An Afternoon in Montpelier

Hey all! Plan on me dumping pictures/maps/nerd stuff from outdoor adventures on here, and the occasional vegan recipe. Maybe books reviews or other obnoxious thoughts, too! I wanted to put a test post up to see how it would look, and thought this was slightly more interesting than a list of the books/records I brought with me.


Today's Adventure: Montpelier!


 
Montpelier is an interesting place. At less than 8,000 people, it's the smallest state capital in the country, and the only one without a McDonald's. Atop the Neoclassical dome of the state building is Ceres, Roman Goddess of Agriculture (Demeter, her Greek equivalent, was always right up there with Athena in my personal pantheon of favorites). In keeping with this agricultural theme, many of the places in front of the capital steps where you would expect to see flowers have been sewn with veggies like cabbage and onions instead.




Chester A. Arthur. You know how people say Mitt Romney
"looks like a president"?  The media said that Chester
"looked like a president" when he became president
(though mean old Woodrow Wilson later called him something to the
effect of a "nonentity with sideburns").
These days, somebody with Chester A. Arthur's facial hair would
draw remarks that he a.)"looks like he can't be trusted",
or b.) "looks like the bass player in a metal band".


 Also, I learned a random fact today which I will now unload. I was wandering down the remarkably open hallway of the capital building (no metal detectors, etc.) and came across the portrait of someone who I immediately recognized as Chester A. Arthur, who I had assumed was from New York. Not so! He was actually born in Vermont and just spent most of his productive life in the Empire State. Of all of the presidents in United States history, Chester A. Arthur probably had the most unpredictable presidential career. After rising through the ranks of the New York political machine (and being famous/infamous for his loyalty to the party bosses), President Arthur completely obliterated the corrupt system 99% of political observers thought he was beholden to. Also, he visited his wife's grave ever day after she died, so there's that.