"The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in
its net of wonder forever."—Jacques Cousteau

Aug. 22 - Vergennes, VT

Waterfalls and Hills
City Dock

We only moved a few miles south in the lake today and then up Otter Creek to Vergennes. Vergennes is Vermont's oldest and smallest city, established in 1788. The city is named after Comte de Vergennes who served as the French Minister of Foreign Affairs and negotiator of the Treaty of Paris. Because of its proximity to Lake Champlain, Vergennes became the site of a U.S. Navy shipyard during the War of 1812. Commodore Thomas MacDonough commanded the building of a naval fleet to defend the Lake against the British invasion.

The town provides free docks with water and electricity (15 amp) for boaters. The docks are at the base of three waterfalls that provide electricity to the area. They're a pretty sight and the sound is hypnotic. There are docks on the east and west side of the creek, both sides have a few picnic tables and grills. We thought we'd be the only ones here since it’s the middle of the week, but both sides were completely full by evening.

We walked up hill (a big hill) to the main part of town and had lunch at 3 Squares Cafe. We sat outside and enjoyed the weather and a nice lunch. Afterwards Stan got a haircut and I did a little shopping...great sales on summer clothes right now and the best deal is Vermont doesn't charge sales tax on clothing. Later in the afternoon Stan got energetic and rode his bike (up the BIG hill) to the grocery store. I decided to walk up to the falls and take a few pictures, because I didn't think I could make it up the hill on the bike. I love riding my bike, but these types of hills are too much for me...they're not really hills, they're small mountains. Someone last week told us, when she found out we were from Texas, that Vermont would be as large as Texas if they flattened it out. I laughed when I heard that...now I'm beginning to think there's some truth to that statement!

Can you find 10 turtles?
Coming into the east dock
View of the east dock from the top of the falls
Looking out from the top of the hill towards Lake Champlain and New York
Two of the falls...I'll get a better picture of all three tomorrow.
The sun reflecting off of one of the falls

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