Monday
we drove across Ontario to Quebec then, to avoid Montreal we left the
expressway and drove back roads to the border at Vermont. It was a small border crossing…. very
Vermont like, only two lanes and two enforcement officers. After a brief stop we were cleared to enter
the US. We stopped at a small Vermont
Tourism office. We picked up info about
Lake Champlain and I asked the host about the effort to make Lake Champlain the
6th Great Lake…. She laughed and told me that it’s way too
small. Still there was an effort to declare
Lake Champlain a Great Lake, primarily to benefit from research funds and
government money.
This didn’t last long:
The naming of the lake drew the immediate ire and ridicule of
representatives of people around those larger lakes in the United States and
Canada.
Former Ohio U.S. Rep. Steve LaTourette mocked: "If Lake
Champlain ends up as a Great Lake, I propose we rename it 'Lake Plain
Sham.'"
Within a few weeks the legislation was changed removing Lake
Champlain's designation as great, but the lake continued to be eligible for the
same federal research grants.
Our drive through the islands (Grand Isle) was beautiful. Isle La Motte was especially beautiful…. and
not very developed…. Very little in the way of restaurants and businesses but idyllic
and mostly summer living on the big water.
We’re now in Burlington and checking out what makes it
click….. (Yes the Magic Hat Brewery was
our first stop)
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