We spent an enjoyable 2 days
exploring an obscure small city in Vermont, called RUTLAND. But why did we go
there of all places and why was Vermont such a challenge for us to visit? Read on to find out!
The planning for our ‘Navigating New England’ trip started almost a year before we set off and we were determined to include all six states that make up the New England region of America. Our starting point was sensibly to be Manhattan, with the state of New York sharing a border with Vermont in the north. As none-drivers we had to find alternative means of getting around, be that planes, trains, ferries and Ubers, and while the other New England states - Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine – were all easily linked, for some reason Vermont was not.
The only affordable and achievable way there for us was via a lengthy ride on Amtrak train! Our initial plans were to take the once-a-day Ethan Allen Express north from New York City to Burlington and explore the shore of Lake Champlain, but sadly the hotel prices were well out of our budget. Feeling deflated and knowing that it was ‘now or never’ for Vermont, it struck us that it would be quicker and probably cheaper to visit the first interesting place in Vermont that the Amtrak reached – and that was the City of Rutland (population 16,000).
We arrived by train at 7:40 pm on the
evening of Sunday July 28 2024 and slowly pulled our luggage through the eerily
quiet downtown area into a residential neighborhood where we had booked an
Airbnb. We knew that Rutland was a safe
place to visit, as the city’s Mayor, Mike Doenges, had very kindly met with us online
before our trip and had enthusiastically told us about his town and his future plans
for it.
Having ditched our bags in our
lovely Airbnb on Chestnut Ave. (see separate review), we headed back downtown –
the half mile walk took all of 10 mins – for the center of American culture,
Walmart! As we walked along Merchants
Row taking in the style of the local architecture, a police car slowly drove
by. The cop, who had has window down,
smiled at us and gave us a friendly wave.
It felt like something out of a movie, and we wondered if he was
thinking: ‘Who the heck are they out walking, not just at this hour, but actually
out for a walk?’
These are the places we got to see in Rutland:
Walmart
Walmarts
are handy for picking everything you might want, and as we saw at Rutland’s,
they sell guns alongside the groceries (this is not unusual but is fascinating
nevertheless to us Brits). We also
discovered that the prices there were considerably cheaper than at other
Walmarts and supermarkets we had visited in other states. We picked up a few souvenirs (no Vermont
magnets alas) and goodies (mostly junk to rot our mind and teeth).
At
the cash desk, the Walmart associate did their due diligence and asked for our
IDs; we’d like to think we look younger than 21 years old, so took it in good
grace. Interestingly, this was one of the
only times we got ID’d on this trip across New England.
This
is what a few of the things we bought cost (with tax then at 7%):
I
Love Vermont sticker = $1.05
Small
pack of 6 x U.S. flags = $2.32
Blue
Moon (12 pack) = $17.48
Smirnoff
Ice (6 pack) = $8.48
Lays
Wavy Funyuns = $2.00
Pop
Tarts (S’mores) = $2.62
Chick-fil-A
sauce = $3.98
Yes,
this is the caliber of our shopping standards.
And yes, we did buy a bottle of Chick-fil-A sauce to carry 1,000 miles
across 7 states and 3,500 miles across the Atlantic home. And no, it did not burst and go everywhere,
unlike the Chick-fil-A sauce we tried to bring home from Florida in
January. We have clearly become seasoned
and experienced travellers and made sure it was well wrapped up (finally a use
for the useless paper bags)!
Not only were we seasoned travellers, but tired ones too, so we lazily took an Uber back to our Airbnb, where after a few drinkie-poos (not in red solo cups), we were out like a light! We cannot put into words how exciting it felt to be sleeping in a real American home, in a real American neighborhood in a real.... well, I’m sure you get the picture!
Stewart’s Shops
Morning
and we had cereal from Walmart but no milk.
Stewart’s Shops, or rather a singular shop, is a convenience store chain
with a plural name primarily located in upper New York and south-west Vermont,
and in this instance only a short walk from our Airbnb. We ended up with gallons of milk when a pint
would have done – but real Americans buy those big cartons, so I did too.
Downtown Rutland
It
was fascinating to explore the streets of Downtown Rutland and take in all the
different styles of buildings. We didn’t
see any litter – it was all neat and very tidy.
The main street, Center Street, had some interesting properties, but it
was disappointing for us that most of the local businesses were closed; in fact
it seemed that everything was closed on a Monday, so this limited us in what we
could experience. We also searched for a
famous Vermont desert known as a Cremee, as we had been recommended to try the
maple flavored variety, but sadly we were unsuccessful in finding an open
business that sold them downtown.
One
of the nice things we got to see on our walk was the numerous examples of
public art, from sculptures of local figureheads to art on the sides of
buildings. The city really is picturesque!
The Sandwich Shoppe
The
highlight of our visit (see separate review) – and not just because it was open
on a Monday!
