To get to our first stop, Bennington, Vermont, we meandered along one of the few east/west routes across New Hampshire, through bucolic Peterborough - the inspiration for the setting of Grover's Corners in Thorton Wilder's play, Our Town - then on through Keene, home of Keene State College, where just a slight jog off Route 101, you'll find the most charming half mile of coffee shops, dining al fresco, and hippie-dippie clothing stores. Route 101 joins Route 9 after Keene, crossing the Connecticut River into Vermont, traversing the Molly Stark Byway from Brattleboro to Bennington, over the green mountains.
Below is an example of scenery we're used to in New England. Lots and lots of trees, lots and lots of green. (During the summer, that is.)
Did you notice anything about this clip, or more correctly, is there something you didn't notice? I'll give you a few hints. There are only four states that don't allow them along their highways and byways. If you drive I-95 through North and South Carolina, you'll see over two hundred of them beseeching you to stop at a certain
Billboards!
There are no billboards on Vermont roads. There haven't been since a law to ban them passed in 1968. Very refreshing.
(For those of you who have never experienced traveling Route I-95 through the Carolinas, you really should if only to witness the 250 black, yellow, and orange signs placed strategically to entice bored children en route to the white-sand beaches and the land of The Mouse in Florida. Featuring Pedro, a smiley sombrero and serape wearing Mexican dude, and catchy phrases like Chili Today-Hot Tamale! and You Never Sausage a Place!(You're Always a Weiner at Pedro's!), these signs have been luring families for generations to take exit 1B in South Carolina to South of the Border, a curiously Mexican-themed attraction that boasts an assortment of kiddie rides in Pedroland, a reptile lagoon, Camp Pedro, a 100-site campground, and a motor inn with a honeymoon suite.)
