Last week Megan & I decided to take a day trip on one of our last days off before Fall Foliage began. One of the best things about our location in Wilmington is that we are a great home base for day trips. Guests can go west to Manchester, east to New Hampshire & Brattleboro, South to western Massachusetts or north to explore Vermont further.
We started our trip out with some great coffees from the Village Roost in town & headed out.
1st Stop: Newfane, up route 30
The town of Newfane is the Shire of Windham County. The town was settled in 1776 by the villagers of Worcester County, Massachusetts. The town started as a farming community & later grew into an prosperous town as several streams provided water power for mills. During the 19th century, the town contained two flour mills, two lumber mills, carriage factory & a leather mill. Present day, Newfane is great tourist destination with several covered bridges & a beautiful town commons.
2nd stop: Grafton, VT, back roads through route 35
We continued our trek north through some great back country towns & made a stop in Grafton. Grafton was established in 1791 & sheep raising was an early community in the area; as a result multiple mills opened. A soapstone quarry was opened in the area & town grew into a notable stagecoach hub in the Green Mountains. The town is also well known for having one of the oldest continually operated inns in the United States. Nowadays, the town is known for an artisanal cheese company, Grafton Cheese company and a world- class cross country skiing center on Grafton Ponds. We greatly enjoyed the towns general store called MKT.
3rd stop: Windsor - Cornish Covered Bridge, through route 5
