Ambrosia Software Web Board: Montpelier, VT - Ambrosia Software Web Board

Seriously. It's a magical place. Everything is perfect.

Montpelier is the smallest of the state capitols. I highly recommend that all of you go there.

Care to elaborate?

I may be out on business on the east coast in about 3 months so i'm entertaining suggestions.

Sargatanus, on Apr 7 2007, 03:26 PM, said:

Philadelphia is the s###, yo. We have crime.

Destroyer E, on Apr 7 2007, 10:07 PM, said:

Wait, you live in philly, dude?

I thought Philadelphia was the city of brotherly love...

3vil L337, on Apr 7 2007, 11:11 PM, said:

Yep. Well, right outside it. My stalker knowledge tells me you go to Temple. A couple of my friends will be going there next year.

The Apple Cøre, on Apr 7 2007, 11:27 PM, said:

It still is. Just with added murders.

This post has been edited by Destroyer E: 07 April 2007 - 10:46 PM

Victoria, BC is the best city around. Montpelier can go screw.

-Pufer

Sargatanus, on Apr 7 2007, 03:26 PM, said:

Certainly.

It all started back in February. My friend and I took a Greyhound to Montreal, and one of the stops happened to be in Montpelier. As soon as our bus pulled up, I was dumbfounded.

The most striking feature of the town is, of course, the State House [see picture]. I haven't seen a lot of state capitol buildings, but I'm quite confident that none of them come close to the grand splendor of Vermont's golden crown. Its majestic glow envelops everything for miles around (though if there is snow on the ground (and there inevitably is) it tends to be blindingly bright).

Breathtaking as it is, the Capitol is not the only enjoyable piece of architecture. In fact, every building in Montpelier is more beautiful than the last, as if they are in a competition to see which one can be the most endearing. If I could, I would give them all blue ribbons. Also, the town backs up to a steep, wooded hillside that is dotted with old-style houses and looks suspiciously like a Christmas card.

I left my heart in Montpelier that day, and I knew that I had to return on a dedicated trip to retrieve it.

So, come April 5, we set out by train. It's worth noting that Vermont, unlike Massachusetts and Connecticut, has lovely scenery. Rugged hills, picturesque fields, frozen rivers, everything that New England should offer but so often does not.

We arrived at 8:30 PM, after sundown. Because Montpelier is so daintily small, we assumed that the train station must have been reasonably close to the city center. Not so. As it turns out, some dickwad (whom I now want to punch in the face) had the brilliant idea to build the station as far away from town as possible while still remaining within the city limits. After asking for directions, we began our harrowing one and a half mile trek down a narrow, unlit stretch of highway. Oh yeah, and it was snowing. (Incidentally, it never really stopped snowing during the two days we were there.)

Just when things were beginning to look bleak, we looked up and saw it...that glorious golden dome, rising up through the fog, penetrating the icy darkness, summoning us like a beacon of warmth and Vermont hospitality. With the dome on our side, nothing could go wrong. And nothing did go wrong. We checked into our hotel without a hitch and watched some TV and went to sleep.

The next morning we went to the State House. I'm not sure if this is standard protocol for state capitols, but we were able to walk into the building and wander around every level without saying a word to anyone about our intentions. We had a good time there watching the debates in the House chamber and playing on the podium of the empty Senate chamber. We also had a chance to meet the governor, but my friend was being a wuss and didn't want to wait in line for a few minutes.

Then we went to the Vermont Historical Society museum. Apparently everyone in Vermont worships Ethan Allen. For those of you who know nothing about him besides the furniture store named after him, he and the Green Mountain Boys militia secured the independence of Vermont by kicking the s### out of any New Yorker or Canadian who tried to infringe on its border. He sounds like a cool guy, though the statue of him at the State House was pretty damn ugly.

We spent the rest of the day walking around "downtown" Montpelier, browsing around stores and looking at the river. I offer this advice to anyone planning on going there: never try to go to any shop on Langdon Street. It's not there. You won't find it. You'll waste countless hours wandering up and down Main Street searching and wondering where the ###### that bridge is even though it's right there on the map. Other than that, it was a good time.

I never did find my heart over our trip. Someday, however, I plan on buying a winter home there. Perhaps after I pass a few snowy seasons there it will finally come back to me. But I'm not getting my hopes up.

The only downside to Montpelier that I can think of is the inconveniences caused by such minuteness. When I was a little kid, I lived in a town situated way up in the Sierra Nevada mountains called Truckee, California. It's grown quite a bit since I moved, but back then there were two main stores. If you wanted something that you couldn't find at the hardware store or the grocery store, you had to drive down to Reno. I imagine Montpelier is in a similiar situation, except that the nearest "Reno" is Burlington, which, in addition to being much smaller than Reno, totally sucks.


In conclusion, Montpelier is a place of dreams and you should all go as soon as possible.

This post has been edited by dude3: 08 April 2007 - 12:07 AM

If you're going East Coast, go Boston.

I really never knew that you lived in Truckee. Interesting.

I smell a roadtrip in my future.

Boston>Montpelier.

Granted, all of New England is tiny and inferior to the West Coast, but that's okay.

Destroyer E, on Apr 7 2007, 11:46 PM, said:

It's a pretty hiptastic place, I dig it. And I think stalkers are cute.

Oh go get a room... And send pictures.

-Pufer

Mackilroy and mrxak, you could not be more wrong about Boston. It's not as bad as New York City, but it's still quite charmless. Furthermore, it has the worst subway of all the major cities I've visited.

Victoria is a fun place, though it's too touristy to compete with Montpelier.

This post has been edited by dude3: 10 April 2007 - 12:23 AM

I prefer Seattle or DC to either city.

dude3, on Apr 9 2007, 10:20 PM, said:

This I will agree with, though it is partially excused for being exceedingly elderly.

3vil L337, on Apr 9 2007, 10:17 PM, said:

dude3, on Apr 10 2007, 01:20 AM, said:

I'll be living there next year...

Destroyer E, on Apr 10 2007, 05:08 PM, said:

This post has been edited by JacaByte: 10 April 2007 - 06:17 PM

JacaByte, on Apr 10 2007, 07:17 PM, said:

Destroyer E, on Apr 10 2007, 09:20 PM, said:

3vil L337, on Apr 10 2007, 09:24 PM, said:

This post has been edited by The Apple Cøre: 10 April 2007 - 11:57 PM

No talking in emoticons either.

JacaByte, on Apr 11 2007, 12:38 PM, said:

Laguuuuuna!

Actually, what I had meant to do was to underline the smilie, so you would hover your mouse over it. I didn't succeed.

This post has been edited by The Apple Cøre: 11 April 2007 - 08:54 PM