CHARMING VERMONT: The Shires Travel Guide to Manchester & Bennington, VT

If I say Vermont I know most of us instantly thinking of bright autumn leaves. A burning state in red, orange and golden brown. It has been a dream of mine to experience it in person. Unfortunately this time we would miss the beautiful window of color. With an adventure mentality, we still hit the roads, to find out that Vermont is more than just autumn.

Our destination is the south part of Vermont, and a town called Manchester. It’s an early Friday after Thanksgiving as we are leaving. After a few hour sunny drive, the small town Bennington caught our attention. It is the “doorstep” of Vermont filled with many hidden gems that we must explore.
If I see any sign saying chocolate, I feel invited to enter. The first shop we explore is “The Village Chocolate Shop”. While inside we make acquaintance with Benny and his wife Molly. Both I and Lindsay feel like we would wanna take a big bite of them. Don’t be alarmed, Benny and Molly are huge Chocolate moose’s, with the weight of 100 pounds each.

As we are strolling around from a gift store to a local bookstore, we start to feel hungry and decide it’s time to have some lunch. “South Street Cafe” is where our steps take us with the help of my wife’s excellent “Yelp” navigation. This place is great, lots of options and the relaxing vibe that only a small town cafe can have.

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Thanks to our fascination for Halloween, and the fact that we live near the real Sleepy Hollow, we get excited to find out that there are a few covered bridges not too far from where we are. As we drive through two of them we look behind our backs just to be sure there isn’t a headless horseman following us. Thank God there isn’t.

We are soon reaching our main destination, Manchester. The environment is different here than in New York. High mountains and deep valleys filled with never-ending forests. I can only imagine how it would look in the fall. For this weekend we chose “The Olympia Lodge” as our home base. It is a nice Inn with a friendly staff. It has the look of a huge log cabin, half-timbered, exactly what I imagined you would see in Vermont.
With a short 10 minutes drive from the Inn, we find an inviting Thai place called “Thai basil restaurant” It’s by this time dark outside and to sit down and enjoy a good meal after a day on the roads feels great.

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After a good nights sleep and a lovely breakfast of pancakes, we feel excited to explore the area of Manchester in daylight. The air is crispy fresh and we can feel that winter is around the corner. In fact, everyone expects the first snow to arrive the next day.

A special place we can’t refuse to see is “Hildene” The home of Robert Todd Lincoln, the son of the one and only president Lincoln. He was the chairman of the Pullman company, famous for their train and railway business. His mansion was built in 1905 and you can totally feel a bygone atmosphere in the rooms as the music from the 1,000-pipe organ is playing. A gift that Robert had installed to his wife Mary 1908, Amazingly it is still playing.
I can understand why Robert picked this location for his home. The view is out of this world, so breathtaking that some couples come here to propose, which was exactly what happened right in front of us.

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While in Manchester you need to visit “Northshire Bookstore”. It is said to be the biggest bookstore in New England and I am ready to agree. You can find everything here and it is a delight to walk the shelves and browse through titles that you only can dream about. One great thing about this store is that if you get hungry you can just take a few steps to reach their attached cafe. You can enjoy everything from sweet treats to full on meals. That is what makes a great bookstore in my eyes.
After a good time among fairy tales, biographies and novels it’s getting darker and it happens to be time for the town’s official tree lighting. A pleasant surprise that we didn’t expect. We are served hot cocoa and Christmas cookies, free of charge. Everyone is of good cheer and the joy reach new levels when Santa Claus himself arrives in a firetruck.

Christmas lights make you hungry, so once again it is time for dinner. This time at “Ye Olde Tavern” built in 1790. As soon as we enter the doorway we feel as we step back into 18th Century. When walking up to the ballroom on the top floor we get the feeling that Victorian ghosts are dancing around us. The food tasted great and even if we shared a meal we got more than enough. This is the end of a great day in Manchester.

The journey back contains a few exciting stops that are worth mentioning
– The home of Robert Frost, the beloved poet who won a few Pulitzer Prizes. Unfortunately, it is closed for the season but it is nice to just see his house.

Not far away we enjoy the surroundings of the “Park-McCullough House”, one of the finest and best preserved Victorian Mansions in New England. Unfortunately also closed for visitors, but the view is astonishing, and we spend a good hour outside the garden despite the cold air.

The last stop is the “Antique Center At Camelot” outside Bennington.
An 18,000 sq. ft. restored barn filled with antiques & collectibles. We decided to take our time because it is not every day you are exposed to so many nice vintage objects. What if they could each tell their story?

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As we leave the state of Vermont we feel richer than when we arrived. There is no price of new experience shared together like this. Breathtaking sceneries and interesting history wherever you turn your head. Vermont might be most popular in the fall, but after this weekend we know that it is more than just leaves. It is the all year garden of America!