4x6 and 10 birds. Yes, currently on the overstocked side per internet recommendations. Nobody has eaten each other yet though and they get out during the day.

In my backyard, but it’s April, so I’ll probably cursing at clouds.

Wingspan, Terraforming Mars, Libertalia, Splendor, Ginkgopolis…

I experienced something like this back in Texas. The woman who ran the daycare we had our daughter in retired and sold the center, and the corporation that bought it immediately cut everything that made it appealing. Don’t know the details of what changes they were making with the staff, I’m sure they couldn’t exactly say much without risking their jobs, but staff seemed unenthusiastic about it all. We moved our daughter to another daycare.

The Northeast Kingdom is the three counties of Caledonia, Orleans, and Essex in Northeast Vermont. It’s rural, it’s rough around the edges, and it has lots of natural beauty.

Totally get why you'd want to get out of Florida. Plus, there is a certain amount of stress that comes with living in a place where everything seems to be telling you that you aren't welcome and you may not realize how much it is weighing you down until it is removed. Essex County went red in 2016 and 2020, so that may not be the ideal location in your case, but the rest of the counties in Vermont will probably be varying degrees of accepting. Vermont rural is not Florida rural. (And Vermont crime is not Florida crime.) Cost of living is high in general, but where you live really affects affordability. NEK is cheap, Burlington is expensive, Stowe is where the millionaires play.

Winter is fine if you are prepared for it (dress for the cold so it doesn't feel like winter when you go outside) and make friends with it (don't spend all winter hiding in your house). I'd actually be more concerned if I were you about how much you need to have access to a large variety of commerce, restaurants, clubs, non-nature-based entertainment etc.. If you need that, you will not be happy in Vermont. If you think, like I do, that a fulfilling day is wandering around and staring at trees and rocks and water, you'll be in paradise on earth.

Also, look at Massachusetts, if you can afford it. It's got a fantastic record and is a lot more busy if that is what you like.

Vermont can be pretty different depending on the area you are in. I'm in the NEK. Rural and rough. Tons of natural beauty. Very little of the cutesy, marketable Vermont style that places like Woodstock have, or the wealthy, resort life that places like Stowe have, or the vibrant, college-influenced city style that Burlington has.

There aren't enough people for some jobs here in the NEK (dentists, teachers, contractors), so we are hurting for those. If you can do those, please move here. But if you are looking for some major tech job out here, you aren't likely to find it. You'd have to go to Burlington. Even then, Burlington will likely not be enough if you are looking for truly high-power jobs.

Housing and jobs vary across the state, much like anywhere else. Burlington is expensive and will have the most variety in jobs. The NEK is inexpensive and has the least. Stowe is where you relax with your millions, and maybe go out and ski occasionally. You'd have to decide where you'd fit in best and what you can afford.

Crime in Vermont is minimal compared to most other USA states. The bigger the city, the more of it you're going to find, but it still won't compare to the worst areas of most other states. Lock your car doors in Burlington. Opioid use and suicide do tend to be more of a problem in this state than others from statistics I've seen.

I've lived in six states on both coasts and in the center of the US, north and south. I was very deliberate in choosing this area and would move heaven and earth to get here again if for some distressing reason I was suddenly living elsewhere. That said, this is what is good for me. There are many people who would be utterly miserable here, so you have to think about what is good for you. If you are a big city person, and/or like to go out on the town and experience endless variety in commerce, there isn't anywhere in Vermont you will like.

Oh, we just got that this week, the night before we were supposed to leave to go visit the grandparents. Luckily we got off lightly in comparison to others in this thread, maybe the eldest and the SO and I had some residual immunity from when eldest brought it home as a toddler and we all fell like dominoes and felt like death. It was still a couple hours of no fun and a tender stomach for a further 24ish hours, and the poor little one threw up all night.

I like Random up there in the NEK.

Fine with everything except dentistry. Going to New Hampshire and Massachusetts for dentists.

I keep it for my chickens.

Draw up the plan and surprise him with it on his birthday, but choose another month to actually celebrate his birthday with the trip. April here is ugly. It’s too cold to be comfortable, but too warm for snow. The plants haven’t started blooming yet so everything still looks bedraggled from surviving winter. Literally any other month is better (although November is pretty dismal and its only advantage is being on the front end of winter instead of the back). Late spring/early summer you will have to bathe in bug spray.

