Gribblenation

Sitting quietly along Vermont 100 within the White River Valley is the Windsor County town of Rochester.  Proudly calling itself "The Heart of the Green Mountains," Rochester is home to about 1100 residents. Many old homes are well kept in Rochester (Doug Kerr - May 2012) Settled and incorporated in 1781, Rochester is surrounded by mountains and nestled in the White River Valley.  Rochester hosts several events throughout the year, including Harvestfest on the first Saturday after Labor Day, a Summer Concert Series, and a weekly farmers' market on Fridays from late May through early October. The Civil War Soldiers Memorial is the centerpiece of Rochester's village green. Rochester is an oddly shaped town - it has many different angles as it annexed land from four adjacent towns in the early 1800s.  It consists of nearly 36,000 acres, making it the largest community in Windsor County. For over 30 years, the Rochester Cafe & Country Store has been a popular spot f...

Walking around the Coolidge Homestead in Plymouth Notch, Vermont, you'll begin to connect the humble beginnings of our 30th President with the quiet humility of the man known as "Silent Cal."   Plymouth is a small community in central Vermont with over 600 residents.  Coolidge was born here on July 4, 1872.  And it was here in a parlor of his home that Coolidge took the Oath of Office early in the morning of August 3, 1923, upon the death of Warren G. Harding.  Coolidge suddenly became the 30th President of the United States. The modest home where Coolidge was born on July 4, 1872.  The home was attached to the general store (Cilley's Store) that the Coolidge's then owned and operated. Coolidge would attend Amherst College in Massachusetts.  He would start a law office in Northampton, Mass., where he would later serve as mayor and a representative in the state legislature and Senate. Coolidge would later serve as Lieutenant Governor and later Governor ...

The town of Jamaica is located along Route 100 in the Green Mountains of Southern Vermont. It has just over 1,000 residents and consists of the villages of Jamaica Center, East Jamaica, and Rawsonville. Jamaica Memorial Library The community is not named after the Caribbean Island but the Natick/Algonquian for "beaver."  Both the West River and the Ball Mountain Brook run through Jamaica. One of the many historic homes in Jamaica. (Doug Kerr - May 2012) Since its charter in 1780, Jamaica has transitioned from a colonial timber industry community to an industrial wool industry in the mid-19th century, to a community driven by outdoor recreation (skiing, fishing, golf, etc.)  Nearby Jamaica State Park is a popular fishing, hiking, camping, and mountain biking destination. Jamaica Town Hall - In addition to the annual town meeting - Jamaica Town Hall hosts community activities and events. Jamaica continues the New England tradition of an annual town meeting.  Held the first...

  While everyone was enjoying their brat summer, I wound up exploring and went to quite a few different places in the process. Over Memorial Day Weekend in 2024, the destination for the long weekend was Quebec, which isn't a long haul from my home base in the Albany, New York area, but it's a place I haven't explored enough. On this second day of the trip, I started and ended in the suburbs of Quebec City, made my way south to the mountains near the border with the United States, then towards Quebec's Eastern Townships and the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont before heading back to home to Upstate New York. Plus there were some surprises along the way, which is typical for the types of multi-day road trips I take. Here is a collection of photo highlights from the third day of that three-day adventure.  After checking out of my hotel, I decided to take some convoluted way to a viewpoint of the Quebec Bridge. Seeing that it was Memorial Day in the U.S, it was just a regular M...