V17E4: Forgotten Roads of Northern Vermont

We found this campground on the Dyrt app as a place to park our Winnebago Revel to serve as a basecamp for the week. It's a small, privately owned RV park consisting of a loop of campsites with electric, water, and sewer hookups, and a bathhouse and laundry. You can tell the owner, Mike, puts a lot of hard work maintaining and improving the campground. He was wonderfully friendly and accommodating! This is a front-country campground, close to the village of Fairfax, and only a fifteen minute drive from the city of St Albans. There is a lot of great food and things to do in the area!

After wandering thoughout northern Vermont's backcountry, and not finding any suitable places for a night of boondocking, I ended up here, at Lake Carmi State Park, and I couldn't have been happier! It's a large, state run campground on the shore of a large and beautiful lake, in northern Vermont, only six miles from the Canadian border. There are 140 sites for everything from RVs to tent campers, and they're very lovely and spacious in a densely wooded area. Each site is charming and flat, and features a fire ring and picnic table. A bathhouse is located in the center of every loop, only a short walk from camp. It was very affordable for a tent site, at $21 a night in early August, 2022. There are a number of prime sites located next to the water, but the inland sites are also very nice and shouldn't be overlooked. Would stay here again.

We were driving south through Smuggler's Notch, and on our way down the mountain, we passed a sign with a a four-wheel drive vehicle on it labeled, "Toll Road." That's was compelling enough for us, so Shannon and I got in line at a toll booth behind a few other cars. It cost us just over $40 for two adults to drive the Jeep up to the top of Mount Mansfield on a gentle gravel road that doubles as a ski slope. The road was unremarkable. What made this adventure well worth the price of admission was the view at 4,000' along Vermont's Long Trail. If you just happen to be recovering from an injury and wearing an orthopedic boot, this is a great, low-impact way to experience a New England mountaintop with an arctic-alpine landscape. I was able to go on a short, ten minute hike up to overlook, despite my ailing foot, and it was wonderful.

Shannon and I were on our way north having just left our campsite in Green Mountain National Forest when we passed this breakfast place in Waitsfield, Vermont. On a whim, we pulled in for a bite to eat. It was rustic and charming with mostly outdoor seating, but enough room to move inside as the weather cools off. I had orange juice and coffee with eggs benedict and it was well-prepared and really hit the spot. It was a very high-quality and well-prepared breakfast in a relaxed small town setting. Recommended.

Wow! This is how you do a pizza shop. It's located in a classy old corner store in the village of Fairfax, Vermont, very tastefully decorated with Norman Rockwell paintings, rustic, repurposed, antique furniture. Smashing Pumpkins was playing on the radio, and they offer beer, and wine, along with delicously-crafted pizza using locally sourced ingredients. It was absolutely delicious, and it's forever ingrained in my taste buds as an all-time favorite! It's also a stone's throw from Maple Grove Campground, which was where we were staying just a few miles up the road.

Passing through Waterbury, Vermont, after spending the night in Green Mountain National Forest, Shannon and I stopped at this coffee shop which we enjoyed greatly. It's small, but very comfortable and delicious. The baristas were all smiling and laughing amongst themselves and with the customers... and of course the coffee was delicious. It was a great place to sit and chat over coffee, or open up a laptop. It got a little busy mid-morning, but not too crowded. We can't wait to go back!

We're here right now as I'm typing this. It's a very contemporary coffee shop in historic downtown Saint Albans, Vermont. The atmosphere is very light and airy, bustling with customers, and The Beatles playing in the background. The coffee is very, very good, although the cups are a little smaller than I'd prefer. Although I prefer a massive mug, if 10oz isn't enough, I suppose I can simply get another! It neighbors Red House Sweets, which is an amazing bakery with a pass-through to the coffee shop, so between the pastries and the amazing coffee, you have everything you need here to get your day started!