Quote:
Originally Posted by Peachie
Apples and oranges; the residents of The Villages welcome all of the surrounding subdivisions to their main, public streets, not their personal property. Did all those bucolic Vermonters turn their garages, driveways, houses over to the tourists and fleeing people? Do the tourists call Vermonters stingy, unfriendly, selfish for not sharing these items? Same thing here, most Village residents are not interested in turning over their property to the adjacent subdivisions.
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They actually do. Funny you should ask. During fall foliage season in particular, when there is no longer any room at the inn and every motel in town is full, our chamber of commerce asks locals to open their homes and provide a room or two for visitors for the fall foliage weekend........and they do. Scouts honor.
Anyone who has ever been stranded without lodging on a busy holiday weekend can relate to above paragraph.
It only happened to us once..........we normally made reservations, but this one time we decided to head east to Maine during our own Fall Foliage Weekend in October..........traveling there, the roads over the mountains were empty.......after a nice visit in northern Maine, we decided to overnight at Bar Harbor..........driving "in" we saw too many cars driving "out". Long story, but not a single room. We stopped up and down the Maine coast and even went inland.............hours of driving....no rooms. Finally found a room in South Portland........headed back the next morning..........awful feeling to have no lodging............so again, yes, Vermonters open their homes to stranded tourists and supply a room and shower, etc.
Our merchants also draw up maps for them when they are lost or not sure where to go.......they go the "extra mile" to be hospitable. My husband has even planned their itineraries when they've never been to New England before......and it is their first visit.........they always would ask, "Where should we go? What should we see?" and he'd send them to all of our favorite haunts in Vermont, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine and upstate New York.
This would be the same exact occurrence when it's graduation weekend for the local colleges and the parents and grandparents can't find a place to stay..........so yes, they do open their homes. We also open our homes to foreign exchange students.......
Everyone has been a visitor, at one time or another, in a foreign land or strange city........so being hospitable to the visitor is always welcomed.
Our daughter worked in a local crafts store/pottery when she was in high school, to save up money for her month long trip to Spain........she would often tell the story of when Susan Lucci and her husband and two kids would "shop" on their way back from skiing and how obnoxious the kids were.......but she and the rest of the sales staff had been taught to be polite and welcoming.......to all.
End of subject. I don't plan to ride a golf cart either to or from Stonecrest.....or to Walmart. That's what cars are for.