| Vol. I,
No. 1 |
Oct.
20th, 2000 |
Links to Out & About On-Line
The amount of info on the web is enormous, as
anyone who's ever tried to run a search can attest to. And, to put it all
in context, best estimates say that only a fraction, maybe 20 - 40 % of what's
out there is actually making its way to the search engines.
Well ...
Here at DownStreet, we'd like to try to help. So
each issue, we post a few links in Out & About to sites that might interest
you. Sometimes the links will be related to one another ...
sometimes we'll just offer up a somewhat random sampling. In either case,
we think we might be able to help you find the kind of site you've been looking
for.
Of course, while we can't vouch for the fact that every link
we provide will be of interest to everyone, we do our best to filter out the
noise and the bustle. ...
We hope you enjoy the following sites as much as we do.
Touring Vermont
-
Vermont Historic Sites Guide
This is a State-owned site run under the auspices of the Agency of
Commerce and Community Development, Department of Housing and Community
Affairs, Division for Historic Preservation. Got that? ...
Actually, you don't need to get it. All you need to do is visit this
site for a listing of historic sites throughout the State. The
sub-sections include News, Events 2000, Guide to State-Owned Sites, Historic Roadside Markers,
and Related Web Sites. Unfortunately, at least during our visit, the
sub-section that interested us most -- about Historic Roadside Markers --
was unavailable. Among the Historic Sites included in our neighborhood
are the Shoreham Covered Railroad Bridge {1897}and the Chimney Point State
Historic Site in Addison, a spot with about 12,000 years of human history
behind it.
.
We hoped for more from the State on this one, especially given Vermont's historical
significance. But it's a starting point worth a look. Rating ***
[3 stars]
.
-
BlueMap
Attractions
A better listing of what's going on can be found at Blue Map Online, a
site that provides "Information for travelers to the Lake Champlain region of Vermont, New York and Canada, with special emphasis on Burlington, Vermont."
The attractions listed here go well beyond historic sites. And though
they're aimed at tourists, you can find a solid listing of places you may
never have made it to yet, as well as brief descriptions and directions on
getting there, including clickable links to fairly detailed maps.
Also, since the focus tends to be fairly local, most everything listed is
within relatively easy driving distance.
.
The folks who've put Blue Map together knew what they were doing. It's
an easy-to-navigate site, fairly fast, and has just enough going for it so
that even those of us who've been in the neighborhood for plenty of years
can scare up an interesting day trip or two. Rating **** [4 stars]
.
-
Vermont Forests, Parks & Recreation
Here, the State has done a solid service. The Vermont Forests,
Parks & Recreation site is chock full of useful info.
The Parks Locator Map
offers up a simple-to-use image map of the State, with gold dots for each of
the parks. Simply click on a dot and you're taken to a quick-loading
page of a few paragraphs of info about the park, including Facilities and
Area Attractions, as well as a link to a map of the park that provides
decent detail. There are also links to other sites of interest related
to / close by the park. Finally, if you know the name of the park
you'd like to visit already, you can also check out the site's Alphabetical Park Locator.
.
The Vermont Historic Sites Guide -- the first link we reviewed above -- can
learn something from the folks who put this site together ... and so can
you. Rating ****1/2 [4-1/2 stars]
*******
*******
If you know of any links that you think are
worthwhile, why not send them along to ...
links@downstreetmagazine.com
...
If we agree, we'll be happy to include them
in an upcoming issue to pass the word along. ...
Thanks.
*******
*******
.
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