Oh, The Places You'll Go!

We, Helen and Donna, AKA The Two Headed Happy Beast, left Helen’s soon to be new home of Hoosick Falls, New York in the late afternoon. Brattleboro, Vermont was our destination.  Why Brattleboro? Why not? I’d not been there before but heard there were great art galleries, restaurants and pubs. All true plus it’s in the spectacularly gorgeous Green Mountains.

We stayed at The Latchis Hotel and Theater -- great place, lovely staff AND the joint’s perfectly located for gadding about town. Plus, there's a theater which we MUST check out next time.

 I was surprised to find, in a town this size, an actual, real and true art museum -- The Brattleboro Museum and Art Center. Even more surprising, the show knocked my socks off. I’d never heard of Stephen Hannock before and now I want to know all and everything. The images here don’t do the jaw dropping beauty of each piece justice.

At The Gallery in the Woods (located on the main drag so mebbe that name's all metaphorical and shit)  I was introduced to the found object sculpture of David Adix. Wild, inspiring stuff.

Helen, who’s the wine buyer at an upscale restaurant in Dallas where she currently lives, spotted The Metropolis Wine Bar and Cocktail Lounge. This would be our big night out  destination.

Oh my, SUCH a good choice too! The atmosphere is warmly hip yet laid back -- like Soho but with better sight lines and no poseurs. Alan Blackwell, one of the owners, took the time to chat with us (and spoke slow enough so that this deafie could lip read him! oh yeah, I was a little in love), made us a special chocolaty cocktail concoction that wasn’t on the already drool inspiring menu and was just so talented at his vocation...well, if there was a Metropolis Fan Club I’d join it. Hell, Helen and I would be co-presidents for life!

We didn’t get to meet Alyssa Blittersdorf, the other owner -- you know what this means don’t you? Return trip!

Check out the cocktail menu. Seriously, have a look -- I’ll wait right here.The Tuscan-Tini with olive, basil and parsley infused gin was positively swoon worthy.

There’s so many reasons to head back up to Brattleboro. I wish I’d known about this place -- New England Center for Circus Arts!

The New England Center for Circus Arts Mission

The New England Center for Circus Arts (NECCA) is a not for profit circus school based in Brattleboro, VT. It was founded in 2007 to offer people of all ages and abilities a unique opportunity to experience the magical & captivating world of circus arts.

Here, in a welcoming, safe environment, recreational and professional students alike can explore the charms and challenges of circus arts and gain a solid foundation of techniques and skills across a broad spectrum of traditional circus forms as well as "new circus," aerial dance and physical theater.
Our instructors come from a wide variety of backgrounds including social circus, dance, creative movement, and a wide variety of professional circuses. All students share the spaces at the school - rather than segregating students from various programs, they are encouraged to learn in a collaborative, supportive area where all have equal access.

And I want to visit The Vermont Center for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing too.

Helen wants to take her young daughters, Madison and Juliana, camping in Molly Stark State Park. I’ll take a pass on that (if god wanted me to sleep on the ground, she wouldn’t have created Hästens mattresses) but I’m always up for a day hike!

There’s just SO much packed into this very small section of the world. And it’s just a two and and a half hour drive from The Neck too. Cool, cool, WAY cool!