Our scenic drive across the southern end of Vermont had started with a family apple picking weekend in Brattleboro. Once that was over, the chance of seeing wonderful scenery along with stunning fall foliage was far more tempting than yet another homeward journey via the I-90.
The little township of Dummerston had been the focus of our visit, famous for a house called Naulakha, the former home of the famed English author Rudyard Kipling, and now a rentable holiday cottage.
Our family plans for a farewell breakfast were actually thwarted by a group of 40 people, mostly from Connecticut, who themselves were on an annual fall-foliage road trip — different parts of New England each autumn — and it sounded wonderful. But anyway, they filled the diner we wanted to use so we had to eat elsewhere.
From there, the two of us headed straight west, on Route 9, towards Bennington.
We had struck lucky with the weather, as well. Two days of Indian Summer, with glorious sunshine. It wasn’t lost upon us that by suitable coincidence it was Indigenous People’s Day.
One of the challenges with scenic drives and road trips however — and especially on public holidays — is a combination of distraction and other people driving badly or even drunk, so remaining alert is essential.
A massive cause of deaths on rural roads is known as a run-off-the-road [ROTR] crash and the above scene would suggest this might have been the case.
It is far too easy for drivers to be watching the scenery rather than the road when it is as beautiful as this. Find a safe place to pull over and enjoy it properly.
One thing we didn’t see — and presumably most people don’t get to see — were any of the moose that are mentioned on many yellow-diamond warning signs along the way.
Bennington is somewhere we have visited previously, although never before via Route 9. It is a very pleasant and historic town.
Had we arrived there by a “road less travelled”? No, but if you are a fan of the poet Robert Frost, you can visit his grave in Bennington.
For history addicts, there is also the extremely tall monument to the Battle of Bennington, in the Revolutionary War.
We had our lunch break there, before popping ‘over the hill’, back to our home in the Capital District of New York State, after a delightful drive.
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Please be aware that all photographs taken from inside the car were, of course, taken from the passenger seat. Before trying that yourself, please be very, very aware of the extreme danger you would be in if the passenger airbag were to fire while you had a camera in front of you.