October 21, 2014. Vermont General Store, Weston, VT

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

October 21, 2014.  Vermont General Store, Weston, VT.  We have been on the road ten days as of this evening.  It has rained at least eight of those days.  The rain shows up in the pictures; you can often see rain drops on the windshield as I take pictures through it.  But, there is a benefit that comes with the rain.  Colors are more saturated.  Sometimes, the sun will wash out the color, whereas the cloudy sky allows the natural colors of the subject to stand out.  I actually like the look I get on a cloudy day contrasted to a sunny day. 

We stayed in Manchester last night so we could watch the first game of the World Series on cable tonight.  As of this moment, the Giants are leading the Royals 3-0.  But, the Royals have been behind before in post-season play, trailing the Athletics by 4 runs in the eighth inning of the one-game wild card match before winning in the 12th inning.  We'll see if they can come back again.  The game is in Kansas City.  That will help.  The Kansas City fans bring a lot of energy to the stadium which motivates the Royals players. 

Today, we drove the 25 miles from Manchester to Weston, VT, to visit the Vermont General Store.  You may be familiar with the VGS.  The Store is owned and operated by the Orton Family.  The store has about everything conceivable for sale, from toys to clothing to fudge to housewares to hard candy to cheese to shoes to . . . well, you name it and the General Store has it.  Don't look for bargains though.  The store charges full retail prices.  But, it is neat to see things we played with in the 1950s.  You can see the store's wares by looking at the web site for the Vermont General Store online.

Do you seen anyone you know sitting on the porch of the store?  Look behind the mums.  She thought about a "Where's Annie" contest today.  You know, like Where's Waldo.  However, I only took the one picture of Annie, and that makes it hard to make a game of it.  So, no game tonight.  Maybe another time.

The store was started by Vrest and Mildred Orton in 1946.  Years ago, the Orton family bought the Bryant House, next door to the store, and converted it to a restaurant.  We had lunch in the bar of the Bryant House today.  Behind the bar was a black and white photograph of Robert Frost inscribed to Vrest Orton.  The inscription describes their relationship as a "lasting friendship".  I really like Frost's poetry so I asked Sylvia, the bar tender, for permission to step behind the bar to take a close-up of the picture and inscription.  It was a thrill to take a picture of the picture. 

We don't know where we will be tomorrow night.  The Giants are now leading 5-0 with the bases loaded and only one out in the 4th inning.  I am beginning to lose interest. 
So, we may not try so hard to be in a position to see tomorrow night's game.  That opens all the options for where we will stop for the night.  How about I just tell you tomorrow where we are?  Is that good?  Good.