Brattleboro, VT -- Peak Green Edition

[kz1000ps]

The wife and I made a little weekend excursion to Brattleboro -- my childhood hometown from ages 1-7 -- two weeks back and once again I fell in love with the place all over. We stayed right in the heart of downtown (real mixed bag--more on that later) and wandered all over, including a hike up a mountain, a couple walks in the forests, a visit to the Farmers' Market, and lots of great food and drinks in between.

Now checked into our hotel. Here's the view from the heart of downtown with Wantastiquet Mountain looming from across the Connecticut River

Dinner was excellent

And so was the night sky

This is early in the morning on a Saturday so nobody is out walking yet, but these streets are normally very animated

And unfortunately, downtown Brattleboro has hit the same fate of downtowns all over the country if not the world with a major rise in the homeless and addicted

Downtown is also facing a rash of retail vacancies and I heard more than one person use the phrase "in transition" to describe its current state. On the other hand, the chains are still virtually nowhere to be found in the core and the quirky local establishments are continuing to chug along

This is a beloved local cafe and the coffee--cold brew, maple latte, dark roast whole beans for back home--were all excellent

Sam's closing left a massive vacancy in the heart of "DT Brat" as the locals call it

The beloved library

 

[kz1000ps]

The hardware store (former Montgomery Ward) that has the exact same smell and creaky floors as it did 35 years ago

The beloved Latchis Theatre, a true fantastical riot from 1938

Quite possibly the best farmers' market in the world

Then I climbed Wantastiquet which I remember being fairly mild as a kid but it looks like it's suffered a lot of washout damage and was NOT an easy two mile hike up

The green is lovely but it also means views of DT are blocked this time of year

And now some drone shots from South Brat (what a terrible nickname but the locals use it so oh well)

Fresh tomato and burrata was *chef's kiss*

So this is the Latchis Hotel and Theatre building, built in 1938 and packed with original Art Deco details. It's in decent shape and is very centrally located, but as we learned the traffic noise is pretty nuts and it sits basically at the epicenter of the homeless and addicted populations.

New bridge going up at left to replace this rickety narrow bridge, which will then become pedestrian only

 

[kz1000ps]

The church I went to as a very little kid

I had not set foot in here for over 30 years

And now back up to see downtown from the air

Off to the forest near my old house to see the original Albany Post Road

This is the only stretch in the area that survives fairly intact

Vermont forests is best forests!

One more quick trip up from the big central park, looking north

East towards downtown and New Hampshire with I-91 in the midground

And towards West Brattleboro

Lastly, one more trip into my most favoritest magical forest in the whole wide world

 

[RandomWalk]

I have an abiding love of the Latchis, Mocha Joe’s, and Brattleboro Books. The Dosa Kitchen food truck up at the Prouty Center is worth a try.

 

[Portlander]

Great photos of Brattleboro and its surroundings and was not aware that Sam's had closed and what a loss. The shots of the downtown area from above are impressive!

 

[Portlander]

The parking garage is a new addition since my last visit.

 

[vanshnookenraggen]

It never ceases to amaze me that US planners will put their city transit centers nowhere near an active train station.

 

[kz1000ps]

It never ceases to amaze me that US planners will put their city transit centers nowhere near an active train station.

Lay off those IPAs bro

 

[gregrc75]

Great photos of Brattleboro! We go camping in Brattleboro every Memorial Weekend. It is alot more crowded that weekend when we go. We also hiked that mountain across from Whetstone this year (the one with the view of the ski jump and the little obelisk).