Discoveries...America: Maine; Discoveries...America: Vermont

Mention the Northeast states of Vermont and Maine to someone who's never been there (like me) and the first image they may form is of a small town in a valley, with a white church sporting a high steeple at its center, surrounded by trees in a multitude of colors. Surprisingly, this idealized image is not too far from the truth—as viewers will see in the two latest entries from Jim and Kelly Watt's popular high-definition filmed Discoveries...America series—since these New England states are largely rural, picturesque, and definitely enticing to potential visitors. In fact, Maine is one of the most rural states in the Union (and convenient to visiting various Canadian provinces). A good part of the Maine travelogue focuses on the sea (the lobster is responsible for a substantial amount of Maine's income), but located just a few miles from the coast is Freeport, the site of the only desert east of the Mississippi, and the Appalachian Trail ends (or begins, depending on your perspective) its 2000-plus mile journey near Mt. Katahdin. Viewers will also learn that potatoes are a valuable crop (there's even a unique morning television program: Potato Picker's Special), and that “Bah Ha-bah” (or Bar Harbor to those of us without the Maine twang) is the entry point for Acadia—New England's only National Park. A salmon aquaculture facility, a music box museum, a military vehicle restoration center…Maine offers visitors a lot more than just incredible scenery and all the lobster you can eat. In Vermont—known for maple syrup, teddy bears, Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream, and some of the most radical politics outside of Berkeley, CA—viewers will see a myriad of sights, including a farm that makes spider web art, a library that straddles the U.S.-Canadian border, and a pumpkin-carving school, while also meeting an order of Benedictine monks who use guitars to spread the word of God, and visiting Bennington (where moose art sculptures decorate the streets during Moosefest), as well as learning about the state's numerous covered bridges. Both Maine and Vermont are definitely recommended. Aud: P. (J. Carlson)