what about the plastic animals?

Donoughts

Homemade Donoughts, Strolling of the Heifers Dairy Fest, Brattleboro, VT

Doughnut, Blue Benn Diner, Bennington, VT

Proper doughnuts, no matter how the word is spelled, are best reasons to go to Vermont.

The other day I was telling someone about my trip.  "I went to the Strolling of the Heifers.  A hundred heifers parade up Main Street in Brattleboro."  From the look on her face I couldn't tell whether she didn't know what a heifer was, or did and couldn't process the idea that a hundred of them would be marched through town.

Camouflage

Rare holstein lambs at the Strolling of the Heifers Dairy Fest.

2008 Strolling of the Heifers

Ahh, the reason I went to Vermont.  It had been four years since I last went to the Strolling of the Heifers in Brattleboro.  As in past years, about a hundred young cows strolled up Main Street at the front of the parade.   Also marching were superhero super pooper scoopers, the high school band, a couple of giant fiberglass cows, a senator, a juggler on a unicycle and a whole lot more.  After the parade I headed to the Green Expo and Dairy Fest.  At the latter one could, and did, enjoy Vermont's dairy goodness, including lots of cheese, milk, ice cream and water buffalo yogurt.

And You Will See

Here's something you won't see.  While driving across southern Vermont I take a detour.  In the tiny town of Jacksonville I stop at a stop sign.  Stopping at the opposite corner is a shirtless guy riding a motorcycle.  We start moving.   I look at the guy on the motorcycle and see that a shirt isn't the only article of clothing he isn't wearing.

Curtis All American Bar-B-Q

It's cold outside.  Let's think about summer and eating barbecued ribs on a picnic bench in rural Vermont.  Curtis is from the South, not Vermont, which is probably why the ribs were so good.  There's another barbecue place just down the road on the north end of Brattleboro.  Trust me, if you want barbecue and you're in Brattleboro, the ten minute drive to Curtis' is a small inconvenience.

I think the bus is the original Curtis' Bar-B-Q.  There's a slightly newer bus right next to it.  High school kids take your order while Curtis tends to the cooking.  Curtis also bottles his own ginger ale.

Curtis has a pet pig as well.  She hangs out right next to the pit.  You'd think she might be upset given her proximity to one of her own being slowly roasted, but she seemed quite mellow the couple of times I've been there.

I'm going to San Francisco on Sunday.  Lots to do between now and then so posting may be erratic.  The posting schedule may be erratic, to be more precise.

Miss Bellows Falls

Another photo from August 2006.  I know you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but I'm pretty sure a diner as pretty as the Miss Bellows Falls would have to serve up a good daily special.  I didn't eat here because a) I had just had an ice cream at the Dari Joy up the street, b) Curtis' BBQ was only a few miles away in Putney, and c) the Miss Bellows Falls was closed for the day.

I've been spending too much time on the computer this week and I really wanted to not use it tonight, but then I saw the Classic Post-Punk Music Videos page and I was hooked for waaay too long.