We are thinking of taking a day trip to Brattleboro. We have travel article with idea, but I’ve never been there. Any thing fun or cool to do there?
Walking around naked is popular.
Hey, my wife’s from there! We’ll be there over the week of July 4th, as it happens. We make it back twice a year, on average.
The downtown area has a funky, pedestrian-friendly feel to it. Lots of cool little shops, many of which have a hippy feel to them. The Latchis Theater is a great old-timey movie theater, right downtown. There’s a petting zoo at a farm near the Brattleboro Retreat (which is a mental hospital, believe it or not). Putney Road is the commercial strip, just north of town. Rudyard Kipling’s Naulakha house is not far away, and is available for weekend rental.
Take a look here: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g57192-Activities-Brattleboro_Vermont.html
My wife adds that you should go to the Farmers’ Market on Saturday morning in West Brattleboro - lots of good stuff for sale, and a good people-watching opportunity. And the July 4th parade is straight out of Norman Rockwell - a lot of fun.
In Burlington itself, Church Street is a nice little area, it’s an open air market/minimall thingy, plenty of small shops, and street performers and street artists, if you’re into Sushi, the Sakura resturant near the end of Church Street is phenominal, it doesn’t have the “ambiance” of the Koto resturant in the mall district, but the sushi itself is light-years better (and cheaper too)
there are nice bicycle paths that skirt Lake Champlain, and let me tell you, Champlain is one huge lake, standing on the shores of Champlain, it’s hard to think you’re not on an oceanic beach, it’s that huge
one of the best Rail-Trails (bike paths) in the COUNTRY has to be the Island Line Rail Trail, a bike path built on an old railway trestle that extends through Lake Champlain, spectacular views
if you’re up for a drive, you can drive up to Arlburg, way up in the northernmost part of Vermont (you’ll be about a half-hour drive from Canada), and check out some of the beaches up there, they’re so shallow that you can walk waaaay out into the lake and only have water up to your elbows, rent some kayaks or a canoe and explore the wonderful shallow water, Champlain’s a truly Great lake (pun intended)
there’s a
Burlington and Alburgh are nice but they’re about as far from Brattleboro as you can get in Vermont. (And if it takes you a half hour to drive to Canada from Alburgh, it’s time to buy a new car - it’s about three miles.)
This isn’t really a Cafe Society thread, so I’ll move it to MPSIMS.
It’s not exactly “cool”, but Hinsdale Greyhound Park is about 1 1/2 miles into New Hampshire, down Route 119.
Eh, it’s long, but you can always see the other shore (bad weather not withstanding,) so I’ve never gotten the “ocean” feel like I did when I was at Lake Michigan. Of course, I’ve also been to the Atlantic ocean almost every year of my life, so that adds a bit of perspective.
But as said earlier, Brattleboro and Burlington are very far apart, from a VT standpoint anyway.
There’s a what?! For the love of god the anticipation is killing me!!
D’oh, sorry, i read Brattleboro, but saw it as Burlington…
yes, all the Burlington stuff is too far away for the trip you’re planning now, still, it’s a nice town to visit, that rail-trail is absolutely jaw-dropping, and it’s an easy ride as well, mostly flat terrain
Bennington has really cheap gas.
Oh, wait…
Gone yet? How did you like it?
Why has no one suggested Queche Gorge? It’s only about 20 min from Brattleboro…
Go to the Not so Used Bookstore on Friendly street…Very nice indeed.