Vacation 2013: Montpelier, Quechee Gorge, and Woodstock (not that Woodstock)



Covered bridge in Taftsville, VT

Its a night before I travel, so I need to make this brief. Well, "brief" in the sense that I can write anything briefly.

This day, I moved from Stowe down to Vermont's capitol of Montpelier, then southeast towards the New Hampshire border to visit Quechee Gorge and Woodstock, VT. Then over into New Hampshire to visit Dartmouth.

Having worked in the Texas Legislature, and for an appellate court judge whose court had primary jurisdiction over Texas state agency cases, I enjoy visiting state capitols. Ok, that may seem like a tenuously link but just go with me on this. So when I get the chance and am near one of the backwaters where states typically locate their capitol buildings, I like to visit them and compare them to our Texas Capitol. States often put their capitols in places no one would ever want to go. Many reasons dictate this. The 1800s farmers and landed gentry who wrote most state constitutions didn't really like legislatures or government, particularly in the post-Reconstruction South. So they did everything they could to limit state governmental power. Beyond limiting the terms that legislatures met, they made the legislature meet somewhere that they'd be eager to leave. That's why state capitols exist in places like Carson City, Olympia, or Tallahassee. Oh sure, many state capitols now are great places. But they weren't when they became state capitols. Or they happen to enjoy the fortuitous coincidence of central location.

Vermont State House

Anyway, Montpelier obviously falls into the "Dear God get me the hell out of here as fast as you can" category, explaining its state capitol designation. MIT doctoral math students would think this place is boring. Montpelier has about three main streets, each undergoing major road construction (which sounds very familiar). The small downtown district consists of some touristy/kitschy shops, some mediocre to subpar restaurants, and state office buildings designed in Fallout Shelter style. Chastising it as offering nothing to do does cross the line a little bit. You don't go to Vermont looking for the same things you left behind in Manhattan. You go to Vermont to ski, or hike, or marry your same sex partner, or open a bed and breakfast, or to start a dairy farm. That's pretty much the list. Now within those parameters and accepting those limitations, Montpelier isn't such a bad little place. The State Capitol itself does have some nice lines and looks not all that bad. Built in 1859, the state has largely restored it to its original condition. It houses a great deal of Civil War-era memorabilia and tributes to Vermont regiments. One could not unfairly say its a Civil War museum with some legislative functions. Sidebar: the North always makes a huge deal to insult southern states for "obsessing" over the Civil War. Yet, nearly every northern capitol I visit contains extensive glorification of their troops. Who's not letting it go? OK, the House chamber is quite dramatic and sizable; their House includes 150 members, the same as Texas (meaning that our average House member probably serves about 100 times more constituents that his or her Vermont counterpart). The Vermont Senate chamber makes a small entryway closet seem huge. My first apartment during law school was bigger than the Senate and it was an efficiency. Those people come very close to sitting on each other. Its the small commuter jet of state legislative assemblies. Do they dock a Senator's pay if he or she needs an extra seat (you know, the obesity rule)? The Senators must fight with each other to see who gets to use the armrests.

Quechee Gorge

From there, I traveled on to Quechee Gorge. OK, this place is a gorge in the same way that Rachel Weisz and Rachel Dratch are both women. Really its just a spot where the Ottauquechee River's banks happen to narrow a bit, and become slightly higher than on either side. But, as the State Park's website explains, this represents Vermont's deepest gorge. So within two days, I went to the state's highest peak and the deepest gorge (in the interest of brevity, I shall omit the "hey that's just like my Prom" jokes). Fresh off my rock climbing adventure, I decided to scramble down the bank and stand out on the rocks just alongside the narrowest channel, where the water flowed most rapidly (pun intended). Despite not measuring up to the Grand Canyon, Quechee Gorge still has much natural beauty, and is worth the 15 minute walk from the parking lot to see.

The Woodstock Inn

It started raining just as I was making it back to my car, then the skies really opened and dumped torrential rains for the next hour or so. I still managed to make it to bucolic Woodstock, Vermont, though I had some doubts whether I'd survive the trip. The rain somewhat washed out my visit. That was a shame because Woodstock really impresses. The word "stately" comes to mind. On first impression, its how Highland Park would look if it were an entire town (which, actually, I guess it is, but doesn't seem that way because Dallas and University Park surround it). Put another way, if Vogue and Town and Country formed a team to design an entire town in which Brooke Shields would live, it would probably look just like this. (Brooke is one of my three age-appropriate dream girls, along with Diane Lane and Sela Ward). Lots of red brick and whitewashed wooden Federal style homes. Winding tree-lined and tree-shaded streets. Tasteful little boutiques and shops (no WalMarts, obvs), Range Rovers, Mercedes, manicured lawns, private drives...see what I mean? The "Inn at Woodstock," located right in the town square, reminded me of the River Oaks Country Club.

The rains resumed and followed me into Hanover, NH, Dartmouth College's home. Where we'll pick up tomorrow.