I’m supposed to be in Maine – on the beach – enjoying Lobstah. So why am I currently in back-woods Vermont? Excellent Question.

Turns out that my daughter let her driver’s license lapse – and that entailed a not so quick trip to a DMV. Problem – we’re in Maine! And Vermont is not the next state over – nope – that’s New Hampshire. So we drove, and drove, and drove… What I will do for my daughter!

The first DMV was an hour closer than Bennington – which is on the far side of the state from Maine – but they closed at 2:00 – and we didn’t quite make it. In fact – we never even found it, despite the very friendly advice and oh so convenient bathroom of Mr. Baker – of Baker’s Violin Shop. First bathroom I ever visited where the reading material was Music!

But driving on to Bennington was the only option – and we arrived there 15 minutes before their closing time! Adrienne rushed in to be sure to get a place in line, and Anais and Sophie and I prowled the Main Street. A few adorable shops, including a kid’s consignment store, and 5 ‘food’ establishments. The only one of which that had customers was the Madison Brewing Company. So despite the name – and despite our clearly underage for a drinking place group – we sauntered in, past the bar and into the, well, not quite so bar – restaurant area.

The menu was a surprise. Not only was there a fair sampling of traditional bar food (the nacho platter served to the table next to us looked awesome), there was fresh grouper! That’s what I had – and it was absolutely yummy.

Sophie chose a reasonably priced hot dog off the kids menu – it came with carbs (mashed potatoes or french fries) or apple sauce. She went for the apple sauce. My daughter enjoyed their Cajun Blacked but beautifully raw in the center sliced tuna, served on a lovely bed of fresh greens, and Anais had a Caprese Salad with a slightly too strong Balsamic Reduction. I suspect the use of a bottled product – overly enthusiastically applied. Except for that, we were well fed!

Not bad for randomly selected restaurant in a town we probably will never visit again.

Sometimes the sun does shine! Unfortunately, even with the sun shining, it was still a long 4 hours back to Maine. Oh well, at least we were full!