A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of touring my future school and town with my mother and girlfriend in tow. Thanks to Robyn Chapman (great tour guide!) from CCS for showing us around and making us feel welcome. I was pretty confident that I would like the White River Junction but I had no idea how much I would fall in love with the place, even though all the odds were against us. The days we were in Vermont, the northeast got pounded with a ton of rain and everywhere around us was flooding. Luckily we just had to deal with dreariness and only a few puddles. Also, being a Monday, most of the town was closed up. We did miss some interesting looking shops because of that but enough was open that we were still quite impressed.
The big draw for me was how untouched this town is. My mother, Alyce, put it best when she pointed out, "There is no McDonald's." Dagnabbitt!! She was Right! Most of the architecture in WRJ was original with only a few modern looking renovations. The Coolidge Hotel (where we stayed and where I'll most likely be living come fall) is a great old building that is aging quite gracefully in my opinion.
The school itself was super-cool. I was introduced to a lot more of my future teachers than I had expected. I was feeling a bit overwhelmed but everyone was so kind and welcoming. I cannot wait to be learning all I can from these talented folks.
I know there is already a photo tour here which has a lot of pics of the school, but I thought I could compliment it nicely with some I took of the town and Hotel. I picked out some of my favorites and I will try to narrate the best I can. Hopefully the images aren't too small, I was trying to save space. Here goes nothin:
The Coolidge Hotel from the outside:
Here is a hostel room in the Coolidge where some of the students stay:
The Coolidge has a neat little ballroom with a huge mural by Peter Michael Gish painted in 1950 spanning it's walls:
There was an exhibition of some work by the CCS year one students hanging in the lobby. It was put together by Elizabeth, a student who was working the front desk when we arrived
Our Founder:
Inky's place inside the Coolidge:
The old White River Junction post office:
Polka-Dot Diner:
Historic and still functioning train station:
The old department store sign inside of the school's main building:
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This is the first floor and main classroom:
The basement which houses macs, screenprinting stuff, scanners, photocopier, and of course a ping pong table!:
The Connecticut River Monster housed in the Main St Museum:
Oh, and Elvis' gall stones!:
And I leave you with some cool head from the Tip-Top arts building:
I wish I had more photos to share but I just couldn't take pictures of everything. There was so much to see for such a little town. I highly recommend stopping by if you are in the area. You won't be disappointed. Thanks for reading!
A cartoonist named Inky. hmmmm.
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