After the passage of the Civil Union law in Vermont in 2000, Ed and I decided to have a Civil Union ceremony on our anniversary on January 16, 2001. Larry did all the research and found the Chester House Inn, a quaint Bed & Breakfast, in Chester, Vermont that had done over twenty Civil Unions. Larry sent them an email and Randy Guy, the innkeeper, was very helpful in recommending Jack Coleman for the ceremony.
So here is what happened:
Friday, January 12, 2001 we left DC and went to Connecticut to visit Larry’s parents for the weekend. We then got up Sunday morning and left for the three hour drive to Vermont. We arrived early in the afternoon, checked into the B&B, talked with the Randy the innkeeper then went out to check out the town. It is really a nice quiet, quaint town, situated about 10 miles from Okeemo ski resort in Ludlow, Vermont. We went to dinner at a great restaurant, the Swiss Inn. We had cheese fondue for an appetizer, Swiss dinner entrees, and then chocolate fondue for dessert. We washed all of this down with a bottle of wine and then some really good coffee with dessert.
Monday we were going to get the license, but the Town Hall was closed since it was Martin Luther King day. So we went to Okeemo and watched the skiers, came back to the B&B met at the house of the Justice of the Peace, Jack Coleman. He looked over the vows we agreed to do the ceremony at 4:30 on Tuesday the 16th at the Chester Inn. We went back to the B&B, just across the street, and decided where to go for dinner. We went to Raspberries & Thyme, just across the street from the B&B (everything is near the B&B) and had a really great meal there.
Tuesday we got up, ate the home cooked breakfast, made by Randy, and then left for Town Hall to get the license. Everything at Town Hall went well and we were out of there in about half an hour with the license. We didn’t know what to do with ourselves until 4:30, so we went to Manchester, VT and walked around the town, stopped for coffee and then went back to the B&B. We both took showers, got dressed and waited for Jack. The ceremony started late as with any marriage, we stated our vows and we were happily joined by 4:45. Randy opened a bottle of Champagne and we toasted. We then went to Ludlow, Vermont to a quaint little Italian restaurant called Cappuccino’s. We returned to the B&B, picked up Randy and went to the Stone Hearth Inn B&B and BAR for drinks. There we met Keith, the owner of Raspberries & Thyme. The owner’s of the Stone Hearth Inn, Chris and Brent, just opened the Stone Hearth Inn in November, 2000 and are a really nice couple.
On Wednesday we left for a week in New Orleans. We stayed at the Lafitte Guest House right on Bourbon Street. The people there were superb and the location was excellent. We left the following Tuesday and were glad to get home and be married.