Close your eyes and picture it: the small-town America of your youth.
There are picket fences and healthy storefronts.
Theres a barber who knows customers by name and lots of women who could be anyones favorite aunt.
There are sweet old-timey cafes and bookstores you could get lost in.
There are town squares bursting with life.
This is, today, the comforting scenario many Americans long for.
Clean, pretty and neighborly, any of these places wed be proud to call home.
Beautiful estates and mansions have turned into living museums.
Dont let the coming commercialism deter you.
Brattleboro is also home to the New England Center for Circus Arts, the nations premier circus training school.
The town, pronounced BUR-lyn, is the setting for the Julia Roberts hitRunaway Brideand the coming-of-age filmTuck Everlasting.
Its the birthplace of the Rev.
Charles Albert Tindley, who wrote the inspirational gospel tune We Shall Overcome.
Fox hunts and steeplechases earned the town the reputation as the nations horse and hunt capital.
The town has carefully preserved the scenes from its famous television roots and makes them accessible by trolley tours.
Thats the case for Natchitoches, pronounced Nack-a-tish, in central Louisiana.
