Bristol
An alternate, but nearly all-gravel route from Middlebury to Burlington is by way of the charming Bristol village, past the Lord's Prayer cut on a rock..
Charles Edward Crane, “Let Me Show You Vermont”
I took a sharp right at Route 17 and headed up Stark Mountain, a winding, ear-popping climb past the Appalachian Trail to the summit's microwave tower at Buels Gore. I stopped for a chilly look at the valley far below, then had a fast roll down the back side of Sugarbush Mountain into the town of Bristol.
Bristol feels to me like a humble Shangri-La tucked away deep in a Green Mountain valley. The downtown rewards the adventurer willing to bypass the speedier routes, and linger for awhile. There are restaurants to sample, including the Bobcat Cafe and Brewery, a community enterprise designed to be a place to eat good food and hang out that’s not home or work— like a living room that serves craft beer. What a great idea!
If you arrive in Bristol in the morning, you can enjoy an excellent breakfast (mine was the herb and spinach egg scramble) at Snap's Restaurant, and then meander down Main Street for some interesting poking around in shops.
Here’s a watercolor I did years ago when my now-grown son was a wee lad. We were then vacationers rather than full timers in Vermont, and always looked forward to buying some unusual toys, Mexican nichos, and witty tee-shirts in our favorite oddball store Folkhearts—alas no longer there. There is Emeraldrose Gifts, also a fun place for poking around.
Shopping in a small town is a pleasure rather than a chore: park your car, grab your market bag, and stroll from store to library to farmer's market, exchanging greetings with neighbors along the way. There are benches on Main Street in Bristol to sit in the sun and gossip, complain, analyze, and laugh with neighbors on a warm autumn afternoon.
These five-minute conversations between errands spread news and opinions like live currents moving along phone lines, connecting part to part, person to person. Main Streets like Bristol’s create a stronger community than any mega mall will ever be able to do.
