White churches and whiter Christmases, commons, trees bursting with colorful foliage, wassailing, gentlemen farmers and tiny towns with a long and much-loved local history -- just a few of the images filed in the American cultural imagination under the term "New England."
For many Dartmouth students who live in the vast regions of the United States where Wal-Mart and interstates are the rule of the day, part of the allure of Dartmouth is the "New England experience."
The College is not shy about capitalizing on this idea, as the Dartmouth view books, with their New England panoramas, promise prospective students the New England they have imagined.
Of course, Hanover is not a New England Disneyland.
As Dartmouth students from all over the world have to spend four years in Hanover, it is for the benefit of everyone that the town is, relatively speaking, multicultural and modern. Its history and economic survival is critically tied to the College. Without the interstate, Foodstop and nearby West Lebanon strip malls, Dartmouth would be a difficult and expensive place to be a student. Still, it would be nice to go wassailing, at least once.
Being someone who grew up in a state where Christmas pool parties were much more the norm than Jack or Robert Frost, I was excited for the chance to explore the New England I had romanticized in my mind.
However, upon spending a few years in New England, I realized that, like the romantic Hollywood ideas of my home in the "Wild West," the idealized New England existed only in the realm of made-for-television movies specials.
However, no matter how artificial or anachronistic it might be, I still really wanted to find a town that was "quintessentially New England."
Luckily, I stumbled upon a tiny haven of New England paradise within easy distance from Hanover.
Just a brief jaunt across the state border from Hanover is the picturesque town of Woodstock, Vt. With probably enough hotel rooms to host all of its 3,400 residents simultaneously, Woodstock, Vt. appeared the perfect place for my journey to idyllic New England past.
Woodstock has everything New England is supposed to have: a sweeping village green, a bustling downtown center, plenty of white steeples, and even a board called the Town Crier that lists the plentiful community events.
The town architecture is stunning, and the town center is packed with everything from cafes to fine dining establishments.
There is also certainly no shortage of places to stay in this resort town. Several larger inns as well as a handful of romantic bed and breakfasts are all within walking distance of the town center.
Settlers first established the tiny outpost of Woodstock on the banks of the Ottauquechee River in 1761.
Unlike many towns in the area, which developed and rely to this day on industry and farming for survival, after being named the "Shire Town" of Windsor County in 1785 Woodstock became an island of wealth in otherwise depressed northern New England.
Wealthy families from established states such as Connecticut and Massachusetts moved to Woodstock at least seasonally and built impressive federal-style mansions, several of which still line the quaint village green thanks to decades of careful preservation.
As Woodstock increasingly became a trendy place for the New England wealthy to escape the Boston grind, the Woodstock Inn opened its doors in 1892 and Woodstock's future as a resort town continued to blossom throughout the twentieth century. As outdoor-oriented hobbies such as golf, skiing and hiking became increasingly popular among middle- and upper- class Americans, Woodstock's economic success only became more remarkable.
Upon asking one of the denizens where the mayor's office was, I was informed that Woodstock, does not in fact have a mayor. Even better, this storybook "shire town" is run by a benevolent "town manager."
This same kindly resident also informed me with a small, boastful smile that "Ladies Home Journal" had recently named Woodstock "one of the prettiest small towns in America." I knew I had come to the right place.
As if that wasn't enough to win my heart, Woodstock Coffee and Tea also offers a local specialty beverage called the Zombie that claims to contain a hefty eight shots of espresso. I already agreed with Woodstock resident and Senator Jacob Collamer, who reportedly claimed, "The good people of Woodstock have less incentive than others to yearn for heaven."
Skiing, golf and other outdoor activities in the pristine wilderness surrounding Woodstock, as well as the sizable collection of art galleries and unique craft shops, continue to dominate tourism in Woodstock today. There are some wonderfully New England and uniquely Woodstock tourist attractions, although a few are currently closed for the winter.
Famous and infamous railroad entrepreneurs George Perkins Marsh, Frederick Billings and Lawrence S. Rockefeller all contributed greatly to both the environmental and architectural preservation of the town, not to mention its incessant trendiness.
Heiress Mary Rockefeller maintained a residence in Woodstock until 1998. Just outside the bustling downtown, the Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller mansion is an impressive architectural restoration and is currently open to the public; the surrounding 550-acre front-yard-turned-national-forest isn't too shabby either.
The Billings Farm and Museum does a loving job of showcasing the traditional lifestyle of rural Vermont while at the same time remaining a working dairy-farm. Established in 1871 before the tourism onslaught, the restored Queen Anne farmhouse, as well as the herd of Jersey cows and a spattering of other farm animals from sheep to oxen, can be viewed by the public through tours.
The museum itself also contains several well-made exhibits of early Vermont, from oral tradition legends to some of the earliest photographs of Vermonters. It is closed for the season, but will re-open on May 1.
Perhaps Woodstock's most unexpected attraction is the mysteriously named Vermont Institute of Natural Sciences and Raptor Center. The Raptor Center is the self-proclaimed largest collection of living birds of prey in the northeast United States. Seasonal and weekly events are posted on their website.
The scheduled town events are numerous year-round. On top for this spring are, among many others, the 18th annual Plowing Match and the 3rd annual antique car show.
And yes -- every winter there is even an entire weekend in December devoted to that mysterious activity, "wassailing." I will certainly be in attendance.
