Rebecca Bell on Brattleboro: The Place to Be! (Part 1 of 3)

The view from Boyce Building on SIT’s campus, which houses the Graduate Admissions Office, is of the rolling hills of the Connecticut River Valley.  In the morning, through the mist which is rising up from the valley, I can see the glint of the Connecticut river as it curves around the bend to meet the West River, framing the small but mighty town of Brattleboro between their banks.  Every day as I drive to work, I think how lucky I am to have this view of the green mountains (which are really foot hills) framed from the windows of Boyce, rather than the dirty brick wall in the alley that used to be the highlight of my K St. office in Washington, DC.

We would like to dedicate a few blog entries to the joys of Brattleboro, VT (pop. 12,000).  Whether it is the Farmer’s Market (world famous!) or the Strolling of the Heifers Parade, enjoying outdoor activities or Gallery Walk, there is a lot to see and do in this little town of ours.  I grew up in a town in Ohio where the cows outnumbered the people and I swore I would never live in a town that small when I grew up…but here I am, in a town that is actually smaller than the one I grew up in!  My appreciation for this little town grows with each year I live here (almost 10 years now!).

Brattleboro: The Place to Be!, continued

Gallery Walk:
One of the times when I think to myself how lucky I am to live here is when I am walking in town during Gallery Walk, which is the first Friday of every month.  All the shops stay open late and display the work of local artists, musicians give open air concerts on the street corners, and if you walk down Elliot St. at the right time you can even see a belly dancing extravaganza in the picture window of the second floor dance/yoga studio.  They put on quite a show!  I see neighbors and friends ambling along Main Street, enjoying goodies at Amy’s Bakery or sampling organic delicacies from the Brattleboro Food Co-op’s cooking demonstrations.  You can’t go very far, very fast, because every few steps you have to stop and greet someone you know who is also out enjoying the evening. 

Once I make my way to one end of Main St. or the other, there is a choice of two places with outdoor decks overlooking the river where you can kick back and have a refreshing beverage and watch the canoes and kayaks—either the martini bar at the north end or the local foods café at the south end.  The next difficult choice to make is what to have for dinner.  Brattleboro has a surprisingly large selection of restaurants, everything from Thai, Lebanese, Turkish, Italian, Japanese, Chinese, Indian, Italian, Jamaican, to good ol’ grass fed local burgers with Vermont cheddar and cold micro-brewed beer made here in Brattleboro or wood fired pizza and other nouveau inspired cuisine.

A good end to the evening means catching a show at the Latchis Theater, a beautiful Art Deco theater that was designed in a Greek-mythology motif, (the combination is referred to as Greco-Deco) and boasts three screens, including the area’s only remaining big screen.  They feature new releases, independent films, and periodic live events throughout the year.  For those who can stay up later than I can, there are also several bars and clubs that have live music, dancing, open mic events or just some good people watching well into the night.

Tags: Brattleboro, Rebecca Bell