There were many stops throughout New England that were “must-sees” leftover from my lifetime love of American history and geography, but some were simply for the fun of it!
Lake Champlain could not be missed—for many reasons! Not only is it famed for its beauty and size (sometimes called the “sixth great lake”),
but also because Lake Champlain has historical significance predating the founding of our country.
Lake Champlain is the body of water in the upper right-hand quadrant.
However, Lake Champlain also could not be missed literally because it’s 107 miles long and serves as the boundary between the uppermost reaches of New York State and Vermont!
On our trip, we chose to take the southern route around Lake Champlain and then head north into Vermont rather than heading north to take a bridge or a ferry to Vermont, which would have been fun but more expensive and perhaps more time-consuming.
Nevertheless, as we say in our family, “You can’t lose.” The soothing blues and greens surrounding the lake on all sides made for a photo-pleasurable passage, and I’m sure no matter how or where someone crosses into Vermont, it’s a memorable trip.
I sighed with contentment as we headed up the eastern side of Lake Champlain toward Burlington. The route was a study in vibrant greens and pastel blues.
We settled in to follow a road that seemed to be disappearing into the mountains. It was long and narrow, and there were hardly any other travelers on this warm September day, but it still seemed the perfect time to pursue adventure! Children were in school; crops were being harvested; all seemed right with the world. Visions of Pilgrim setting off for the Celestial City floated outside my window.
Green. Green Green! No wonder Vermont is called the “Green Mountain State.” It literally means “green mountain” in French. Have you been to Vermont? It’s beautiful! The countryside is dotted with prosperous dairy farms, and Vermont is famous for maple syrup and dairy products. (We can vouch for all!!)
But, Vermont is also tiny! In fact, it’s the second smallest state in America by population and the sixth smallest by area. The largest city is Burlington, which has the somewhat dubious distinction of being the least populous city to hold the title of the most populous city within a given state! 🙂 Vermont’s capital city is Montpelier, which also wins the prize for the least populous capital city in America.
But what it may lack in size, it more than makes up for in beauty, especially in the autumn! And, here’s a scenic first place: Vermont holds the record for the state with the most covered bridges per square mile! More than 100!
Speaking of 100, if you have a spare couple of weeks some year to see autumn leaves of red and gold blazing on the trees rather than drifting by your window, consider taking Highway 100 north through the center of the state for 216 miles of fabulous fall foliage sprinkled with idyllic New England villages and hemmed by mighty mountains. It’s epic!
We only traversed a short, sweet swath of Highway 100 on this trip, but I’d go again in a heartbeat! And, if you go, I definitely recommend a stop at Ben and Jerry’s to check out their factory in Waterbury and indulge in some of their very high-priced ice cream.
We don’t usually indulge, but Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, who got their heads together to start Ben and Jerry’s back in 1978, were known for being “two real guys” who “built a business with a social conscience and a sense of humor.”** While they owned the business, they put their money where their mouths were, doing things like placing the world’s largest Baked Alaska (900 pounds) on the Capitol Building lawn in protest of drilling on the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
My favorite was their policy of having their highest-paid employee receive no more than five times the wage of entry-level employees. Sadly, this ended in 1994, and the company was bought out in 2000 by the mammoth British consumer company, Unilever. I can’t complain, because it’s possible I might have done the same thing, but I sense the difficulty in following the long, narrow, lonely road of self-discipline and restraint through the mountains for an entire lifetime.
I would love to see a world where the highest-paid executive doesn’t make more than five—or even ten—times the lowest-paid employee, wouldn’t you? I believe things like creativity, intelligence, energy, ambition, basic body build and beauty are largely gifts given to us by God, who intends us to benefit others as well as providing for our own families. Besides, I don’t think anybody works more than 10 times harder than his employees, no matter how much pressure he’s under or how ambitious he is. What do you think?
“Therefore, as you abound in every thing, in faith, and utterance, and knowledge, and in all diligence, and in your love to us, see that you abound in this grace also. I speak not by commandment, but by occasion of the forwardness of others, and to prove the sincerity of your love. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that you through his poverty might be rich” (2 Corinthians 8:7-9). Jesus became poor so that we could become “joint-heirs together with him” (Romans 8:17) of all the riches of spiritual blessings! We may not be worth millions of dollars, but all believers have a wonderful heritage in spiritual blessings to share. Am I sharing my wealth with others? Not as much as I could! 😦
Credits: * Map of New York state: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:USA_New_York_relief_location_map.svg
**Quote from Ben & Jerry’s: The Inside Scoop, written by Fred Lager, a former CEO of Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream.
Summer Setting 
