"The best laid schemes o' mice an' men gang aft agley." - Scottish poet Robert Burns (1759-1796)…read more I did not know that so many Scottish immigrants settled in Vermont but I'm happy to learn that there were. The memorial was erected in 1899 to commemorate the centenary of the poet's death. The 9 foot statue stands on top of a 22 foot pedestal. The pedestal has carved panels depicting scenes from a Burns poem "The Cotter's Saturday Night", "To a Mountain Daisy", and "Tam o' Shanter's Ride" with the fourth panel depicting Burns' cottage in Ayr, Scotland. It is slightly up the hill, overlooking City Hall Park. It depicts the poet with sleeves rolled up and carrying is coat on his left arm, looking down at the ground. [Review 1659 of 2024 - 148 in Vermont - 22682 overall]

No "frank and beans*" here, World's Largest Granite Zipper Sculpture (according to the World Record…read moreAcademy) includes perennials ready to be zipped up. It is built of blocks of native granite with the non-functioning zipper extending along the ground for 74 feet down this narrow alley. Artist Chris Miller named it "Unzipping the Earth," and maintains the flowers. For scale, it would need to be attached to a 450-foot-long pair of pants but no trousers are here. It is next to the Studio Place Arts building here in Barre (aka Granite City). The pocket park is open 24 hours but is not lit at night. The Vermont Granite Museum is nearby. [Review 1663 of 2024 - 152 in Vermont - 22686 overall] * References Ben Stiller's scene in the 1998 film "There's Something About Mary"

Such a courageous work! I can only imagine what it would feel like to stand beneath the wings of…read morethis eagle; I live in Virginia. I went to the Academy when Martin was a student. I shared a woodcut class with him and a woodcut he did of a farmer holding a young pig still hangs in my office. When he was at the Academy, he made a metal sculpture of a horse the size of a hobby horse. when I saw it, I knew he would be a lifelong, committed artist. This eagle attests to my belief then.

It was very cute bridge engaging it was off the beaten path onto a proper property. He was sharing…read morewas the only one that is not government owned who was remodeled and restored in 2009, which was really nice to see something brought back to life and restoration there was a guest book there that you can sign. It was good to see where everybody came from to visit that little covered bridge

The Martin Covered Bridge is the only surviving bridge in the town of Marshfield. It was built…read morearound 1890 by Herman F. Townsend and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. It is a single-span queenpost truss structure, 45 feet long and 12.5 feet wide. Originally, only serving a private road but the bridge is now only open for pedestrians and this is ensured thanks to some bollards to keep people from doing something dumb. The bridge is the centerpiece of the Martin Bridge Park which includes some captions with the history and information on other covered bridges in Vermont. [Review 18522 overall - 120 in Vermont - 2044 of 2022.]

Located on the second floor of an imposing Greek revival building, The Current museum is located at…read morethe Helen Day Memorial Library and Art Center on Pond Street in Stowe village. The Current hosts exhibitions of contemporary art produced by well-known nationally and internationally recognized artists and local Vermont artists -- including elementary school children -- and various events showcasing the art and the artists. On our recent visit to The Current, we happened to visit in between signature exhibitions and the museum was displaying works proudly produced by children from local elementary and middle schools in its three galleries. The quality of the artwork fell somewhat short of our expectations -- given the professional artists' work prominently featured on the museum's website -- but my art viewing companion and I still enjoyed viewing this exhibit and supporting the community. We will return to The Current visit next time we are in Stowe. Admission to The Current is free, although donations are welcome. Pro Tip: The Current also offers reasonably priced art classes for children and adults. Check the website for more information.

If you are already in Stowe, you might as well make your way over to this bridge and take a photo…read more Luckily it wasn't raining when we went.

This small and very unassuming bridge located in Stowe is actually said to be haunted !! The name…read moreof this covered bridge, the Gold Brook, is also known as Emily's Bridge. It was built in 1844, and the most famous of the (many) stories about this bridge is that back in the 1800's, a farmer's daughter, Emily, fell in love with a young man from a rich family, but his parents refused to allow their wedding to occur. The young man told Emily to wait on the bridge at midnight, but he didn't show, and she was so distraught, she is said to have taken her own life. Allegedly, her ghost appears during the nighttime around Halloween, haunting those who come to the bridge. We drove over the quiet bridge during a summer day, but we saw no sightings of Emily !!

Sugar Bear has a penchant for the unusual. In flipping through our tour book (Off the Beaten…read morePath-Vermont), he came upon the Spider Web Farm and immediately added it to our agenda for the following day. I have to admit, this was probably our most interesting find on our trip. Will Knight began his business in the 1970's as a cabinet maker. He began hobbying with spider webs by spray painting them and affixing them to recycled pieces of wood. Once laminated, these became unique works of spider art. He soon became a spider web farmer full time. His knowledge about the spiders who weave webs on his farm is immense and he loves to share. The art is available in his store in various sizes and different shades of wood. We took home a gorgeous web on black wood. This is a most unique farm, and definitely worth the drive to check it out.

This place is a true gem. The owner (and artist I should say) is extremely nice. He is not in the…read morebest physical/ health shape but still took the time to explain to us the entire process and even to demonstrate it all. He does not charge you anything unless you buy one of his pictures. His pricing method is unique (ask him) but still the are is unique I would not drive all the way there but if you are in the area or about 30 min away take the time to drop in or make a detour since this is once again a very unique art and a very spacial man. Great for kids and adults.

This is a do-not-miss in Burlington. Full of history, but you may have to read up a little on it…read morebefore you go to get the whole picture. Lots of sculpture to check out, pretty views, interesting famous names that you might want to google, or just a sweet rolling-hilled walk on a nice day, this is worth a visit if you are in the Burlington area. Many friends who are Burlington natives recommended it to us and we were very glad we took the time to stop in here for a quick drive around before we headed back south. Hopefully someday we'll have a chance to explore it a little more.

I was taken to Hope Cemetery because i love the granite artistry…read more This cemetery is HUGE and each headstone tells a story in the way they're carved. Truly a beautiful eternal garden