June 2010. The driving route in the two states covered about 1054 miles in a rental car.
FLIGHT TO NEW ENGLAND: We flew from Kansas City International (MCI) to Burlington VT (BTV), changing planes in Detroit (DTW).
We flew Delta Airlines, who, in the 1980's and 1990's was a very good airline but now offers terrible
customer service. It may be a long time before we fly Delta again.
BURLINGTON INTERNATIONAL: Since Burlington VT is a small town, I expected the airport to be very small.
I was quite surprised at its much bigger size. It is a multi-storied building with a small third-story room
where people can go to watch planes land and take off and hear the chatter between planes and the tower.
There is only one run way with low volume of traffic. And, of course, no large plans (e.g. 727's or bigger)
would normally land. The terminal is well kept, has a number of comfortable sofas and cushiony chairs. And,
they have lots of TSA agents who apparently need something to do. The same bag that went once right through the
Kansas City security had to go through three times at Burlington, and that is after an agent took it apart each
time. Fortunately, we were plenty early to the airport so we had the time to spend.
VERMONT: NORTH AND SOUTH: Northern Vermont looked and felt different than how I remember southern Vermont from 1986. The
north seems more mountainous and more harsh. Northern New Hampshire was very similar to northern
Vermont. Both are nice areas. Sherry really liked northern New Hampshire and is ready to move to the area.
PLANNING AND REALITY: After months of planning and anticipation, the week was dramatically different than expected or hoped.
We were very pleased with the states -- their road systems, beauty, topography and things that were open.
But therein lies the rub. So many things were closed. Whereas most other northern parts of the country I
have been to open at Memorial Day, New Hampshire waits until July 1 to open. Several places we arrived
at only to find them closed. And the six straight days of total overcast skies and numerous rains and
high humidity put a damper on the week too. While the homes here are much nicer, and newer, on average
than in Maine, they are also more expensive along with higher property taxes. Thus, the next New England
trip will be to cover eastern and northern Maine.
VISITED AND MISSED: We visited about a third of the forty places we had on our pre-trip list. Ten or so we decided pre-trip
that were low priorities and probably be skipped. About half a dozen were missed because they were not
open when we were there/nearby.
IMPRESSIONS: We were impressed to see that almost every town we drove through or visited gave the impression that the
town was trying to keep itself well maintained. Most houses looked repaired and painted. Many houses had
spent time, effort and money to landscape. Most businesses looked well kept with appropriate signage, few
were gaudy and overboard with appearance.
HOUSE VS. HOTEL: Thanks to being in a house instead of a hotel room, we had plenty of room to spread out. And, because we
had a full kitchen, we ate all breakfast and supper meals in the house. Lunch each day was in whatever
town we were around noon. It meant we had to purchase several non-food items (e.g. aluminum foil, paper
cups, paper towels, facial tissues, etc.) including a styrofoam ice cooler. But that made things easier.
LAKE CHAMPLAIN: The Lake Champlain area is huge and is worth a separate visit someday. We would cover both the Vermont
side and the New York side as well as the islands in the lake. That would also allow a visit to the
Maritime Museum in Vergennes VT that we decided to skip this trip because of the dense holiday traffic.
OBSERVATIONS: Some observations made while traveling in this area:
The Bests:
The Totals:
The Worsts: