Date: visited: July 18, 2015
Website
Wells Wikipedia Page
Getting right to the point, there are two permanent things to love about Wells: Lake St. Catherine and The Wells Country Store. The third thing is seasonal, and it’s called Wells Variety Day – a small town festival/tag sale. (Yes, another opportunity for Robyn to find wonderful junk to buy.) And, oh yes, there’s actually a fourth thing, also seasonal, the yearly autumn ham and maple dinner at the Methodist Church, where everything maple can be sampled – from maple baked beans to the quite unusual whole eggs boiled in a vat of maple syrup!
We do have some familiarity and history with the charming town of Wells, population about 1200, which was historically settled by and named after the Welsh folk who gathered there. Over the years, summertime’s Variety Days has provided Robyn with plenty of found goodies for her art (fill a box at the Wells Firehouse for just $5!) Even more years ago, Mark had a small fishing boat and spent hours plying the waters of Lake St. Catherine for lake trout, bass, pike and pretty much anything that would bite. Wells has a public boat landing where you can launch your craft for a day’s boating, providing you don’t mind ducking under the iron bridge to get to the open water.
The lake is lined on both shores with a wide variety of lake houses and cabins. And a few miles northwest on Route 30 is the entrance to Lake St. Catherine State Park, where we have often spent time picnicking, relaxing, and dipping our toes in the lake.
The Wells Country Store is a Vermont country store in every wonderful sense of the genre. It is also a tribute to excellence in every aspect of its operation. Beautifully baked giant muffins, cookies, and sometimes pies, disappear quickly by mid-morning. The sandwiches are amazing and reasonably priced, with names like Kinni Kinnik, Fair Darlene, and Idylwild, described on signs made of hand painted slabs of slate. The maple creemees in the summer are first rate. There is much to be found here including craft beers and wines, local foods and crafts, and always a huge round of Vermont cheddar cheese under a dome, and of course Julie who keeps the place humming with her helpful and happy staff.
Otherwise, Wells has a lovely town green with an obligatory war memorial, bordered by two churches, Episcopal and Methodist, and a charming community library that will make you feel like you stepped into a one-room schoolhouse. Another nice discovery is the Wellsmere Farm. There you’ll find local produce, locally raised pork, beef, and poultry, a tiny petting zoo and small barn with calves and chickens. Next time through, we’re going to bring a cooler and some ice and get one of their plump roasting chickens and some farm fresh veggies. We think it’s worth a stop. Wells itself is worth the stop.
