Brook Bridge, which appeared to be the biggest one I'd seen.  On the way back from Duck Brook Bridge, there were a couple areas where I could see Frenchman's Bay through the trees, but for the most part I was riding in the woods.  All in all this was about a 7 mile outing.

Pond on Witch Hole Loop

Looking up at Duck Brook Bridge

Duck Brook Bridge

Another pond view

All tolled, I biked about 17 miles during my vacation, yet it didn't seem all that challenging.  But now that I've had my taste of the Acadia Carriage Trails, I look forward to many more miles on these beautifully maintained roads.

More random photos below.

Gatehouse Near Hadlock Loop

Waterfall Bridge Selfie

Not quite a fiddlehead

View of Upper Hadlock Pond

Polar Caves & Weirs Beach

Polar Caves is one of those attractions I visited as a kid and recently returned with my family. It's not an amusement park, but rather a natural attraction that you can enjoy at a reasonable price. We went on a sunny, late May day and there were fewer than a dozen cars in the parking lot, so we could explore the caves at a leisurely pace, even linger awhile in some of them.

Well kept boardwalks between caves.

The caves are well-marked and have interesting signage explaining the history and other interesting stories about how Native Americans, smugglers and others have used the caves throughout the years. The wooden boardwalks were well-kept and lead you right to the cave entrances. For those who opt not to go through the caves, there was always a bypass, or "chicken walk". My 12-year-old son went straight for the caves - no bypasses for this kid. As for me, a 6-foot, 200 lb. dad, I was able to make my way through all the caves except for the Lemon Squeeze, which was a bummer because when I was a kid, the Lemon Squeeze was no problem. But since they didn't have the "Jaws of Life" handy in case of an embarrassing emergency, I opted to go around.  C'est la vie!

Since it was still early in the season, the Polar Caves lived up to their name. There was still ice in many of the caves which made for a cool reprieve from the warm spring day. After the caves, my son opted to do some "mine exploring" in the Klondike Mines building, where for $8.00 you're given a small flashlight and small bag and sent into a "mine" to find gemstones. The "mine" was a room about 6 x 10 feet, made to look like a mine shaft and dark, so you had to use the flashlight to search the nooks and crannies for gems. My son had a great time. He commented that it was much better than going into the gift shop and simply buying a bag of gemstones off the shelf.

Ashton exploring the Klondike Mine

 If you go, expect to get a slight workout. Some of the stairs are pretty steep, particularly the stairs that lead up to the Raven's Roost Platform. Also, expect to get a little dirty. After all, you're squatting or doing what I'd call a "monkey walk" (on feet and hands) through some of the caves. By no means will you get really dirty unless you slip or decide to crawl, but your shirt or pants might rub against the rocks. We didn't do the Nature Trails or the Sugarhouse, but we did walk through the Rock Garden.

View from Raven's Roost

After Polar Caves we headed to our hotel, which was a story unto itself.  I'm not going to get into it in this post, but if you're interested you can read my review on TripAdvisor.  Then it was off to Weirs Beach.

It's been way too many years since I've been to Weirs Beach and I'm glad we went.  It was my 12-year-old son's first trip there.  He was itching to get into the arcade and play the games.  After a quick go-cart race at Logs of Fun, we headed off to the Fun Spot Arcade which claims to be the "largest arcade in the world."

Go cart track at Logs of Fun

For as much fun as my son had at Fun Spot, I think I had as much or more fun than he did.  As a high school student in the late 70s and early 80s, I was a huge video game fan.  I'd get my roll of quarters and pump one after another into the machines in an effort to get the high score.  Fun Spot brought me back to games I haven't seen in 30 years.  Games like Asteroids, Battlezone, Crazy Climber, Carnival, Rally-X, Donkey Kong and countless others.  Fortunately, my wife and son didn't have to drag me kicking and screaming out of the arcade, but admittedly I left with some reluctance.

Steve engrossed in a game of Battlezone

All and all it was a good trip. We hope to get back there at some point and when we do, you can bet I'll be pumping more tokens into vintage video games and reliving my high school years.
 

Reflecting on the Emerge Film Festival

Child of Grace Stars and Director in the Q&A after the film.

The second annual Emerge Film Festival has come and gone and I'm missing it already.  Although this was only my first time attending, it was a really great experience.  I had the good fortune of volunteering, which enabled me to see many films and attend many functions.

During the four-day festival, I watched 14 films, which is far and away more movies than I've seen in probably the past 5 years.  Granted many of the offerings at Emerge were short film, ranging from just over three minutes to 35 minutes, but they were all wonderful in their own way.

Kirsten Russell, Director of Universal Language

 
While they were all good, some of the standouts for me were Child of Grace, Universal Language, Love is Now and Southern Fried Fencing.  If you get a chance to see any of these, don't let the chance pass you by.

Southern Fried Fencing Directors Jay and Kim Carter during Q&A with Bate's Professor, Elizabeth Eames.

