PLACES I REMEMBER - 5

“Now it came to pass on a certain day, that he went into a ship with his disciples: and he said unto them, Let us go over unto the other side of the lake. And they launched forth.” (Luke 8:22)

The above passage speaks of the Sea of Galilee. Contrary to what many believe, the Sea of Galilee is really not a “sea” at all. It’s a large, fresh water lake. The Sea of Galilee has also been known as Lake Genneseret and as Lake Tiberias. In some respects, the Sea of Galilee is similar to Lake Champlain, which is what I’m writing about in my 5th “Places to Remember” posting. Like the Sea of Galilee, there are mountains nearby Lake Champlain, and sudden violent squalls can quickly arise on Lake Champlain. New England is NOT known for tornadoes, BUT it’s my understanding that (along with Worcester County, Massachusetts) the Lake Champlain area of Vermont is the most “tornado prone” part of New England.

Lake Champlain is located in three major geographical areas: Quebec, New York, and Vermont. MOST of the lake is found in Vermont and New York. At its widest, the lake is 12 miles wide, although it also gets VERY narrow in some spots. Lake Champlain is 110 miles long. At its DEEPEST point, it’s 400 feet deep. Vermont has the distinction of being the ONLY New England state with no ocean coastline. It kind of makes up for that, however, with its beautiful Lake Champlain coastline. Like Prince Edward Island and Niagara Falls, it’s no place to visit in the WINTER. (Well, unless you want to go to someplace like nearby Stowe, Vermont and ski!) But its a great place to visit in the summer, and great for the late spring and early fall, too! Have you been to the city of Burlington, VT? What a beautiful place!

Now, my understanding is once or twice a year the college kids all go crazy and tear up the place (Burlington and vicinity is a HUGE college town), but other than that, the Burlington area is very beautiful and very safe. Mary Ann and I have stayed there several times...once in the city itself, and several times in the “suburbs” of South Burlington and Williston- neither is much more than 10-15 minutes from downtown Burlington. The downtown area is very “walker friendly” and the views of Lake Champlain, the Adirondack Mountains and the Green Mountains are spectacular.

Even many Bostonians may not understand that there’s a HUGE difference between Vermont and New Hampshire. Wheras New Hampshire tends to be very conservative and very Republican, Vermont tends to be very liberal and Socialist. Burlington elected a Socialist mayor, Bernie Sanders. Sanders is NOW a Socialist U.S. Senator from Vermont. (On the ballot, his name appears as an Independent and he usually caucuses and works with the Democrats in the Senate.) No kidding- most of the very liberal professors at Hanover, New Hampshire’s Dartmouth University live just over Connecticut River in Vermont! There are NO billboards allowed in Vermont. All signs are very strictly controlled. It’s very “green” literally and environmentally. Most of my readers know I’m a registered Republican and conservative on most issues, but I truly enjoy visiting in the socialist paradise of Vermont.

When Mary Ann and I went to Burlington in 1982, we stopped and had ice cream at Ben & Jerry’s original homemade ice cream shop in a converted gas station in downtown Burlington- BEFORE they were famous. Ben & Jerry’s is one of Vermont’s biggest success stories. Today, the headquarters and plant is located in Waterbury, Vermont, near Stowe, and roughly an hour’s drive from downtown Burlington. They have company tours, and it’s definitely worth going! Visitors watch a film of Ben & Jerry being presented with some sort of entrepreneurial award from President Ronald Reagan. Some burst into laughter when they see that, but in fact, Ben & Jerry represent the very BEST of capitalism! One of their purposes is to HELP and PRESERVE family dairy farms in Vermont, and that’s who they buy their cream from to make the ice cream! They use huge chunks of the profits to help liberal causes such as saving the rain forest. They DON’T expect the government to do this stuff, THEY do it with their successful business. SO, are Ben & Jerry flaming liberals or Reagan conservatives? They’d be shocked to read this, but they’re actually a little of both!

Among places to visit near the shores of Lake Champlain is the Shelburne Museum in Shelburne, VT located on Route 7 in Shelburne and just a few miles south of downtown Burlington. For you Massachusetts readers, it’s very much a “Sturbridge Village” kind of a place, and an enjoyable place to spend a few hours, especially on a nice weather day.

There are several places where you can catch a ferry across Lake Champlain to New York. Mary Ann and I have gone across on the ferry (LOTS of fun, and we had a great weather day for our trip) and have driven down to Fort Ticonderoga, New York. Fort Ticonderoga is on a HUGE piece of property and if you’re at all a history geek (like I am) it’s a COOL place to visit. There are various reenactments of soldiers from the colonial period, and all kinds of tales of Benedict Arnold, Ethan Allen, and others. There’s all kinds of stuff on display including (supposedly) the “original Betsy Ross flag”. Fort Ticonderoga is located at the southern tip of Lake Champlain and the northern tip of Lake George. It’s also about an hour (maybe slightly more) from downtown Burlington.

If you’ve got your passports and have practiced up on your high school French, you may want to cross the border and spend a day visiting Montreal, or the Granby Zoo in Granby, Quebec which is in the “Eastern townships” about an hour east of Montreal and about thirty-five minutes north of the U.S. border in the Richford, VT area. Granby is a pretty good zoo. Most of the guides, ticket takers, etc. speak excellent English.

I mentioned Stowe above. It’s about an hour from Burlington and a BEAUTIFUL place. You may know that the Von Trapp family (from “The Sound of Music” fame) settled there when they came to the U.S., saying Stowe reminded them of Austria. I don’t ski at all, but skiers say Stowe is the best skiing in the EAST. At Stowe is Mt. Mansfield (roughly 4000 feet) the tallest point in Vermont. There’s a gondola lift there that you can ride approx. 3/4 of the way up the mountain. The scenery is spectacular.

So, the Lake Champlain region and really the area within a one hour drive of the Lake Champlain region is definitely a place I remember and recommend visiting!