Where's Your Happy Place?
- 8 hours ago
- 3 min read
"Freedom and Unity" — Vermont state motto
I just returned from the annual visit to My Happy Place: where New York, Massachusetts, and Vermont meet. It's a heavenly realm an hour east of the Hudson where I'm happiest - in the Taconic Mountains (NY), Berkshires (MA), and Green Mountains (VT). I've sojourned there over 20 years and always visit someplace new and make pilgrimages to places I already love like MassMoCA, my favorite contemporary art museum (pictured above).
This is the one trip a year that is purely just for me, and I don't share the location of the small lodge where I stay in VT because it's become deeply important to me. I've come to adore the family who own it and look forward to sitting with them when I arrive to catch up on our lives over the past year. They like to hear about the things I see and do up there each day too because I'm always out and about!
I saw a great solo show at the revamped Bennington Theater called Patient 13, a dark comedy that kept our audience of all ages laughing. The show's heading to the Edinburgh Fringe, so if you go this summer, keep an eye out for it! Before the play, I was enjoying a raspberry almond iced coffee and getting work done on my laptop at Pangea Cafe in North Bennington, when a group of musicians came in and formed a Celtic song circle. So, I stayed for dinner too and enjoyed the tunes. This is the magic of my Happy Place: wonderful things just... happen. Effortlessly, charmingly, and perfectly.
This year I caught the 4th Annual Hoosick History and Heritage Fair at the Hoosick Falls Armory, where I listened to fiddlers, bought a grilled burger outside to support their high school wrestling team, and met historical society members from all over the region; I gathered ideas for future visits. On top of my list now is Waterford, NY, the oldest continuously incorporated village in the U.S. (since 1794). I plan to go there next time and hike the perimeter trail on Peebles Island State Park at the confluence of the Hudson and Mohawk Rivers. Both the Erie Canal and Champlain Canals start at Waterford, NY.
I next stopped by the Bennington Battlefield State Historic Site, which was participating in the heritage fair too. Revolutionary War reenactors gathered to share the significance of the Green Mountain Boys and the Battle of Bennington on August 16, 1777 - a truly pivotal victory. Then, did you know Vermont was its own COUNTRY for 14 years from 1777 to 1791? It was the Vermont Republic and declared independence not only from Great Britain but all the colonies too! It wasn't recognized by other countries and ended a border dispute with New York in 1791, when Vermont became our 14th state.
So while the U.S. is celebrating its 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence this year, next year Vermont is celebrating its 250th anniversary of the founding of the Vermont Republic. And of course, I'll be there. Freedom and unity!
Have you found a Happy Place where you love to return over and over? I'd love to hear about it!
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