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Vermont Travel Notes
About two years ago, I decided I wanted to honestly make it a life goal to visit all 50 states. States with well-known attractions, or in my case major league baseball teams, were places I'd obviously want to visit. There were some other states I didn't know much about or why I would end up visiting them. Vermont was one of these states, so I was very intrigued to stumble onto a blog called Vermont Travel Notes.
This particular weblog is ran by the same folks that run the Grunberg Haus Vermont Bed and Breakfast Inn and Cabins in Waterbury, VT. Being in that industry gives the author of this site instant credibility about knowing what's going on in the area, which I appreciated as I read about the year round activities available in this Northeast state.
The categories that the author has chosen fit perfectly to a site like this - Advice, Attractions, Events, General, Nature, Shopping, and VT Products. Anytime I look into a place to visit, I immediately start researching at least five out of those subjects, and having them all located in one central location is very convenient for a potential visitor.
Each entry provides insight on a variety of things. The author does a good job of providing additional information either via related photographs or links to other useful websites.
The design of the site lacks in any creativity or extra effort. It's a standard 3 column layout, with two columns containing various links framing the blog entries. The white text on a blue background had me squinting a few times. Various travel links down one sidebar were a nice addition. A site like this could even benefit from one of those widely available weather trackers to let potential visitors know what they can expect during any given type of the year.
Overall, this site is very useful for both travelers that are just getting started in a potential visit to Vermont or to someone that may already have plans and is just looking for a place to stay or a not-so-commercialized event to see. It falls into the travel category nicely and stays true to it's purpose.
This site was reviewed on 2007-06-12 by Wendy.
They felt this site belonged in the Travel category.
Wendy felt that Vermont Travel Notes deserved a rating of 3.75.
Vermont Travel Notes greets the reader with a quaint image of a moose crossing the road. I thought this might be a humorous blog about traveling through Vermont or even of a Vermont-native traveling outside the state. These initial thoughts turned out to be backwards: This is a blog intended for the out-of-towner who is traveling to Vermont.
Specifically, it is for vacationers who will be staying at the Grunberg Haus, a beautiful country inn nested in the Vermont mountainside. While the blog would be useful to anyone visiting this area of the state, it seems to be designed to serve current and potential guests of the inn.
The design is a cerulean background with dashed lines separating the entries and bookend sidebars. Text is white. Understated designs are often classy and unobtrusive, subtly enhancing content, while letting it stand on its own. In this case, the design is both understated and underdone. It has an unfinished quality about it, like a spare room that looks great, but needs complimentary-colored trim paint and some curtains over the blinds.
This spare room could use more furniture, or at least bigger furniture. A few of the entries are supplemented by images. They are small and might leave the viewer wanting to see more. However, they succeed in communicating information. The images display details of Vermont sights or happenings: a painting advertising a play, a goldfinch such as one might see near the mountain inn, a scenic drive, accompanied by a vivid description of the route and sights nearby. Entries with images are the most memorable.
At first, the site only offers two pages of archives, which is somewhat confusing, when one looks to its category listing and sees, for example, 83 entries under “Events.” In order to browse through all the archives chronologically, one must select “Full Archive.” Another convenient way of browsing archives is through the search function. A search for “concert” brings up eight entries, most of which are from last summer. Since this summer is just starting, this gives a taste for what one might expect in the coming season.
To help inform the reader about sights, events, and culture in the area, entries contain links to other sites, so that one can go to the source and learn more. This is very helpful, especially since they have nothing to do with advertising, and are in the good spirit of sharing information and entertainment.
Vermont Travel Notes, though not a one-stop shop, is a good place to drop by if you’re planning a trip to the Green Mountain state.
This site was reviewed on 2007-06-12 by Djuna.
They felt this site belonged in the Travel category.
Djuna felt that Vermont Travel Notes deserved a rating of 3.
2 reviewers gave Vermont Travel Notes an average rating of 3.3750
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