We got up early to drive to Vermont to one of our favorite breakfast places, and forgot that it was Mother’s Day, the restaurant parking lot was jammed, so we turned back to New York State and on the way past the Wayside General  Store, one of the great surviving country stores in Vermont (They kept Wal-Mart out of most of the state, but couldn’t stop the onslaught of Dollar Generals.)

We heard about the famous Round Table there, a wide round table where locals could sip their coffee and read the paper when there were papers. The store was empty, everybody was out taking their mothers to breakfast and brunch. We had a great talk with Nancy, ordered two of their delicious and  super-caloric breakfast sandwiches, and some fruit and coffee.

Nancy told us about her family, the history of the beautiful old desk where she kept track of the store, and where her husband did his business before he die. The store has been in Arlington for half a century and was a portrait subject of Normal Rockwell.

it was an unexpected change of plans, but a sweet one, we loved talking to Nancy and exploring the winding and much loved store, which sold deli  sandwiches, groceries, fresh baked muffins, and even ammo. This is the real deal, the authentic and storied Vermont general  store, a place of community and history.

We set out to do one thing discovered another. We’ve driven past the Wayside a hundred times but never quite realized what we were missing. We will be back at the roundtable.

I love the twists and turns of life, it is never possible to know where they might take me.