In the license-plate-spotting department, 2016, a nasty year in so many ways, was nothing to write home about. No end-of-year surprises. After Montana in October, there was nothing, period. Still AWOL as 2016 slipped into 2017 were Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Wyoming, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota (surprise!), Nevada, Alaska, and Hawaii.
Hmm. That’s 10 states. Montana was #40. 10 + 40 = 50, but I always count D.C. so there should be 51. After counting back from 40 to see if I’d misnumbered, I realized that I hadn’t counted D.C. Now I’m really bummed.
However, 2017 is a new year. I’ve printed out a clean copy of the map and written “2017” at the top. The new year’s #2 plate is Vermont. You’ll never guess what #1 was.
From the Seasonally Occupied Territories . . . 
Curious about #1! New Hampshire? I’m guessing a New England state. Or New York?
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#1 is definitely Massachusetts, but #2? Good question. My guess would be Rhode Island. It’s small but it’s close, and the Cape & Islands are closely related in various ways to New Bedford–Fall River, which is just over the line from Rhode Island. New York is common all year-round. Ditto Connecticut.
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Florida?
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Florida’s easy. Half the population of MV goes there in the winter or has relocated entirely.
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Hmm.. I want to say “Russia” but I hear they do most of their driving on the internet….
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My hunch is that the Russkies are cruising around with local plates, incognito, you know, until they open their mouths. Or they’re here on J-2 visas as summer workers. If they’re going to ingratiate themselves with the Vineyard intelligentsia, which tends to vote Democratic, they’d do well to flaunt some cultural connections.
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