Archive for June 20, 2009
And Now For Something Completely Different – Again
by John Weckerle
We join you today from White River Junction, Vermont, the first stop on our epic journey from one V to another – Vermont to Virginia. White River Junction is the place where the White and Connecticut Rivers join forces and head seaward. Located near the middle of Vermont’s eastern border, White River Junction has grown along with Hartford, Vermont and Lebanon, New Hampshire to form a sort of “ruratropolis;” the three towns blend into each other in such a way that one can easily move from one to the other without realizing it if one of the many little “welcome to” signs populating the roadsides.
Like much of New England, the White River Junction area is a place of winding roads and rushing water. Tall, green meadows are found nestled among the ubiquitous forests – forests different from our own, as they are dominated by deciduous trees – oaks, poplars, and maples, maples, maples – and the understory contains ferns far more often than New Mexico’s evergreen woodlands.
Wednesday night’s dinner was at a restaurant (Authentic Italian Cuisine is all we remember of the name; it’s on Elm Street) in Manchester, NH, at which I had a very serviceable linguine with white clam sauce. Thursday’s lunch at Yama in Lebanon was a tasty experience of sushi and other associated dishes. A Japanese/Chinese/Korean establishment, Yama serves up an excellent sushi lunch special – six pieces of tuna roll and six assorted pieces of sushi – for well under $10. We augmented this with their dragon roll – in this case, similar to a California Roll with unagi (cooked eel) wrapped halfway around. The other diners, who ordered various different dishes, were similarly enthusiastic about their dishes. Dinner Thursday was courtesy of Raymunto’s, a local chain whose New York pizza rivals much of the pizza I’ve had in New York City itself.
Our trip thus far has been dominated by travel time, graduation festivities, and the associated activities, and that will continue today. Tomorrow will bring more leisurely pursuits, and perhaps the opportunity for some scenic photography; for today, we will leave our readers with photos typical of the area: Wynona Cascade (above) and the White River (below).