 
One of the special things about this festival was access to the filmmakers and actors.  Not only did many of the films at the festival have Q&A sessions with the filmmakers following their showings, the filmmakers and actors attended all the functions and hung out with festival goers.  "Selfies" were being snapped each night, sometimes with actors and directors, sometimes with old friends, but most often with the budding friendships sprouting up within the ranks of festival volunteers, filmmakers and filmgoers.  There seemed to be a special camaraderie, like you were in this little film festival oasis within the vast desert of reality outside the venue walls.  It was like escaping from the world where, in the words of Smash Mouth lead singer Steve Harwell, everybody is struggling with "beating each other at being each other."  This was in contrast to inside the confines of the festival where everyone was being themselves and celebrating one another's creative flair and prowess.

Skipper Rich Wilson, Director Rick Groleau and Bate's Professor Jakub Kazecki from Go Around Again

What made the festival special?  My feeling is that anyone can go to a blockbuster movie, pay eight bucks to get in, drink from a cup that holds more than your car's gas tank, eat a bucket of popcorn the size of a horse's feedbag and walk away entertained, and perhaps a little stuffed.  What you don't get from these films are the interesting stories and insight of the filmmakers.  The Q&A enables the audience to ask questions of filmmakers and get inside their head as to what they were thinking when they produced the film.

The sheer nature of the film festival is that there are different genres of film.  But what I found with Emerge is that all the films that were screened were thought provoking.  Watching the characters struggling with their own demons, gives you pause to reflect on your own life.
  
Throughout the films, characters were all making choices that impacted their lives for better or worse.   As I watched, I escaped life's daily routine for awhile  and was absorbed into the scenes with the characters, experiencing their highs and their lows.  There was joy and sorrow.  Humor and drama. Sitting witness to this, I found myself reflecting on my own life.  Not in a melancholy way, but more along the lines of a, "life is good" kind of way.

So thank you Emerge for presenting films that have a far more lofty goal than breaking box office records.  For this filmgoer, it was a better payback than that for which mass market films strive.

2015 Winter of Snow

Nature Center Entrance

If the winter of 2014/2015 hasn't restored faith for outdoor winter sports enthusiasts, they must be locked in a cave.  Okay, it has admittedly been a bit cold, but the snow is first rate.  Rather than past years when storms started as snow, changed over to rain, and then then froze solid a couple days later, this winter has dumped one plowable snowstorm after another with perfectly textured snow.  Much of this snow has accumulated along the Maine coast, thus providing some exceptional skiing opportunities in places that don't always get enough snow for winter fun.

We took this opportunity to head for the Midcoast region of Maine and Hidden Valley Nature Center.  Located just west of Route 215 on Egypt Road in Jefferson, this center lives up to its name.  Rather than pyramids or deserts along this winding side road a half-mile from Route 215, we discovered several small parking areas plowed out and lined with roof-rack-topped SUVs.  The 8 to 10-foot-tall snowbanks were a good indication that the skiing was going to be phenomenal - and it was.

Nature Center Gatehouse

We clicked into our skis and started off down the trail.  About a couple hundred feet in, we came to a small wooden gatehouse with a sign prompting us to sign in and drop the $5 per person usage fee donation into the lock box.  After dropping our cash and studying the map, we were off to explore the pleasantly groomed trail network. 

It's easy to see why their brochure claims that this is "A Gem of Wilderness in Midcoast Maine."  The center encompasses about 1,000 acres of land and nearly 30 miles of multi-use trails.  Not only is it open for cross country skiing and snowshoeing in the winter, but in the summer there's a bog walk and vast network of nature trails in addition to three cabins and several campsites for overnight stays.  All of this less than 10 miles from bustling Route 1.

This part of the state boasts rolling hills covered with both hard wood and soft wood.  Along many of the meandering roads stand 100-year-old farmhouses and white clapboard villages.  As someone who grew up in Vermont, I find that this part of Maine reminds me a lot of the  Green Mountain State.   But back to the skiing.

The groomed trails were wide enough for people to pass one another in each direction.  One of the first people we crossed paths with was Andy McAvoy, the director of the center who introduced himself and asked if we'd been there before.  We chatted a bit before he set off with his dog to continue his rounds on the trails. 

The trail signage was pretty good, save a couple of intersections, so the trails were easy to follow and the rolling hill through the well-spaced trees provided enough variety to make the skiing fun and interesting.  We found ourselves going on the flats for a bit, then climbing a short little hill followed by a gentle downhill.  Granted we stuck to the easy and moderate trails, so we didn't come across anything overly challenging.

A building called The Barn acted as the lodge.  Inside this brand new building, a fire crackled in the wood stove around which members and other skiers socialized.  Just outside the front door was an extra wide trail that was the primary north-south route with offshoots to all the other trails.

During our short visit, we only covered a fraction of the trails, but one could probably spend a day exploring this beautiful area.

We left Hidden Valley Nature Center happy to discover this precious gem and promising to return at some point down the road.

The main drag.  Kidney Pond Trail looking towards Bowl Loop.

Warming by the fire.