‘Gilmore Girls’ inspired me to move to a small New England town. I’ve been living out my Stars Hollow dreams for over a decade now.

I moved to a small town in Vermont as an adult.

Lauren Harkawik

I pined after the small-town life I saw on “Gilmore Girls” while growing up in the suburbs.
I eventually moved to a quaint town in Vermont, where I’m now raising my daughters.
From the local diner to a slew of interesting characters, living here is as wonderful as I hoped.

I was I high schooler living in the suburbs when “Gilmore Girls” premiered, and I watched it every week. Though I didn’t necessarily want to be Rory or Lorelai, I did covet one aspect of their life: Stars Hollow.

From where I was sitting, their small New England town — with all its quirks — looked like the perfect place to live. In my mid-20s, I felt drawn enough to this idea that I took the plunge and moved to southern Vermont.

Over a decade later, I’ve found that small-town life actually is similar to Stars Hollow.

There’s a good chance of running into someone you know at the diner in the center of town.

Like Stars Hollow, my town has a beautiful inn.

Lauren Harkawik

It’s not quite Lorelai’s Dragonfly Inn, but Crafts Inn is an anchor in the center of town.

Its yard is where many of the town’s festivals and holiday celebrations happen.

The town gazebo is a go-to place for our annual traditions.

The town often congregates at the hall.

Lauren Harkawik

Though we don’t use the hall for our annual Town Meeting Day (a day in March where most of Vermont’s 237 towns have their own meeting to suss out the year’s business), it houses plenty of town events, including lectures and public meetings.

My favorite thing about town meetings is that, like Babette and Miss Patty in Stars Hollow, there are familiar voices here who share impassioned opinions.

Molly Stark, whose statue is holding a baby in one hand and a rifle in another, is part of our town’s cast of characters.

Jezebel’s Eatery is home to a British market.

Lauren Harkawik

Like “Gilmore Girls,” we have a lively menu of restaurants to choose from, and we know what to go to for each.

Jezebel’s Eatery is a restaurant that also contains a British market — if you live here, you know you can go there for a killer Reuben and also pick up some British grocery staples.

It’s also housed in a historic building downtown that was carried by an ox cart from its former location.

An antique store is a prominent feature of our downtown area.

I love passing by the quirky fake horse in my town.

Lauren Harkawik

I’m not sure about the origin of this horse, but I’ve always thought of him as a character in the town.

If this were Stars Hollow, I suspect Lorelai and Rory would’ve given him a great name and talked to him whenever they passed by. Or rather, maybe just Lorelai would’ve befriended him since Rory is afraid of horses.

Our boutiques look like houses from the outside.

Berries grow at the start of summer.

Lauren Harkawik

Berries aren’t quite a signifier of small-town life on their own, but I take a picture of them nearly every year because I’m drawn to their color.

That in itself is part of what I love about my town: The annual cycles, traditions, and familiarities I’ve been able to discover in the tiniest of details.

What you don’t see in these pictures is actually the best part of living in a small town: The people.

I love my small-town life.

Lauren Harkawik

My neighbors and the connections I’ve been lucky enough to share with them are what truly make my life here so great.

I feel lucky to be one of the characters in my town and to get to know the laughs, voices, passions, and quirks of the other people I live with.

For me, small-town life has been a gift of connections, not just to the place, but to the people in it.

This story was originally published in September 2023 and most recently updated on October 1, 2024.

Read the original article on Business Insider

source:https://www.businessinsider.com/moved-to-small-town-new-england-gilmore-girls-photos-2023