A Travel Treasure

In its Interstate rest areas, Vermont has a travel treasure. These cozy islands of warmth must be making a great impression on visitors, reinforcing the vision that Vermont really is a welcoming sort of place. After all, where else can you step out of your car and get free coffee! Such hospitality can’t help but encourge visitors to return and encourage others to follow their tire tracks.

Last week, Gov. Jim Douglas went another step forward, announcing that all of the state’s welcome and informational centers will have free Wi Fi access by the end of next year, eight of them immediately. This iniative adds a dimension to the image that Vermont is a personable, pleasant place. Now the traveler can see that Vermont, though it’s one of the most rural states in the country, is a modern one as well, where high-tech people can live in the style to which they’ve become accustomed in cities.

(Or at least Vermont is trying to be such. Those who drop off the Interstate into the valleys may find cell phone reception and broadband access to be problematic, but hey, at least we’re trying.)

Recent visits to a few rest areas made us marvel anew at what we have provided for travelers. The Vietnam Memorial Rest Area in Sharon is of course a show-stopper, a beautiful piece of architecture as well as an environmental classroom and a thoughtful and moving memorial. The two Williston rest areas, recently upgraded, are spacious, well-lit and information packed—just what the tourist doctor ordered for travelers who have landed at the Burlington airport and are heading south.

Our favorite rest areas, however, aren’t the big showy ones. They are the two Randolph rest areas, each blessed with a spectacular view and sharing a community-minded manager. With their hot coffee and occasional baked goods, and their informal but thorough presentation of information, they just plain make you feel at home.

Ted Hoppe, the manager, actively seeks out ways that his rest areas can reflect and promote the surrounding communities, and local organizations frequently take advantage of his offer to let them sell goodies as a fundraiser. His rest area walls are colorful with fliers and posters and other information.

Perhaps Ted will even post this editorial at his comfy rest areas!