Old tour books

[Paulette Brewster]

I have been reading posts on this forum for years and this is my first post... thank you all so much for setting up this forum!! We love Vermont and Fall, so put the two together and it's the best of the best.

Our first trip to Vermont was in '74 and I did a lot of planning ahead which meant writing letters to Chamber of commerce, etc. And one of my most treasured tour books is "Covered Bridges of Lamoille County" by Robert Hagerman. It is still in great shape even though we've used it a lot. And the other treasured tour book is "Vermont 1974 Tour Guide" with 40 pages of maps of "loops" of road trips all over the state, all though our main destination is usually Lamoille County. Anyway... I have been reading your posts about which books and maps to get for those wonderful backroads and took your advice and bought Jimapco and Ed Barna's book "Covered Bridges of Vermont". They are both excellent!! My trip planning is now more fun than ever. We are hoping to arrive October first and stay for 10 days. I don't really have a question, I just wanted to say Thanks! for all your helpful advice.

We usually take the camper but we might possibly leave it home and go by car this time.

Oh, I do have one question. I homeschool 2 of our teenage granchildren and I'm wondering if internet connection is easily accessible in most areas (in case we do take the camper).

Paulette

[Andy]

Internet access and cell phone coverage --- unfortunately few and far between in VT. In more major cities, Burlington, Stowe, Montpelier, Rutland, Brattleboro, St. Johnsbury, there will probably be wi fi at most hotels.

[Paulette Brewster]

A seasonal home in Vermont... how wonderful. We have often thought about doing that, but never ventured into actually checking into it. We are in northwest Ohio, but our area is flat although the weather is similar, and our foliage begins to change at about the same time as Vermont. BUT that is where the similarities end! Everything about Vermont appeals to us. My husband's ancestors are from Lamoille County so we love going through the old cemeteries (where the views are usually pretty darn nice). I also think the ancestral connection tends to make us feel as though Vermont is like a second home, whether we live there or not. Being farmers, we have always heated our house with wood, and living near the Amish area, I have drooled over the wood cookstoves many times. Would be wonderful to actually live the dream for at least awhile.
Paulette

[ctyanky]

Paulette: I really enjoyed reading your post and am glad to hear you like the books recommended on this forum for VT travel. I think you would really enjoy An Explorer’s Guide Vermont, Christina Tree & Diane E. Foulds. Along with the Jimapco, it has become my Vermont Bible. I have an older edition but hear the 12th is out. Perhaps you can stop by a bookstore and take a peak. It has everything Vermont rolled into one book. My book is highlighted everywhere and so many pages tagged over the years. I personally like to read up on places I am going to visit and this has been one of the best additions to the many items I have in my Vermont travel bag!

When I first started traveling to Vermont as a young child, I remember my Mother writing to all the inns and chambers by hand and we received boat loads of literature in the mail. It was fun to read these hand written notes from the inn keepers! And now with the internet, the information is at our fingertips in a flash! I still however, love to take the Tree and Foulds book with me everywhere I go. I hope you are able to check it out.

On another note, yesterday, in the middle of errands out in the country, we decided to stop at a flea market/antique stop. Just a spur of the moment idea. I asked the proprietor if he had any "autumnal" type pictures so I could hang them in my home. He immediately said no. So we kept perusing the site and there was a beautiful winter scene of a white steepled church with some lovely buildings. I thought well, I have to embrace that season somehow so for five bucks it was in my car! In the evening I decided to take a closer look. Lo and behold I thought, well this can't be! It looks like Waits River, the very popular photog shot I have seen in books, magazines and also taken by our forum photographers and myself two autumns ago! So I compared it to all of the shots! Same scene! It was an oil painting done in 1958! I tried finding the painter on the internet but no luck.

Nonetheless, I am so thrilled with this painting. For some reason, it was calling to me and now it shines on my mantel. What a find! I will have it professionally glassed and restrung soon. It truly made my day!

Enjoy the forum and hope to see you posting soon!

[Paulette Brewster]

I will definitely get Tree and Foulds Vermont Guide book! I can't pass up a "promo" like that.

[pwt54]

Paulette, the covered bridge on the Gibou Road in Montgomery has been dismantled and stored until they can restore it. The Creamery Bridge off the West Hill Road in Montgomery has been restored and looks good.

[Paulette Brewster]

Thank you, I will make a note of that. We might drive that way just to see how it looks w/out the bridge.

