One of the prettiest and most enduring things about the New England states are the small rural towns, with populations ranging from 54 (the smallest that I saw a sign for), to 740 (the largest that I saw a sign for). There were also quite a few cities of 1,100 to 1,500 in population that we saw.
One of the local ladies at a tourist information center told me that 'towns' are less than 1,000 people, and 'cities' are 1,000+ people.
We passed through no less than 100 (and it was probably twice that many) small towns driving through Vermont, New Hampshire, Mass., and Conn.
Another culture shock to me is the age of these towns. Founded in 1612, founded in 1701, founded in 1675, and founded in 1629 were four of the oldest towns that I remember. That is old for America. That is nothing for Europe.
Many of these small towns had white church steeples that we were looking for, and some of the greatest foliage was around the same rural areas, or in their parking lots, or adjoining with neighboring sites or buildings.
We stopped for pastries and peeping in several, and even more small towns or cities for lunch if we saw a main street that had commerce. Lunch was pretty much always the same: a strange sounding bistro sandwich with toppings and protein combinations that I had never heard of, paired with eclectic salads, and delicious home made soups.
I am not a picky eater. Virtually everything was delicious to me. But, the portions were consistently small from town to town, (not being able to fill either of my granddaughters had they been with us), and were radically overpriced. $11 to $15 for a lunch combo plate and Coke* was standard.
*Back east is not Pepsi country, it is Coke country, and no one served true brewed iced tea either unless it came from a soda fountain dispenser like Peak.
My previous set of pics was a baker's dozen, so, sticking with that theme, here is another baker's dozen:
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