JudithKD

called the “Santa Ynez Inn” (I think). It was very classy restaurant.

My dad and his lady friend (an actress) and I would eat brunch at the Santa Ynez Inn and then go over and walk around the Temple for Self-Realization.

Years later, to impress me, a guy took me to dinner at the inn. It did impress me, but he was VERY uncomfortable, although I wasn’t.

The last time I tried to go to the restaurant, it had been bought by the temple and is no longer in existence as a restaurant.

The temple is beautiful and nice to walk though, but I don’t remember much more about it other than the flamingos, ponds, and tropical plants!

jkd

back when it was CSCSB, a state college, rather than a university.

jkd

It is next to the Brattleboro transporation center (bus station & parking garage). They host exhibits from world class, well known photographers and other gifted, but not as well known photographers.

More information can be found at their website:

www.vcphoto.org

jkd

caused us to get a hotel room at the Maplehurst Inn in Antrim. This place is warm, the service is good, and the food is great. I’m glad I thought of this when we were looking for someplace to stay!

jkd

I miss it and think of the owner, Kim, often.

jkd

The Fountain is the city symbol. It was a faithful copy of a Florentine (?) fountain. Neptune stands on a pedestal. On 4 corners of the pedestal, mermaids sit. Neptune has a trident and peed. The mermaids spouted water from their nipples. I know it sounds gross, but it’s actually not. As a young child, the statue fascinated me as I had no “live” examples of naked males or adult women. And, I loved mythology, so anything with a mermaid or Neptune was ok by me!

In junior high, my sister came back from Europe with a VW bug she’d bought in Germany. She would every now and again, if it was late enough and there was no one else around the parking lot, take me for a giddy spin around the fountain, doing donuts, with Neptune standing staunchly in the middle. It is one of the few memories of my sister that doesn’t involve her belittling me somehow so I treasure it.

While in high school, someone stole Neptune. He was found and put back. Then someone stole him again, and he was gone for quite some time. When they found him, he’d been sprayed with red paint for a halloween party I guess. When they cleaned him up, they gave him a decorative clam shell to cover his genitals.

I called the police dept. and complained about it, I think supposedly as a mother, as my “kids” had gotten their first sex education class from that statue, and it was bound to raise more ignorant kids and our taxes. I’m sure the cops knew it was a kid, but it seemed hugely daring to me at the time!

jkd

no fence, no restrictions, just these big blocks of stone in the midst of flat empty land. Eerie, weird, and haunted. (This was in the 1970’s.)

I’m not sorry I went, but I’m sure that the fencing, etc. around it now would make me cry (or want to).

jkd

we would drive to Riverside occasionally and have brunch here. It was wonderful, and cheap at the time as it was slightly ragged around the edges and just starting to be rehabbed. Anyway, the brunch was really cheap. (This is nearly 30 years ago now.)

Every time we went, I would fall more in love with the guy who is now my DH. He broke my heart one time by taking another woman there. :0(

We went back after we’d married, but it had finished being rehabbed and was simply a high-end slick place for brunch. It wasn’t the faded grande dame it had been. This was over 10 years ago.

I guess I’m really slightly “off.” I prefer slightly decrepid places to something very slick. I always have been more attracted to character rather than appearances.

jkd

and had lunch, which she kindly bought me! Then we went across the street to the bookstore, who’s card I have, but the name I’ve forgotten.

Then I went to the cemetary and thought I’d gone the wrong way, but I hadn’t, it was just a lot farther away than I thought!

jkd

This county covers a lot of different places.

Peterborough is the town used as the basis for Our Town and is the home of the McDowell artists’ colony. It is artistic and monied. There are bistros, a clam bar, and a few museums.

The town I live in, Bennington, is a mill town, with an active paper mill (Monandnock Papers) and a ski resort (Crotched Mountain). There’s no bistros here, just restaurants, and the only museum I know of is the historical society, in the old school house on Main St.

The county seat, Hillsborough, is a town fallen on hard times. It is currently struggling to rebuild itself.