North Winooski Avenue meets North Street in the Old North End neighborhood of Burlington
After a first trip to Vermont in the winter of 2022 for my Master's thesis, I went back to Burlington in February 2023, this time as a PhD student. The following text is an extract from my fieldwork notes. It is accompanied by pictures I took during the trip.
“The Shire”
Stone and Soup Restaurant
Burlington, VT - 2/8/2023 - 1PM
Earlier today I had lunch with my former roommate with whom I lived during my first trip to Vermont for my Master’s thesis back in early 2022. We decided to eat lunch at Stone and Soup, a little restaurant close to City Hall where he works. Sherman was a really great guide during my first stay here and we became friends. I was excited to see him again.
My first encounter with Sherman was virtual. I was looking for a room in Burlington and he sent me an email after I posted my inquiry on Craigslist. After two Zoom calls he sent me a new message saying that the room in his house was available. About a month later he pulled up in front of the train station at Essex Junction where I had just disembarked Amtrak’s Vermonter, after a long 9 hour journey from Penn Station in New York City. I will never forget what he said when I stepped in his car: “Welcome to the Shire!”.
Looking back on this scene, I don’t think I could have had a better incipit to my study. Vermont is unique in so many different ways, but there, in one jokey reference to the idyllic land of Hobbits imagined by Tolkien, Sherman had summarized what Vermont is –or what Vermonters like to think Vermont is.
As we sat down to eat lunch at Stone and Soup, Sherman introduced me to the waiter, and the owner of the place. I was introduced as a visitor from Europe and as a former roommate. The conversation went more or less as follows:
Sherman: This is Adrien! He was my roommate last year, he comes all the way from Europe!
Waiter: Nice! Well, welcome to the United-States, it’s kind of chaotic on our side of the Atlantic…
Adrien: Nice to meet you! It’s interesting though, and Vermont is not that bad!
Waiter: That’s true. It’s about the only place that is sane. As long as you stay here and don’t turn on the news, you’ll be fine!
After this short interaction the waiter walked away, laughing. This reminded me of what Sherman had said in the car on that first night. Vermonters understand, or like to think, that they are not like the rest of the country, and more importantly, that they are better. The Vermont Shire is a lush, isolated, green land of rolling hills where everyone is nice and where the noise of the outside world is subdued by the fresh, white, powdery snow.
The Flynn Theatre on Main Street
Church Street Market Place looking North from Bank Street
The sun is setting on Burlington City Hall
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