I don’t know that a train will get you where you want to go. There isn’t much in the way of trains here, and they go to populated areas. Probably should drive.

I hear a lot about Kingdom Trails for biking. Willoughby is close if you want to play around at a big lake and hike.

You can use Dark Site Finder to help find the best places for stargazing. (Cool-colored areas give you the best possibility for seeing the Milky Way, the cooler the better.)

I don‘t having any particular recommendations for restaurants. Variety and fancy places are going to be in populated areas, away from the stars, but you can find a place to go wherever you land if you aren’t picky.

Same. I was born in Virginia, but we moved when I was 5 years old, so all I have is a handful of memories. Am I from Virginia? I spent my formative childhood years in Kansas. Am I from Kansas? I lived the majority of my life in Texas. Am I from Texas? I live in Vermont now and feel more at home than anywhere else I've lived. Am I from Vermont? At this point I favor using where I am currently living, but I struggled with the answer for a long time since people have different, and strangely intense, ideas of the definition of "from" in the question.

They knew.

May Pond in Barton is cute.

Well, all the ice and snow melted down enough on the unpaved road I traverse to reveal every pot hole again. Obnoxious, but at least not anything I’m sliding around on or getting stuck in. Just makes me look like a drunk swerving all over the road to avoid the worst of the attacks on my poor Hyundai‘s suspension and tires.

Ah, then as someone who appreciates food, another thing on that front about Vermont is that dairy and apples have figured prominently in Vermont‘s history. The dairy industry is struggling, but Cabot products are still prominent around the state. I get their butter, sour cream, and Vermont-style cheddar cheese (it’s a white cheddar) a lot. Apple trees grow wild all over the place. Apple pie is the state pie and there is the hilarious pie law.

Hey! I lived in CA for a couple years as a teen (Alameda County). Really enjoyed my time there.

I‘m fairly new to VT, but my answers:

1. The nature is the draw. Old Appalachian mountains covered in trees and springs and ponds. Few people to wreck it. First time I ever went hiking here I couldn’t shut up about how I didn’t see any litter, even in the creek.

2. Lake Willoughby is my favorite „unique nature thing.“. I recommend looking up some photos.

3. Maple cremees (soft serve), sugar on snow (you heat up the maple syrup to 235° and then drizzle it on snow and it becomes taffy-like in consistency), apple cider donuts…. People seem to come up with any excuse to put maple syrup in anything. It’s all amazing.

4. Sepoctemober.

5. Walk in the woods. Ride in the woods. Look at the stars.

6. Not many cities here. I enjoy Montpelier the most.

7. Tidbits…. The snowmobilers have a trail system (the VAST trail) that goes all over the state. I only wish horse people were that organized. There is also the Long Trail for hiking that goes up through the center-ish of the state. The state has a day called Green Up Day in May for which you get trash bags to go pick up litter. The state motto is „Freedom and Unity.“

Thanks for looking into that! Looks like my iPhone is too old for that feature. :( Amazing how fast smartphones get outdated.

Call the neighbors. "Heeeyyy, is there a rational explanation for why someone appears to be trying to break into your home?"

How?! I try to take night pictures with my iphone all the time and I get a black square. If it's the moon, I get a fuzzy disc of light. I must know your secrets.

I used to just get the PBS channels and some French channels. Recently I got some channels that are associated with WCAX? Anyway, they appeared out of the blue and I suddenly felt like we were livin‘ fancy, haha. Some days they come in perfectly, others they skip all over the place.

It started freezing around the shoreline in late December and then we had the warm spell after New Years and I haven’t seen a bit of ice since. It’s unsettling.

Green Mountain State*

*Guaranteed for four months per year. Other months may be brown, orange, or white.

Ha, sorry I missed that. I just hear it said so often in complete seriousness on this subreddit that it boggles my mind.

ETA: Lack of population is a huge draw for me too. I’m going to be pretty sore if we ever get to the point that the population is high enough that the ensuing light pollution blots out the Milky Way. Newport/Derby dims it enough already.