Day 24: Island Pond

Island Pond is my sort of place. The population hovers about 1,500 people. The are quite a few holiday cabins around the edge of the village but there are few people here now as they believe the weather is poor, and school is close to starting. For me the weather is perfect, warm enough and heavy showers. It has a pub and cafe. The pub has two local microbrews on, a wheat beer and an IPA. Both are decent. The cafe is an ageing hippy sort of place, with live folk music, extremely laid back and decor to suit the 60s. Both are very friendly. The apartment I have is with lake view, and 25 meters from both cafe and pub. Prices here are significantly cheaper than Canada. All in all you will ne’er stand my decision to send an extra day here. Time is on my side, I have a book to finish, and the bike needs a rest.

I am ahead of schedule, and need to plan the last few days otherwise I will need to spend 3 days in Portland, which in not desirable. 1 night attractive and great, 3 nights far less so. I have about 300 kilometres left, with another day off that’s about 60 km a day. It’s the Green (and White) Mountains now, so the riding will be tougher. I just need to find another decent place to spend a day.

I was in Vermont last in the summer of 1987 with my brother for his 18th and a good friend. It was a brief visit, but I do recall their alcohol laws being strict in those days. We found a bar with local ales, rare at that time. A sign over the bar said to drink sensibly and recommended a time for each beer, 30 minutes I think it was. Being thirsty (and amused by the sign) we downed the first ones. With a frown from the barman we ordered a second and downed them. He told us we had to wait an hour until our 3rd. After some discussion, we got our third, and of course downed them, leaving hastily with threats from him of calling the police.

I studied in upstate New York in 1981-2. It was a short drive across the frozen lake to Burlington, Vermont and the Winter Olympics of 1982 at Lake Placid. Along with a couple of student friends, we went several times. When we saw he prices of soft drinks, the second time we went over we took a boot full of tins of coca cola and sold them for a decent profit, funding our trip and more