7 Covered Bridges in a Day Part 2

Welcome my fall foliage friends. In the last article (part 1), we started the day at 6:58 AM at the Jenne Farm and then we found the Best covered bridge and the Bowers covered bridge. We then visited the Windsor-Cornish covered bridge. And last, in the part 1 article we covered the Dingelton covered bridge. So we covered 4 out of the 6 bridges in one rather long article. Todays article is only covering one covered bridge and is very short, right?

Nope! What’s worse is that those 4 covered bridges took all of 20 miles to drive (and there were 2 more (Downers and Salmond) that were only a few more miles. and I could have hit 8 or 9 in one day! Well, those four bridges and the Jenne Farm took three hours to find and photograph. Today in this article we’re going to go from 10 AM to 1:33 PM writing about just ONE covered bridge. This will End the article at… well you’ll just have to see.

Blacksmith Covered Bridge

The one covered bridge in this article is the blacksmith CB and the reason that this article doesn’t end after a couple of paragraphs is that Jeff has ADHD ( Undiagnosed) and so many things trigger my ADHD and I can’t just focus on finding a certain bridge or town because something else catches my attention and drags me off course. This is why this article has so much more included, but I digress, Here is the Blacksmith covered bridge.

The morning was cool and bright, just the way you want your fall vacation to be. Lisa had the Gazetteer out (They are invaluable!!!) and pointed out our next covered bridge. we left the Dingleton Bridge following Town House Road up and around to the right for a short 2.7 miles. Do Not get going too fast because the Blacksmith Bridge will be almost hidden on the right and it’s easy to miss it.

There is a fair amount of room to pull over and park your car and then walk down the path to the bridge. I like a couple of things about this bridge. First, someone has hung an American flag over the opening, though if they were really nice they would get a flag with the correct number of stars/states for the early 1800s. But who is getting picky here? J

I will admit to some artistic license here as you will notice as you stand in front of the covered bridge that there is a wooden barricade across the front and back. In my picture, you will see that I removed the wooden beam in Photoshop. Only horses cross it now and even then, I think that much weight may be pushing it. I walked across and it felt safe to me but some boards felt a bit soft so watch it if you venture out across it.

I didn’t feel that the view from the other side was really worth at and looking back toward the bridge wasn’t near as nice as from the front side.
We left the covered bridge and back to our car when another couple had pulled in behind us and they asked how we found this covered bridge (almost impossible to see from the road). Lisa showed them the Gazetteer and what to look for on the map. We continued on Town House rd and made a right on Route 120 and another right, down in Claremont. Head NW on Spring St. then turn right on Main St. which takes you back over the Connecticut River into Vermont and our next stop.

Cavendish Historical Society and Universalist church (11:10 AM)

We were not looking for this and we just happened to drive by and I said look at the old stone church!!! Some days that is how it goes. I’m driving along and WOW, look at this… So anywho…

We were heading to Ludlow for lunch but before we got there, I spotted this old stone church and a more modern wooden church just down the road on the other side. This is the Cavendish Historical Society and what was at one time the Cavendish Universalist church. I talked to the curator and she suggested the Cavendish Connects website for more information on the area.

Lunch at the Pot Belly pub, Ludlow Vermont (11:28 AM)

We continued down Route 131 into Ludlow and being lunch time we decided to stop at one of the restaurants. The one with a really great name was the Pot Belly Pub. Now we thought the food was good but it took a while to get to us (Maybe because they were just opening up. So if you try this place, let us know what you think.

Maple Hill Rd., Belmont, VT (1 PM)

This was one place I WAS trying to find. One of my friends (Sally Anne) told me about it and I wanted to try and find this road lined with maples.

After you have a bit of lunch in Ludlow, you can head west to Belmont Vermont. This is a cute little town and worth your time to visit. They were having a Columbus Day celebration but as we were there on Friday, nothing had started yet. We headed South out of Belmont and a short drive up the road you will find a turn-off to the right (west) which is Maple Hill Road.

You may have seen images of country dirt lanes lined with colorful maple trees, that you wish you knew how to find… Well, this is it. Someone planted sugar maples along both sides of the road and no matter what time of day you should be able to make a really nice image.

Foggy? No problem, sunny? lovely, cloudy? Moody? All would be good to me.
You can leave here either by retracing your steps to Belmont Road or continuing through to Route 155 and continuing south.

The Bellows Falls Vermont Country Store (1:33 PM) And a bonus Covered Bridge!

Our last stop for this article is the Big dog! The Vermont Country Store in Bellows Falls Vermont. YES everybody goes there and for a good reason, “made in Vermont products” (at least most of them). You will find clothing of many types, artisan cheeses, toys to things that just say Vermont at its very best.

Now that you have walked around; you might be feeling a bit “peckish” and they can help with that (adjective informal•British hungry. “we were both feeling a bit peckish and there was nothing to eat”). Depending on whether you stopped in Ludlow for lunch or held out till you got here, you’ll find something tasty. They have a full restaurant if you are up for that but if a snack is what you have a hankering for, and I suggest a maple creamy!

If you are asking what a creamy is? Basically, it’s a soft-serve ice cream. But here in Vermont, you can get a maple creamy made with Vermont maple syrup. I need a bumper sticker that says “I brake for maple creamies!”

Well the day goes on from here, “I told you it was a long day” and I’ll repeat I never want you to do a day like this. I was driving for another 8+ hours before we got home to Salem MA. This was 10 October and wherever I looked there were beautiful fall colors and things to photograph. Here is the link to the next article 6 covered bridges, part 3.

Jeff Foliage Folger

Autumn is a state of mind more than a time of year – Jeff Foliage

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