Tales of a Travelling Doctor- Map Quest Snafu

I left Springfield, Vt confident I'd arrive at the Maple Inn B&B without any problem. My map quest showed told me it was only a one hour and 50 minutes drive. Looked pretty simple. By the way, I don't like listening to a GPS, nor do I trust it (recalculating! recalculating!). And all was going well. The roads were exactly as described. Oh, happy day! I pulled into Maple Street, an unplowed rural road. Something wasn't right. I'd seen pictures of the Bed and Breakfast that I had been booked at, but none of these homes looked like that.

Luckily there was a house with a car in the drive. Somebody must be home. I pulled in. I get out of my car and sink into snow. This would have not bothered me had I wore boots. But no! I'm from New York where aside from a freak October snowstorm, we've had unseasonably warm temperatures. So of course I wore my clogs. My clogs stuffed with snow, I ventured to the front door and knocked. The kindest woman answered. I showed her my map quest directions. We had a giggle. I inputted 103 Maple Street in Moretown, Vt instead of 103 Maple St in Morrisville Vt. Oh no. As Homer Simpson would say, "Doi!" She printed me a new map. I drove twenty miles in the wrong direction. Not so confident now, am I?

So off I went in the right direction. Things were back on track except....the large coffee I drank was knocking on my bladder. I scoured the roads for any place that might have a restroom, feeling every bump in the road while praying for relief. Aha! A gasoline station with a Dunkin' Doughnuts store. I thought of Homer Simpson. Legs crossed, I bolted inside and discovered a super clean bathroom. Thank you, Lord. Bladder situation under control, I got back on the road with a bag of Good and Plenty licorice I bought at the store to calm my frayed nerves.

The rest of the trip scenic, I found 103 Maple Street, MORRISVILLE without further incident. Here are some gorgeous pics of the B&B.

Tales of a Travelling Doctor - Springfield, Vt. Home of The Simpsons

I'm actually in Morrisville, Vt. now, having left Springfield Vermont yesterday. I was very busy delivering babies and seeing patients in the office so I could not post during that week. Today it's snowing in Morrisville and it's slow at the hospital.

Springfield, a small post industrial town such as Claremont, New Hampshire (less than a 30 minute drive), has it's high points, namely The Simpsons.  Springfield, Vt. was the chosen site for The Simpson Movie debut. It showed in the historic downtown theater.

I caught up with Homer and his family at the Springfield Chamber of Commerce. They were all very hospitable. Doughnuts were the order of the day.

When not in the hospital, I meandered about the town. Downtown is small, but quaint, with some restaurants and a few shops. You pretty much blink and you're through the downtown.

The highlight for me, other than The Simpsons, was worshiping at Holy Trinity Orthodox Church, just right down the street from the hospital. Father Peter Carmichael and all the parishoners welcomed me. Sunday we celebrated Forgiveness, the last Sunday before Lent. I still can't do stairs without wincing as I kneeled and bowed my head to the floor about 50 times as I asked forgiveness from everyone there. A moving service. However, I'm not moving now. Sitting is OK.

So there you have it. I'll be posting about Morrisville, a stone's throw from Stowe this week. See you then. It's time for my Motrin!

Tales of a Travelling Doctor - Book Paradise

Having found the post office here in Claremont, New Hampshire, I spied a bookstore. A writer and a book addict, I had to investigate. I walked into book paradise. When I get word of another bookstore crumbling to the economy, seeing Violet's Book Exchange right before my eyes restored my belief that print can coexist with e-books, at least in this small town. Not so many e-readers here.

Marveling at the quaint exterior, I ventured inside. Shelves of books everywhere brimming with paperbacks and hardcovers. Although Violet's is indeed more of a book exchange, custromers such as I benefit from the wide selection of gently pre-owned books.

Browsing the books, I appreciated the historic building(circa 1800's I was told), with its sculpted ceilings, antique light fixtures, and stained glass windows.

I weaved through every genre, of course stopping at Romance and Mystery. So much to see. So much to touch. I wanted to grab everything.

My arms full of books, I descended the stairs to, yes you got it, another level! More books. Hardbacks. Buy one, get the second free special! Which ones? Which ones? I walked here. I 'd have to carry these back to the Common Man Inn. I made my decision(s). Of course I kept changing my mind. I plunked my treasures onto the register counter. I purchased a hardback collection of three Mary Higgins Clark novels (I'll Be Seeing You, Remember Me, and Let Me Call You Sweetheart), Tess Gerritsen's The Sinner,  Bones - A Forensic Detective Casebook by Dr. Douglas Ubelaker and Henry Scammell, What the Corpse Revealed by Hugh Miller, and  Kate White's "Til Death Do Us Part. Yeah baby! I'm feeling literary good now! I walk with a bounce in my stride back to the inn where I must touch the books again, flip through the pages, smell the print.

I thought I was pretty well done quelling my addiction until breakfast at the Common Man Restaurant where I perused through the local newspaper. Book sale. Where? Where? I dart my eyes around the page. Ah! Book sale today at Holy Trinity Orthodox Church in Springfield, VT (a twenty minute drive). I'd make Christ happy. The Church makes a proceed and I'd  walk away with , you guessed it, more books. Plus I get to visit another Orthodox Church. Good deal! Off I went.

I pull behind a string of cars on the roadside and follow the signs pointing to my next paradise. Oh. my! Tables upon tables of books. Hardbacks. Paperbacks. Mystery. Romance. Self-help. Cookbooks. You name it. Thank you, Jesus!

I shopped around and was introduced to the priest, Father Peter Carmichel, who gave me a lovely tour of the church and its history (more on that in another post). Interestingly we knew the same people as my late father, Rt. Reverend Boris Pavel (Paul) Vlasenko, a Russian Orthodox priest, and he graduated from the same seminary (albeit different decades). Wow! Kismet and Books. How lucky was I today!

Book wise 5 bucks bought me a parish cookbook, Essential French Cookery, three Linda Howard books (Kiss Me While I Sleep, Killing Time, and Dying to Please), Mary Higgins Clark's Jinxed, Always Time to Die by Elizabeth Lowell, Cold Heat by Linda Fairstein, and The Bride and The Beast by Teresa Medeiros. Five dollars didn't seem right! Not for all these. I gave them extra cash. Win. Win.

Now I must transport these books, read them, and place them on my bookshelf, until donating them so that another book addict such as I can score!