[Sporin]

I may have said it in this thread already but we LOVE Fat Franks, so many tasty dogs and real handcut fries. Perfection.

[arel]

The fries were great. A real treat. And they have all sorts of sauces at the tables. Ketchup, chili sauce, and lots of different mustards.

[OhBeeHave]

Arel, we call it the parade of mustards -- there has to be at least 10 varieties! And the Siraccha (sp?) sauce YIKES! HOT! Best of all there is a sprayer of malt vinegar for the fries. Gotta love them -- they've thought of everything!

[arel]

I was a little surprised to see the vinegar. I remember that people liked vinegar on fries in Rhode Island, but I had never heard of it being used that way anywhere else.

[Sherylcatmom]

Originally Posted by arel

I was a little surprised to see the vinegar. I remember that people liked vinegar on fries in Rhode Island, but I had never heard of it being used that way anywhere else.

I had "chips" (French fries) with vinegar all over Great Britain. Now I want it that way all the time!

[OhBeeHave]

Originally Posted by arel

I was a little surprised to see the vinegar. I remember that people liked vinegar on fries in Rhode Island, but I had never heard of it being used that way anywhere else.

First time I had it was on the American side of Niagara Falls back in the mid 70's. Also first time I ever had mustard on a hamburger. I was hooked on both!

[arel]

Finally, today, I saw the Indian petroglyphs in Bellows Falls. It was my third try, but today I knew where to look.

Here are precise directions: From the south: Go towards downtown. After the big blue mural that lets you know that you are downtown, take the first right. Go to the Vilas Bridge, which is closed. To the right of the "Bridge Closed" sign, next to the gorge, there is a small road with a rail visible from an abandoned railroad track. There is a guard rail by the gorge. At the 14th post of the guard rail, look down at 10 o'clock. You'll see two lines of yellow paint on the rocks to alert you to the location. Right under the yellow lines are the carvings.

You can't see much detail from where you will be standing, so you might want to bring binoculars. I was told you can go down to the bank and look at the petroglyphs, but that it is treacherous to do so.

This was my third visit to Bellows Falls and my second serious attempt to find the petroglyphs. I went today for precisely that purpose.

I first learned of the petroglyphs from OhBeeHave's post on this thread. Since I learned of them, I've been really anxious to see them. Thank you, OhBeeHave!

As I did the last two times I visited, I went on the way home from a workshop in Saxtons River. (I learned today how to make sauerkraut). I got to BF earlier in the day than I did the other two times. So I was able to spend time chatting with some people and visiting a book store.
I was curious about the little dam and man-made waterfall at the top of the gorge. (It is not the Bellows Falls Dam, which is a huge, industrial looking thing right by the beginning of the canal.) Someone said that was the dam, but it seemed too close, so she came with me to look at it. She didn't know what it was, but she acknowledged that it was not the BF dam. She did tell me that the natural waterfall that used to be there was blown up by loggers, because the logs kept getting stuck there. She also showed me where the canal enters the turbines of the hydroelectric plant. Last time I came, I thought the canal ended in a little dam to the left of the plant. But I was told that was not where the turbines were. She showed me the little slats by the building, which, she said, was where the canal water entered the turbines. She also showed me part of the fish ladder, but the whole thing doesn't open again until next June.

I also spent some time in a book store. I chatted with the owner, who told me about the great sense of community in BF. She spoke of active community engagement and the ability to get things done in town. She also said that the place to eat was Boccelli's Cafe, but that it isn't open on Sundays. (I guess I'll try it some day, but I'm still partial to Fat Franks.)

[OhBeeHave]

You're welcome!

Make a point of checking out the fish ladder next June. It's interesting to see what species are trying to make their way upriver. When it opens in June you might catch the tail end (no pun intended) of the Shad run.

A little snippet about Shad:

"American shad are seasonally native to the Connecticut River. They range from Long Island Sound to Bellows Falls, Vermont. Large numbers of shad have been counted at the dam in Holyoke, MA. Large numbers of shad pass the Holyoke dam and much smaller numbers pass the Turners Falls Dam. However, shad have trouble making it all the way through the fish ladders at the next upstream dam in Turners Falls. As a result of this bottleneck, researchers are trying to find a way to improve the fishway at that location. In the mean time, some shad are collected at the Holyoke fishlift and trucked upstream of the Vernon dam to make sure that a reasonable number of shad have access to high quality upstream habitat. The consequence is a spring recreational fishery for shad from Bellows Falls south. Nearly 4,400 anglers per year fish for shad in MA alone."

[arel]

How many dams are on the Connecticut River? It seems the river is dammed every few towns.

So the shad go upstream by truck. Do they have to make reservations? Can they go tax-free? Are they warned about anglers?

[arel]

Originally Posted by arel

Finally, today, I saw the Indian petroglyphs in Bellows Falls. It was my third try, but today I knew where to look.

Here are precise directions: From the south: Go towards downtown. After the big blue mural that lets you know that you are downtown, take the first right. Go to the Vilas Bridge, which is closed. To the right of the "Bridge Closed" sign, next to the gorge, there is a small road with a rail visible from an abandoned railroad track. There is a guard rail by the gorge. At the 14th post of the guard rail, look down at 10 o'clock. You'll see two lines of yellow paint on the rocks to alert you to the location. Right under the yellow lines are the carvings.

You can't see much detail from where you will be standing, so you might want to bring binoculars. I was told you can go down to the bank and look at the petroglyphs, but that it is treacherous to do so.

I mean the 14th post after the initial post by the bridge. If you count the first post at the end (which is different from the others), then you look down at the 15th post. Hope that clarifies things.