The week after moving in to my new apartment, I was whisked away for a few days in autumnal Vermont.
When talking about a visit I had made to Hildene in Vermont, W was surprised.
When did I visit and where?
DID WE EVER CROSS PATHS IN MANCHESTER?
When I told him about numerous trips since the 1980s, to various places in and around Manchester, he told me that his family’s vacation cottage was down the street from the Equinox Hotel that we always passed on every trip.
His family purchased the house tucked in a secluded spot against the foot of Mount Equinox when he was a little boy.
After his father and step mother died, the house passed to him and his brothers and their kids…and they still own it.
Since W was en route to Vermont, he offered to take me along and assured me I would have my own room at the family cottage at the foot of Mount Equinox.
ONE HUNDRED YEAR OLD HOUSE
I had long heard stories of this old house, nearly one hundred years old, and now falling apart.
His goal was to work on getting rid of old stuff in the house and check on necessary repairs…as the family considered putting it on the market.
However he dreamed of keeping it in the family…and thought my experience in house remodels would make me a clever strategic advisor.
Most of the leaves had fallen, but some spots had that autumnal charm.
When I saw how close the house was to Main Street, I marveled how I passed by his house on every single trip I ever took in the area.
After arriving and getting tour of the house, I saw lots of potential.
W said his dad used to rent the place out to skiers, since a famous ski mountain is nearby.
He wanted to make the house profitable once again, while keeping it a vacation home.
As he showed me around the house, I saw lots of potential.
That Saturday a contractor came to provide estimates for some work that needed to be done…which cost far more than W and his family wanted to invest, especially on one project…when other projects kept popping up.
Eating dinner at a cozy pizzeria that night, I told W that he was in the same situation as JC Wyatt in the 1987 Baby Boom movie.
1987 BABY BOOM MOVIE SET IN VERMONT
Portrayed by Diane Keaton, JC Wyatt is a highly successful end executive Tiger Lady who has been told by her company they want to make her a partner…as long as she remains single in order to have time to invest in her career.
Assuring them that she lives and breathes business, and is not seeking a family…she suddenly inherits a baby when her cousin passes away.
Preferring to put the baby up for adoption, she rethinks that as she bonds with Elizabeth in the days awaiting the adoption.
After choosing to keep the baby, her time is divided between work and home…a new experience for her.
As a result, the offer of partnership is pushed aside while she’s given a low profile account in order to have time with the baby.
Angered by that decision, she buys her dream house in Vermont, that has a large acreage with apple trees and a pond.
As winter hits, the heater breaks…which costs thousands of dollars to repair due to corroded pipes.
Then her water runs out…which costs thousands of dollars to repair because her well has dried up and she needs to connect to the main line.
Having spent her savings, she works with her abundance to make lemonade…or in this case, baby applesauce.
To fill her time, she makes an abundance of baby applesauce for Elizabeth from all the apples she picked from her 60+ acres of apple trees.
HE KNOWS PEOPLE WHO HELPED WITH THE MOVIE
W had a vague memory of this movie, so upon returning to his old house, he rented the movie for us to watch on his laptop as we sat at the kitchen table with a blue and white woven checkered tablecloth…that we incidentally saw in the movie as well…made in Vermont and available at one of the stores seen in the movie, Vermont Country Store.
While watching the movie, W realized this was the movie a family friend helped with.
Also, W also knew where the fictional town of Hadleyville was shot, and recognized a scene shot in Manchester.
He said the next day he would take me to all my old haunts, and then he’d drive me to the Baby Boom locations.
BABY BOOM TOUR
After a huge Vermont country breakfast at one of the Manchester eateries, we drove to some of my old haunts, then W said he was taking me to Peru aka Hadleyville.
After buying her dream Vermont house, JC Wyatt buys a car and packs the baby showing her moo cows along the gorgeous autumnal route to Vermont.
In this scene, JC drives her car into Hadleyville…aka Peru, Vermont.
From ground level, here is that fork in the road near the church…
Nearby we saw a house from the movie where his family’s friend lived who helped with the movie…looks like that house has been remodeled a bit since the movie.
While taking her jars of baby applesauce to the general store to trade for needed supplies, some yuppies from New York City raved over her packaging and snatched up a dozen for each of the couples.
From that incident, Country Baby branding for her fresh homemade baby food was born.
Inside, the store has been renovated with a fresh look. (see header photo)
If it wasn’t for our huge breakfast, we’d have had lunch here, but W did buy a souvenir for me from Hapgoods…;)
With her rebranded Country Baby applesauce, JC Wyatt hits all the Vermont stores (many that I’ve visited and even purchased things from) to market her product.
One of her marketing locations was set in Manchester underneath the statue near the Equinox Hotel on Main Street.
MORE OF MANCHESTER AND A DREAM
Then W took me inside the Equinox Hotel to enjoy a glass of wine, then later that evening we enjoyed a lovely dinner at the Tautonic Hotel, also on Main Street.
Inspired by the movie, W had greater plans to feature the Baby Boom movie in his family vacation home once it was completed with renovations, for tourists to rent.
