April 24, 2025

Back on the road with a run up Rt7.

First stop Mt Tabor. We overshot the town hall and found the more picturesque Silver Bridge over the Big Branch of Otter Creek. Easy parking, a pedestrian walk on the bridge itself, paths up into the woods and leading to swimming holes among the rocks. Way too cold to even think about wading yet!

A bit north on 7, Wallingford has an amazing Main St of Victorian houses and other buildings, rivalling several large cities I’ve visited. Marble and other stone quarrying is still big in this area, but clearly the 1880’s were a prosperous time here.

Instead of Clarendon town, we veered off to visit Kingsley covered bridge and East Clarendon Depot. The bridge looks very new, clearly rebuild in recent years. Absolutely nowhere to park, private property on all sides, and very little space to safely take pics along the road. I nearly backed into an EV passing silently behind me. We also skirted Rutland airport; I’ve never seen such massive retaining walls built of cement bricks.

In Rutland/Rutland Center we were surprised that the town felt significantly bigger than it is, by population at least. Maybe it was the complicated intersection of  Rts 7 and 4 that made it felt like suburbia?  DT had interesting buildings and we saw some of the murals. Our actual stop was the steampunk Railroad Engine sculpture in the train station parking lot. That was cool!

Last stop, Danby, a charming little town. Pearl S. Buck lived here, helped save the historic buildings that make it feel so special. Forsythia blooming along both banks of the river helped, too. There are active quarries nearby; I wonder if there are tours?

Bonus: we discovered Emerald Lake State Park is closer to home than we had thought.