October 11, 2015. The Dorset Farmer's Market and Three Vermont Country Stores in One Day.

October 11, 2015.  The Dorset Farmer's Market and Three Vermont Country Stores in One Day.  We were on our way to Pawlet to see our favorite Vermont country store, Mach's.  You'll recall that I donated to the relief fund for the store last year after it had fallen on hard times.  We noticed a lot of traffic stopping at a farmer's market in Dorset.  We stopped to see what a New England farmer's market looked like.  There were scores of tents offering everything from leather gloves (mine cost $20) to jewelry, fresh baked bread and vegetables of all sorts and colors.  We spent about $50, then went into the H. N. Williams General Store which sponsored the market. 

We have passed by the Williams store many times.  We've never stopped there because we were so enamored with Mach's.  This time, we went in.  It is well organized and fully stocked.  The merchandise is plentiful and the store exudes prosperity.  Goods aren't cheap.  They are priced at full retail.  However, it had everything you'd shop for in Walmart, including two 2x6/18 inch bolts and nuts I needed to repair our lounging chairs, total cost, $1.38.  You'll see them in the photos above.  You can find the Williams General Store on the Internet and order merchandise directly if you like. 

You'll also see the remodeling of Mach's Country Store.  It has closed, sadly, and will reopen as a bar and restaurant.  Maybe we'll return next fall to see the changes.  However, it won't be the same.  There are hundreds of thousands of bars and restaurants.  There aren't that many country stores.

But, the Vermont Country Store is still in business.  Hundreds of cars filled the parking lots, front yards, the village green and stretched a quarter of a mile in each direction from the store.  The store was filled to overflowing.  There were people everywhere we turned, back-to-back and shoulder-to-shoulder.  So, I scaled back my goals, bought fudge and left.

While at the Dorset Farmer's Market, I took pictures of many of the things offered for sale.  Those pictures will constitute our next grandkids' quiz.  The quiz will be in a different blog, maybe tomorrow.  Get the grandkids fired up.  There's money involved, you know.