Vergennes, VT

We had an absolutely beautiful day cruising from our Chimney Point anchorage on Wed. June 20 up the sinuous Otter River to Vergennes.  Known as the smallest city in the U.S., Vergennes is about an hour’s cruise up the Otter River from Lake Champlain at our slow cruising speed. The river was  lined with woods and greenery and here and there little settlements of small manufactured homes that looked like vacation homes to us.  Fortunately, the narrow river had been cleared of any floating logs that might disrupt our passage.

What a happy surprise awaited us when we arrived at the Vergennes town docks.  The river ended in small bay with a roaring waterfall and parkland surrounding it. The park had free docks with water and electricity on both sides of the river.  

The “city” of Vergennes is nestled just up a hill next to the falls.  We docked in front a Manatee (boat not mammal) whose owner we met on an earlier stop of our voyage.  He helped us tie up and we found ourselves in the premier position on the dock with our aft deck facing the waterfall.  What a fabulous view!

That afternoon we took a walk up a steep hill to explore.  Vergennes bills itself as the America’s smallest city and calling it a city is a real stretch.  It feels more like a village, at least the part that we saw. Main Street is lined with attractive shops, a gallery, some restaurants and an amazing library. The funds to build the impressive library building were donated by a local resident upon his death and it was a complete surprise.  We took a look inside because it’s highlighted as one of the town’s attractions.  Especially noteworthy was a stained glass domed ceiling.  Afterwards we treated ourselves to the first ice cream of the season, at a shop with the most unusual array of flavors we had ever seen.

Later that evening we had a date night with dinner at a local restaurant - the Black Sheep. It was definitely a local favorite as the manager/server seemed to know everyone who came in.  The food was quite good and the restaurant’s unusual feature was to charge the same amount for each of their appetizers and the same amount for each of their entrees which made the evening surprisingly affordable. 

We stayed in Vergennes for two nights because it was such an idyllic setting.  On Thursday we rode our bikes to the local supermarket going up some pretty steep hills (not Lynn’s favorite).  We had a delicious lunch at a local restaurant called 3 Squares. We chose it because it had the most people inside and we figured that was a good sign.  It was!

Then we went for a walk around the falls and along a very long path that lined the river.  We met a few individuals who looked to be taking a break from work for a lunch time stroll.  What a wonderful stress release!  We explored the old factory buildings on both sides of the falls which have been used as a source of power for over two centuries.  Vergennes had once been a manufacturing center during both the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. The falls provided water power to a variety of forges and mills. And in fact, the American Naval fleet which fought the British in the the Battle of Plattsburgh War of 1812 was built at the base of the falls.  The bustling site that also included an arsenal and a number of factories is now the site of a hydro-electric power plant but one that doesn’t detract from the bucolic look of the area.

Vergennes was definitely one of the loveliest spots on our trip thus far and we would be happy to visit it again in the future.