No matter where you live in the US, the summer is the hottest time of the year. This is especially true in Florida. This year, however, is very different. This summer has featured many large-scale, North American heat waves that have roasted significant swaths of the country, not just Florida. These conditions have earned the nickname, Heat Domes. We needed to escape the current Heat Dome.
Heat Domes
But where to go? The NOAA map above shows only one area that had promise, New England. More specifically, we decided to escape to Vermont for one week. It was either that or roast with everyone else. A short respite from the Florida heat would help us get through the rest of the summer. These Heat Domes park themselves over most of the country, raising summertime heat 10 to 15 degrees above average. That, when combined with the Florida humidity, makes living conditions unbearable. Heat Domes also spark severe thunderstorms and lightning. Florida’s west coast is already the Thunderstorm Capital of the US. Our Escape Plan was in place.
Manchester Vermont
The escape to Southern Vermont began with a direct flight to Albany New York where a vehicle waited to wisk us away to safety and cooler temperatures. The Manchester area near Stratton Mountain was our final destination. It is here where the two best restaurants in all of Vermont are located. Near here is also the best pie bakery and the best general store in the entire Northeastern United States. The town center of Manchester is a typical old New England village with wide main streets and beautiful large homes set back from the tree lined streets. Many of the homes are wonderful reproductions while others are incredible restorations.
Foodie Heaven
The restaurants mentioned above are the Chanticleer Restaurant in East Dorset Vermont and the Dorset Inn in Dorset Vermont. If you escape to Vermont and are near either of these restaurants and you don’t make a reservation your life will forever be incomplete. The same is true if you do not get a home made pie prepared by Grandma Miller in South Londondery, or visit the Vermont Country Store in Weston Vermont. Each of these businesses in the Southern Region of Vermont have been providing wonderful memories for decades.
Hildene
There is no finer home restoration than Hildene. The estate was built by Robert Lincoln as his summer escape home at the turn of the 20th century. Robert had become president of the Pullman Company, the largest manufacturing corporation in the country, when he built Hildene. Robert was the only child of President Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln to survive to maturity. And he actually lived in Vermont, who knew!
Green Mountain People
After a week of fabulous eating, shopping and enjoying the cooler temperatures. We even had time to follow the path of the Green Mountain People to the Lake George area of New York. I know, I know they were originally called the “Green Mountain Boys” when they repelled the advancing British Troops during our revolutionary war. To be woke we will refer to them as the Green Mountain People. I guess it is a good thing we didn’t decide to go to New Hampshire. We would not have known how to properly refer to their mountains.
An escape for a day to Lake George is easy to do from Southern Vermont. Lake George is not the place, however, it was many years ago. The Lake George Village is over run with little stores selling tchotchke merchandise and bars and grills serving up lots of beer and bad food. The 32 mile Lake is very picturesque with dozens of small islands and soaring mountains all around. A trip on the Minne Ha Ha Cruise Boat is a good use of an afternoon. Most of the shoreline, exclusive of the village, houses many beautiful homes, cottages and inns. The most stunning is the Sagamore Resort and Hotel in Bolton Landing which was originally built in 1883. It has 137 guest rooms and 54 suites.
Short Summer Visit
Since we are well past our skiing years, Vermont is only welcoming for short summer visits. Maybe a visit in the early fall would be fun too, with all of the vibrant colors of the changing leaves. It definitely is not a place where we would like to live full time. The state’s uber high taxes and brrr cold winter temperatures are very strong deterrents. A short summer escape from the heat and humidity of Florida was just perfect.
