Brattleboro – Vermont, U.S.A. Today was a Vermont kind of day. Late summer in New England has the warmth of July with the cool Canadian breezes of the autumn to come. The leaves are still green with hidden hints of yellow and the occasional crunch of a stray red maple leaf under foot. Laziness remains the order of the weekend and sunbathing is absolutely called for after what are increasingly becoming fairly cool nights. Something about days like this make us think of Vermont, its green hills, outdoor lifestyle, good food, social color, and all-round good times.
So, off to Brattleboro it was for us. The first Vermont exits on Interstate 91 headed north from Massachusetts and on the shores of the Connecticut River just across from New Hampshire, Brattleboro is about the funkiest little town in this neck of the woods. Here, you will find municipal celebrations of breastfeeding awareness week, the annual Brattstock Festival, fabulous restaurants, well-stocked local book sellers, the School for International Training, a great mingling of local and international flavors, not a few hippies, and one of the best little farmers’ markets we’ve seen in these parts.
Craving the natural tastes of local Vermont, we first popped by the farmers’ market and took in the sights, sounds, and smells. We also grabbed up the essential ingredients for homemade peach chutney and tomorrow’s salmon dinner.We found fresh New Hampshire peaches, red swiss chard, tarragon, basil, and a sweet red pepper at the Dutton Farm stand. Onions, garlic, baby blue potatoes and a jalapeno pepper came from other farm vendors.
We also picked up a new bottle of Vermont maple syrup and finally received an explanation of the various classes of the delicious sticky stuff. We opted for Grade B from Deer Ridge Farm in Guilford, Vermont, perfect for tomorrow’s pancake and sausage breakfast. The proceeds from the sale will support the building of a new sugar house for Guilford Farm, and the builder–a young woman who handled our transaction at the vendor stand–let us know that she was offering a beginners’ timber-framing workshop to those interested in helping with the new structure. Her company is called the Timber-Frame Shop. The workshop tuition was rather steep ($900/couple), so our enrollment is unlikely, but we do hope to visit the completed sugar house in the spring.
After the market, we headed further west along route 9 to the Chelsea Royal Diner, a small nondescript eatery alongside the road that goes to Bennington, Vermont, and upstate New York. This little place has a big reputation for great dishes–often organic–fresh bread, and a mean breakfast. Luckily for us, breakfast is served all day; we arrived just before 2:00 pm when the chef stops preparing some of the choicest items on the menu. We had the Royal Feast with eggs over medium and the Homemade Belgian Waffles with apples, bacon and a poached egg. When asked our preference between Vermont Fancy maple syrup and “imitation syrup,” we of course went with the latter. The food was delicious and the service friendly and unimposing. We’ll remember to bring more cash or a personal check next time because the Royal Diner does not accept credit. We are thinking this will be a regular stop whenever we are in town, which we hope will be often.