Derby and Newport Vermont & a side trip into Lake Memphramagog in Canada
We took a ride north to Derby, Vermont and stayed at the Top of the Hill B&B. When we made our reservations they only had one room left and when we arrived, we found out why. The B&B is a split-level house and we had the entire downstairs to ourselves. It sits on top of a hill with three other homes going down the hill. They had a note on the door telling us to come in and the entire bottom level of the house was ours to enjoy. There was a living room, bathroom and two bedrooms. It was like staying at my mom's house except the owners left us alone. The place was very homey and comfortable and they fed us a full breakfast each morning. The couple who owned the house were really nice and we enjoyed talking with them and getting ideas of places to go.
We spent one day sightseeing Derby. It's a small town like most small towns and we found a place called the Cow Palace where they serve Elk, that's right, Elk. We didn't have any, frankly because it is very expensive, but some say it is very tender and good. The restaurant has close to 70 acres housing the Elk and one day someone forgot to close the gate and six escaped. The locals said the whole town got together and caught them all. A couple of guys there were kidding the waitress about not having any Elk on the menu today because they escaped. They have a 700 acre ranch in Irasburg where they are raised. Watch a video of the place at this link: check out a video from the Elk farm
We took a short drive into Canada for a quick trip along Lake Memphramagog to the northern tip and a town called Georgeville. You couldn't even call it a town but a community with houses and a general store at the five-point intersection. We were told of a small casino in Rock Island, Canada which was just over the border so we went to check it out. There is one small building with cones in the middle of the street. We didn't see anyone there but after a few minutes, a border guard appeared and directed us where to go for our inspection. This little town has houses and the public library that spans both the US and Canada. We were told that once a family wanted to have a reunion but no one in the US had papers to go into Canada and no one in Canada had papers to go into the US, so they all met at the library and had their reunion there supervised by the border patrol. Oh, the casino was closed it down three years ago. Hey, we came back from a casino trip with all our money still in our pockets...
We spent another day walking around the town of Newport, Vermont. Newport has a great waterfront and beautiful views of Lake Memphramegog. After walking around town we drove over to the Eastside Restaurant. This place is a large log cabin with animal heads all over the walls. The food was really good and you can sit outside on the deck overlooking the lake, really nice. Before going into Newport, the owners of the B&B we stayed at told us not to miss "The Hole" downtown. When asked what that was, they told us "you'll see". Well, The Hole is a block wide hole where all the buildings were demolished by the Jay Peak organization in preparation to a deal with the owner and CEO of Jay Peak Resort to build a large complex under something called EB-5 program. Under the federal EB-5 program, foreign nationals who invest $500,000 in a project in a economically struggling region of the country can receive residency if the project creates a specified number of jobs. About $400 million was raised for projects at Jay Peak and Q Burke ski resorts and in Newport from some 800 investors in countries from Brazil to South Africa to Vietnam. Stenger and Quiros, the two partners of Jay Peak, are accused in civil actions by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission of perpetrating a "Ponzi-like" scheme in which they diverted money raised from the investors to a variety of shell companies and financial accounts — in the case of Quiros, for his personal benefit. Once under investigation, all work on the site stopped and left as it was; The hole. You can read the article at this link: read about the Hole in Newport, VT
