New England Part II
Welcome back my nomadic friends! Once again we delve into the New England region of the United States for more of what that area has to offer. I will preface this edition by stating the obvious, that there is an immeasurable amount of things to see, educate yourselves on and enjoy, that I’m not even scratching the surface. The history alone, between Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and Massachusetts is enough to keep you there for a few years. That is where our country started and the history is there to prove it. If you haven’t been, you must not hesitate. Go there in the first week of October and enjoy! If you want more specifics on what to enjoy, email me and I’m happy to provide some info for you. Let’s get into it, shall we?!
My wife and I have enjoyed B&B type stays in many places, including Europe. With that said, Norwich, Vermont has the Norwich Inn. At first I looked at Woodstock, Vermont, but figured that that would be busier with tourists. About 20 minutes, or so, away is Norwich…I’m glad I chose this town!
Unlike, Woodstock, Norwich is THE quintessential, sleepy New England town. It has the Inn, a coffee shop, a gas station, maybe a shop or two…but that’s about it. You can stroll around town and see the churches, homes and other properties that have been around for hundreds of years. As I stated earlier, get in the car, drive for roughly 20 minutes, in light traffic, and you’re in Woodstock. Woodstock has a great many more shops in it than Norwich. More restaurants, more historical things to see, covered bridges, churches, homes, etc. We walked, took back and side roads as we strolled and saw some beautiful and unique places that we most likely would have missed had we just stuck to the main drag. And, these avenues were less crowded with folks. Which meant not too many people in whatever shots I found myself taking. I will get more into the Norwich Inn and the shots I took in the next paragraph. There are three covered bridges that you should see, two of which are more photogenic than the third. First, Taftsville Covered Bridge, a beautiful red bridge that spans the Ottauquechee River and was built in 1836. There is a waterfall behind it and the blue hour, either sun up or sun down, would be optimum for a longer exposure to blur that waterfall. Once the sun gets above the tree line, then it’ll be pretty contrast(y) throughout the day. The second is, Middle Covered Bridge. This is a lovely bridge to walk to that’s in downtown Woodstock. If you can make your way down to the small, slow moving river that runs below it, you could come up with some pretty good compositions. ND filters would go a long way here. The third is, Lincoln Covered Bridge. This requires, as Taftsville will, you get in the car and drive to. It’s a pretty decent bridge, but it’s all in the open. Keep the sun to your back when capturing this one and ND filters will help as well. It crosses the same river as Taftsville but just, not quite as photogenic as the other two. We took the back roads, once we crossed the bridge, and found some unique things to photograph. We stopped and got a couple of ice cream cones for the ride back and had a delightful day of it!
Back to the Norwich Inn. Since it was, at the time, really, the only place in Norwich to have a full dining room and bar, it was the place to go. They have a couple of outer buildings that have many more rooms so it is pretty big. The room we had was fantastic! King bed, about as big a bathroom I think we ever had with a room, restaurant in easy and fun access, what more could you want? Well, the staff that worked there was fantastic as well! From check-in, to check-out and everything in between, everyone was awesome! At the front desk, they stocked maps of the area…that’s HUGE for me! Being a photographer, in the position to photo allot of things, I rely on maps to figure what I’m going to shoot and properly putting things in order so as not to cover the same ground twice. Everyone there was awesome…cannot recommend this place enough, well worth the stay! There was even a storage out building, complete with wooden porch, rocking chairs, tables in between the rocking chairs with…wait for it…ashtrays. Yup, what better opportunity to light up a stick, with a lovely beverage and ruminate on the days activities. Such an awesome place!
So I cannot stress enough, go off the beaten path. Walk around every where, as long as it is safe to do so, and see all you can see while there is daylight. My wife and I decided to take a stroll, starting at the Norwich Inn and, after allot of driving that day, we wanted to work the kinks out of our lower torsos from sitting too long. We came across an old cemetery, grave markers from the 1700’s but didn’t stay too long and continued on our way. There was a small creek that caught my eye and I composed some shots while my wife continued on. My wife came back to me after a few minutes and told me she found something that’s right up my alley, photographically speaking, of course. There was a little trail that parted from the roadway and went into the woods…then I saw it…an old, red barn, reflecting in a still creek. I almost fainted, well, not that, but it excited me! Now it may not be your thing and I get and appreciate that fact. But from a photographers point of view, this is our bread and butter. On the flip side of that coin, and to promote my point, it could have been a historical grave marker, or a structure that was used to plot how our founding fathers were going to fight off the British yoke, or any number of historically significant things that would intrigue and satisfy you. The point being, try to get off that beaten path as much as possible. We have gotten skunked and have found not a single things in doing so but, we have found more cool stuff in doing so than we didn’t. Most of the time, you won’t be disappointed.
Alright, my nomadic friends, that does it for me. One last posting on New England, Massachusetts next time, and then we will move on to some very different locales. Until then, travel well and take those roads less traveled!
