(7/26 - Monday)
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| Wilmington, Vt. |
Today we went visiting in Vermont; Jean met a friend from college and while they talked I explored the town of Wilmington, Vt.
We drove to Wilmington on scenic state Route 9. The guide books tell us that we will pass through Molly Stark State Park, which is named for the famous wife of General John Stark of the Revolutionary War. The park is located along the Molly Stark Trail Scenic Byway (That's Route 9), which is also the main east-west route accross Southern Vermont.
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| Molly Stark guards the lawn of Craft Inn. |
A statue of Molly graces downtown Wilmington. The Starks hailed from New Hampshire, where John Stark was a respected and successful road builder.
Stark inspired his New Hampshire Volunteers the eve before the Battle of Bennington, fought on August 16, 1777, by proclaiming “Now, my men, yonder are the Hessians! Tonight, the American flag flies over yonder hill or Molly Stark sleeps a widow!”
http://www.wilmingtonvermont.us/
Route 9 goes over Hogback Mt. Hogback is a popular name for 'geological features'; the USGS list 42 such features, one of which lies 30 miles south of Helena in the Big Belt mountains. The hiking guide books claim that the views from Hogback Mt in Montana are terrific from the 7,000 ft. Summit. Hogback Vt. Is less lofty, but the views on this clear day are stunning and you can drive your car right to the view point.
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| Wilmington Library, WiFi Hotspot. |
While Jean and her friend talked I walked around and took some pictures. Walking past the public library, I noticed the WiFi sign in the window. So I fetched the iPad from the car and went into the library. Hooray for Vt. free WiFi; the $14/day WiFi charge at the Hilton still rankles me.
We ate lunch in Wilmington at Vermont House Inn in a dining room full of bikers. Today's bikers are a pretty refined lot. Nothing like the bikers in the 1953 Marlon Brando movie The Wild One. Guess the Hell's Angels of old have given way to a new generation.
Returning to Marlborough via Keene, I stopped at Starbucks to download a new eBook from Apple's on-line store. I finished Count Zero in the Wilmington Vt. library, which seems an ironic location to be reading cyberpunk novels on electronic books.
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| Molly Stark Revolutionary and Mother. |
By the way, the state of Vermont has a web site for the park named after Molly.
http://www.vtstateparks.com/htm/mollystark.htm
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