T.J. Maxx
Halloween
arrives early in the United States and we knew there would be Halloween
merchandise in T.J. Maxx. We had a good
look at it all but couldn’t find anything to tempt us - despite the big and
varied range of products.
Market 32 by Price Chopper
We
loved looking around the Market 32 supermarket, particularly at the meat
counter, packed full of giant steaks, as well as the fresh and very much alive
lobsters. These weren’t the only
creatures still alive inside the store: elsewhere, when we were tempted to buy
some cakes and cookies, we noticed that the glass cabinet was swarming full of
flies! This did not deter us, however,
from buying sealed zesty Italian wraps and a chicken Caesar salad from a different
department in the supermarket, alongside a few other treats for our long train
ride back to New York City the next day.
Center Street Market Place Park
This
small open space, tucked away and surrounded by buildings in the center of town,
proudly displayed signs saying that it was ‘tobacco free’, echoing signage we
had seen on some other streets downtown. We sat in the sunshine and enjoyed our wraps. The park was deserted and the businesses around
the edges (probably restaurants) appeared to be closed just like elsewhere.
A walk around the neighborhood
After
a rest in our Airbnb and just as storm clouds started to roll in, we took a
walk around the neighbourhood and got to see some examples of the real-life
homes of Vermonters plus the local school at the end of our street. A huge yellow school bus rolled by – iconic! We passed by Elm St. and had a laugh at the
name tarnished by the eponymous horror movie franchise. We headed up a very steep hill to Main Street
where some recognisable chain businesses are based, including a Walgreens
(which unusually we did not go into), Starbucks and Wendy’s. It took us a while to get our breaths back
before we could even contemplate continuing our walk!
Starbucks
Who
can resist a Starbucks? We couldn’t! We popped in and tried the new Melon Burst
Iced Energy drink. It only came in one
size - venti - which was far too big, as the unusual taste took some getting
used to. Think toilet cleaner.
Taco Fresco Taqueria & Tequila
Finally,
a worthy local business that was open on a Monday! And just as well, as the storm broke the
moment we got inside and our phones lit up with flood warnings (see separatereview of our visit).
The Angler Pub
We
ran to the Angler Pub, full of tacos and cocktails, trying to dodge the drops
of rain from the tail end of the storm. There was a woman blocking the doorway having
a cigarette, and she point-blank refused to open the door for us to help us get
out the rain more quickly. Her rudeness didn’t
bother us, and thankfully this was not indicative of the people we met in
Rutland. We had fun in the pub (see
separate review).... but beer makes you hungry - even after Pop Tarts, bagels,
chicken wraps, Starbucks and tacos!
Wendy’s
Who
travels six hours to Vermont only to eat in a chain restaurant?! Well, (a) it was open on a Monday and (b) we
had the beer munchies, so were craving crap greasy food (see separate review)! The food was indeed crap (unlike from other
Wendy’s we’ve visited) but we didn’t care – we’d had a good day, and it was now
time for bed!
Stewart’s Shops
The
next morning we visited Stewart’s again, but not for milk – we still had
gallons left – instead we tried the weirdest drink ever: “Stewart’s Shops
Sunshine Shake”, a limited edition orange crème dairy refresher. Think orange juice mixed with milk, but
without the curdles and probably without real milk. This delightful experience almost wasn’t to
be, for on the way to the store we were nearly taken out on the crosswalk by an
over-eager driver. Not our fault: the green man was on and we’ve spent enough
time in the U.S. to know to look left first.
We also know by heart the name of a very successful personal injury lawyer. Thankfully it wasn’t needed and the driver
did apologise before she sped off!
Another walk around Downtown Rutland
Before
we departed Rutland, we took another brisk walk downtown and called at City
Hall. We had a few gifts for the mayor,
namely books about Washington Old Hall, George Washington’s ancestral home in
the county where we live in the U.K. Unfortunately,
the mayor wasn’t around, but we left them with his clerk who surprisingly knew
our name from our earlier correspondence about our forthcoming visit to
Rutland. As we shook the clerk’s hand, we
told him that we had found the city an interesting place with friendly people
and we had enjoyed our short visit.
The Sandwich Shoppe
Our
second visit! We had to call back once
again for their enjoyable breakfast bagels to see us on our way.
We met friendly people and had some tasty food and a little fun so can only speak in positive terms about Rutland. As for Vermont, it is known as the Green Mountain State, and sadly we didn’t get to see or explore that aspect of the state due to unfortunate circumstances at the start of our visit, whereby we had to quickly change our plans when the personal who’d kindly offered to take us up the mountain was unwell.
It is highly unlikely that we will ever have cause to return to Vermont. We know that this visit was an unusual one and that our interpretation of the state will be slightly skewed as a result, but we have been and while we sadly don’t have the souvenir fridge magnet to prove it, we took over 400 photographs which have captured the beauty of Vermont more than these words ever could.
🏛️ MAYOR: Mike Doenges
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