Vermonter.com

I decided to take a hike up Mt. Philo in Charlotte this morning. It was a nice cool, brisk day and I was surprised to see a fair number of people venturing a hike at 8am in the morning. The leaves are still in the beginning stages of change with a few reds here and there.

Below, is a photo taken at 8am on Sunday, September 30, 2007. Note the clouds setting below the peaks of the Adirondacks. Enjoy!

The colors are more pronounced in northern Vermont this week but not quite at peak yet. Some vibrant reds can be seen but next weekend should make for the best viewing. Fall seems to have come late this year while we experience an extended summer. Meanwhile, it Chittenden County the colors are still in the early stages with light, rusty reds and yellows. Below is a photo of the stateside trails at Jay Peak taken on 9/25/2007.

I came across a short video from an Alan Parsons concert recently and was eerily surprised to notice just how much he resembles the infamous Howard Stern whackpacker, Bigfoot (an equally infamous Newport, Vermont resident). If Alan Parsons has a twisted, twin brother could Mark “Bigfoot” Shaw Jr. be the long lost sibling? Judge for yourself because here is a side-by-side photo comparison.

I’ll leave it up to you to decide which one is Alan Parsons and which one is Bigfoot…it is!

It’s the third week of September and the trees are just starting to take on orange colors in Chittenden County. Not much for reds yet! A view of the Adirondacks indicates that colors are indeed changing. Looks like a late foliage season this year but that’s ok as long as the nice weather holds out!

1. There aren’t many real, native Vermonters living there.
2. People from the Northeast Kingdom vacation “way down” in Burlington.
3. Ethan Allen’s monument is here but he was a flatlander.
4. Because Phish’s last concert was in Coventry.
5. There are no holsteins or chainsaws anywhere to be seen.
6. People from Burlington think the “Logger” is what a real Vermonter would be like.
7. Burlington folk drink pricy bottled water. Real Vermonters get there’s free…from the tap!
8. The Queen City has the highest per capita weirdo count in the state.
9. No real Vermont town would vote for a mayor that wants to turn their town into a sanctuary for criminals.
10. McDonald’s closed and left downtown Burlington. McDonalds never leaves anywhere (except Stowe, which ain’t really Vermont either!).

BoingBoing.net has just added a feature to their extremely popular blog for a page posted on Vermonter.com. In case you missed it, the article is Timothy Clark Smith of Vermont who was so concerned about the possibility of being buried alive that he arranged to be buried in a special crypt that included a breathing tube and a glass window, in his grave marker, that would permit him to peer out to the living world six feet above.

Visit the Timothy Clark Smith feature and add your comments.

The fall colors usually begin in early September. There are a few trees in Shelburne that are already taking on the colors of autumn right now, in the second week of the month. The northernmost areas of Vermont typically experience the Vermont foliage hues first.

A trip to Willoughby Lake on September 7, 2007 indicated a few reds starting to appear in the maples. By the end of the month, the Northeast Kingdom should be a virtual light show of Vermont foliage highlights. Unfortunately, Vermont’s autumn colors don’t stay around very long. Maybe a week at the most during peak foliage season. Leaf peepers will need to act fast.

Inns and hotels throughout Vermont typically fill up fast during foliage season. If you wait until the last minute, it can often be pretty tough to get a place to stay during September and early October. If you haven’t reserved a place to stay, see what’s available through Vermonter.com’s discount lodging and hotel search. For stays in the Northeast Kingdom, we recommend the Newport City Motel and the Anchorage Inn if you’re vacationing in the Burlington, VT. area.

We’ve been tinkering around and adding a few more articles and such to Vermonter.com lately. There have been a number of photos added throughout Vermonter.com (we’ll let you dig around to find them). A new section called Vermont Cities Towns and Tales has been added. We promise to try and stay away from dry descriptions and hopefully won’t get too ‘touristy’, including an article about how to spend a day in Stowe, VT., where Ben & Jerry got started in the old Burlington gas station and a rundown on things to do in Shelburne.
Speaking of Shelburne, we’ve saved the best for last . We have added 3 new Shelburne Museum photo slide shows and three new pages so check ‘em out. The files are whoppers though, so you’d better have a fast connection or stick with viewing the regular scenic photos throughout the site.
What else is coming? Well, we ain’t telling so you’ll just have to come back and poke your head in our door once in awhile!

Looking for Vermont antiques and info around New England? We have added a new antiques page with VT antique events and a live RSS feed for other antiquing resources around New England.

Also new is a Vermont weddings resource page for those who want to tie-the-knot in the Green Mountains. A resource guide with live links has also been added to this page. More wedding information will be added soon. Stay tuned!