[Aspen]

Ctyanky..that's wonderful news you found that Waits River church painting! Bravo for you...makes you think of the Antiques Road Show! No matter what it may come to appraised, it's now worth more than five bucks, priceless! Hope you somehow discover who the painter was...1958 goes back to days of yore with things quite a few of us may consider to be antiques these days Delighted for you! Have yet to see the steepled church in Waits River, recall some of the photographers were sending precautions to watch for power lines or distractions such as signs when photographing that beautiful area with the steepled church. Believe, Andy could confirm that Waits River church was an area photographed by that well known photographer, Kaplan, who was mentioned on this Folige Forum. Would be nice if some of the photographers post some of their Waits River photographs so others will understand why your discovery is so exciting!
Aspen

[Paulette Brewster]

I confess ignorance here.. concerning the Waits river church scene. but your post made it impossible to pass up the chance to be enlightened. So I did a google and it brought me back to Scenes of Vermont forums 2009! Personally, I think the natural beauty of the photo is awesome, and the power lines do not deter me from thoroughly enjoying Vermont as it really is. I do understand searching for that perfect angle to avoid the cumbersome tangle of electric lines. But the overall beauty of that church scene is not diminished by the modern utilities.... at least for me.
Thank you for this Enlightenment!

Paulette

[ctyanky]

Aspen: Yes, it was truly a "find". Not only because I had been to Waits River to take pictures of the church, but because I really feel it was waiting for me in the midst of all the boxes of "stuff"! It was just the series of events that led to the discovery that made it all the more amazing! I have not even thought of having it appraised. I just keep looking at it in wonder! What was going through this painter's mind when he was working on the oil and what was he doing there? A tourist? A resident of Vermont? Winter no less! BRRRR! Antique Road Show! LOL! I think I am going to stop in more flea markets when I'm up in Vermont. Never know what may come your way!

Anyways, I am not a photographer, but the others have shot this place and I know Carol has an awarding winner photo of Waits River as does Andy.

Andy has a sticky on his photog forum about Waits River.

viewtopic.php?t=1673

I would love to have viewers see some of their work so hopefully a link or photo will appear soon?

Paulette: I hope you get to go there! I've seen so many photos of Waits River before but just being there is very exciting! Some of these locations in Vermont just seem to pull me in! Because I am not busy shooting, I tend to walk around and breathe in the moment and etch the scene in my memory. Sometimes, it's almost as good as the photo I take home or when seeing someone else's shot.

I had guests in from the mid-West and I was telling them about this scene all the way up and when they got there they were thrilled. I may stop by there again someday. So MANY places to go. Pretty overwhelming!

[Aspen]

Thanks Carol for posting your beautiful picture of the Waits River church. Some of the best foliage pictures may occur in overcast weather. Somehow, the overcast brings out such vivid colors. Most of us want that sun at our backs but we also learn quickly how the sun can wash out colors! Look forward to an opportunity to experiece the beauty awaiting at Waits River. We enjoyed the views of Sleepy Hollow on Cloudland Road nearby Woodstock, last year and the Jenn Hill Farm, South of Woodstock. Both are so photogenic. This year, my quest to experience Andy's "trees on fire" is up in the Lyndonville area where one of the regulars posted his Mapquest drive and awesome pictures. With your knowledge of the Barton area which is not far from Lyndonville, when is the best time to venture up there? Knowing, it's guesswork, what were past experience timelines during a normal foliage year? If you are up in Barton and learn how the colors are progressing, post update.
Again, thanks for sharing your beautiful pictures, may you and others have many more wonderful picture ops this Foliage season.
Aspen

[ctyanky]

Carol: thanks for posting this picture. I agree with Aspen - it is beautiful! The colors are intense. I hope others get to see this shot for themselves.

Aspen: I have not yet been to Cloudland or Jenne Farm. I already have a list for next year! Barton, where Carol has a home, is just lovely. Chrystal Lake, from what I have seen of Carol's many shots, is gorgeous. Hope you can get up to that area as well!

Carol: did we go by Chrystal Lake on the way home from Lewis Pond last year? I can't remember!

[Paulette Brewster]

OHMIGOSH That is a beeeutiful photo. My mouth is hanging open . I want to go there. I have to go there.

Paulette

[Paulette Brewster]

I have been reading my old tour books and also Ed Barna's covered bridges book, and I believe there is a bridge that is no longer in existence. Of course they won't "live" forever, but it's very difficult to even find mention of the Waterman Bridge, even on the internet. My old '74 tour book only gives the locations for the Lamoille County bridges and has a very nice map with sketches of a bridge to show the locations. It doesn't show road names other than state routes. The Waterman covered bridge was located a little southwest of Johnson and the book has a photograph of it with a history of the bridge.... built in 1868 by George Mills but took its name from a man who lived nearby that operated a saw mill. It went through several repairs in order to keep the bridge, due to those who just didn't want to lose it. It was still standing in the '70's but truthfully I can't remember crossing it. I used google map of the area and the only thing I could find is a road called "Waterman". Is anyone familiar with this bridge? It isn't on the Jimapco either.

Also, it seems common for the bridges to go through several name changes. Being a history buff, I can't help hoping that somehow all the names will stay with the history of each bridge. But maybe that's just me.

[ctyanky]

Paulette: Phil lives in Johnson. I'm sure he will be able to help you when he signs on. He has most every detail about Vermont in his head!