Woodstock, Vermont is nothing like Woodstock, New York. No hippies past or present, and no rock bands. It’s an historic town, with a proud village green lined with well-preserved, beautiful brick buildings. Just outside of town is the Charles Shackleton Furniture and Miranda Thomas Pottery gallery. We were there for the furniture, having seen Shackleton’s work in Manhattan and spent many years coveting his gorgeous cherry four-poster beds, elegant breakfronts, and other glorious but expensive items. We were disappointed, although not surprised, to find that they’re just as costly in Vermont as in the city. Miranda Thomas is Shackleton’s wife – her work is less expensive, but less interesting in my opinion. The gallery is striking, set in an old mill building in Bridgewater, Vermont (just north of Woodstock on route 4). Open windows in the gallery reveal glimpses into the workshop, where busy young apprentices plane boards and measure carefully.
In town, we found an equal to Shackleton: Clear Lake Furniture, a smaller shop located in Ludlow but with a storefront in Woodstock. Less traditional and more daring, their handiwork was easily the equal of Shackleton’s, and slightly less costly. Even more intriguing, they use 17th-century techniques to build their useable art. Impressive!
Woodstock also hosts Gillingham’s General Store, which claims to be the oldest General Store in the world, and the Vermont Raptor Center, where you can get up close and person with rehabilitated owls and hawks who are unable to fend for themselves in the wild.
We also spent time in nearby Burlington, a busy college town that boasts extensive shopping and dining opportunities. We feasted on spicy delicacies at The India House on Colchester Avenue (beware: there isn’t much in the way of parking there!) and wandered around town, window-shopping with the UVM students and their parents. That got old fast, though, so we hopped in the car and headed north toward Lake Champlain. It was a short drive north of town on I89 to exit 17, where we headed west on Route 2, crossing the Lamoille River (a white-water destination for avid canoers from my childhood summer camp) and then crossing over part of Lake Champlain via bridge onto Grand Isle. Grand Isle is a massive island in the midst of the Lake. It is dotted with summer residences and rental properties – most were not yet open for business when we visited. Perhaps that is why we were lucky enough to spot an enormous red fox hunting for his lunch alongside the road. We pulled over and put our new digital camera to the test, capturing an embarrassing number of photos – but one money shot of a leaping fox with mouse in mouth! (See below.) Lake Champlain was a beautiful drive and a highlight of our trip.