CRAFTSBURY FOUND

July 9, 2008
Phoebe's Cottage, East Craftsbury, Vt.

Husband Bill has been in Mt. Auburn Hospital in Cambridge with diverticulitis for a week and we finally drove the 220 miles to Craftsbury,Vt. on Sunday, a day late. Getting all eight of us out of our house was heavy lifting. Everyone was torn about coming but the cottage had been rented and "Vermont" had been promised for so long that there was no way the grandkids were not going.

Aki (age 7) gets carsick and so the going along I-93 was slow. It was a hot, muggy day and around 4pm the talk was all about swimming. Luckily I write an Explorers Guide to New Hampshire and had carefully detailed what's at each exit in Franconia Notch State Park for the current edition. Luckily I had the book in the car and cell phones work south of Franconia Notch so both cars exited at 34C to Echo Lake ($4 per adult, $2 per child, changing facilities!). It hit the spot! A sandy beach, cool but not freezing water below the slopes of Cannon Mt. plus a brown dot on a ski trail, a real bear!!!

We hadn't had lunch and around 4pm the talk was all about eating so we headed for Anthony's Diner in St. Johnsbury, which my Vermont guide says is open late but the owner was closing up as we pulled in. He directed us up Route 2 to Goodfellows Restaurant which again hit the spot with its outdoor porch, ideal for kids. The burgers were'nt great but a patron at the bar from Ct. assured me that the regular menu was fine. Local brews are a specialty.

Around dusk we reached our Phoebe's House (named for the bird Phoebe and one happened to be sitting in her nest on the back porch). It's perfect! A 19th century cape with a huge back meadow and everything inside just where it should be. The phone only accessed local calls without a calling card, which I had forgotten to bring, but our hospitable landlady lives just down the road and so I could check in.

Next morning Aki and Taiga (age 4) joined the day camp at Highland Lodge, a few miles up the road, and I headed for the pay phone on Craftsbury Common to call Bill. The Common is one of Vermont's most beautiful villages, summer home to Circus Smirkus and year-round to the Craftsbury Outdoor Center, specializing in summer running and sculling camps and in winter, outstanding cross-country skiing. The elevation here is high, mostly open and rolling with long views west to the Green Mountains, from Mt. Mansfield to Jay Peak.


We swam at the public beach at Caspian Lake in Greenboro, perfect for small children because it's shallow a good ways out. Willy's Store is a big deal here, with hardware as well as good meats, veggies, local cheese, etc. and an upstairs full of clothing. We had set up a badminton net in the meadow but needed stakes, string and more cocks. No problem.

Cassie's ice cream is half way between the beach and Willy's. Named for the mythical monster in the lake, it's a great post-swim stop (Wilcox creamery ice cream). The Miller's Thumb is next door, a great gift store with a window in the floor, through which you can see the raceway. Greensboro is the kind of tiny village you drive through in a second but full of unexpectedly good things. We didn't get to the library or new herb shop but did pay (not for the first time) a visit to the Greensboro Garage, one of those rare places that can fix just about anything.

July 12, back in Cambridge.

The news from the hospital was better on day 4 but still not release date.
While the kids were in camp three of us followed signs through a maze of back farm roads to Stillmeadow Gardens.

Back 25 years ago this was Stillmeadow Farm, which we discovered one sugaring season because Albert and Marion Urie took in guests as well as boiling maple sugar. Then it was a dairy farm and we spent some time in the barn, talking politics with Albert and his son Bruce, while they milked and did chores. Albert rented a snowmobile from a neighbor and made trails for the kids, then ages 2, 5 and 7, to ski around and Marion had hot chocolate ready when they came in. We returned a couple more winters and at least once in the summer. Albert and Marion are gone and so are the cows and Bruce now works for the Vermont Land Trust and Betty operates a fabulous two-greenhouse nursery. We bought a glorious planter and a few more things at bargain prices.



A fierce thunderstorm swept in early in the afternoon but between downpours we walked the short ways to the John Woodruff Memorial Library, a former general store that's now a fabulous little library, with a large, well-stocked children's reading room (and ping pong table) . There we got happily stuck for an hour plus.

We rolled up and sadly said goodby to Phoebe's house. We had planned to stop at Claire's, the hip new restaurant in Hardwick on the way home but it was inexplicaly closed. Luckily the Hardwick Family Restaurant is across the street, the total opposite of hip and unquestionably a better spot for a family with two small children;. The back porch overlooks the swinging bridge and river and there are crayons and mats for kids.

The only downside to the fabulously beautiful Craftsbury area is lack of cell phone service. Usually not a problem except when someone is in the hospital. Driving back on I-93-back through Franconia Notch with a glorious sunset-we finally picked up service again and kept calling the hospital. No answer. Finally, an hour north of Boston we got a call from husband Bill-from HOME. Mt. Auburn, it turns out, had -without warning--given him an hour to get out of there or pay for a night that would not be covered by insurance! Luckily our neighbor was home - a fluke since she spends all summer on The Cape. She checked him out and bought his meds.

Stay tuned. Next week I'm heading for Southern Vermont.