Vermont In Review

The bridge we would have taken from New York to Vermont was closed from the hurricane, so our route took us all the way north, within a mile from Canada to cross over.  As we passed through Au Sable Forks we saw some of the destruction; edges of streets were in crumbles, bridges had trees, logs & debris stuck underneath them & watermarks proved the water would have nearly covered our RV!

After several days without good coverage we were in desperate need (especially Jim) of a work day.  We parked at a Walmart hoping for good coverage & little distraction, but soon realized one of our inverters wasn't working, leaving us without electricity to charge our electronics (3 computers, one printer/fax, one ipad & two cell phones).  We finally resorted to our first hotel stay.  Jim loved having a desk to spread his "office"on, the girls loved the pool time & I loved that there was a mall next door to purchase a dress for an upcoming conference Jim & I will be attending.

With much accomplished, we were ready to actually enjoy Vermont!  We started in the lovely town of Stowe.  Our campsite was practically empty (love the advantage of traveling while kids are back in school!!!) and we had a great view of the Vermont mountains in the distance all around us.  We were anxious to explore and knew exactly where to start... Ben & Jerry's Factory Tour!  We watched a short movie about the company created by lifelong friends Ben Cohen & Jerry Greenfield. In 1977 they took an ice-cream-making correspondence course, splitting the $5.00 fee and by the following year had opened their first parlor in a renovated gas station... and the rest is history.  We then were able to view the production process through large windows and enjoy free samples of their flavor of the day which was Mint Chocolate Chunk.  Yum!  But one little sample just wasn't enough, so we stopped by the ice cream parlor on our way out.  With only the top sellers typically available at our grocery stores at home, here we had every delicious combination to choose from!  So we had to come back the next day... and the next...

Our favorites?

Jim: Everything But The...  (a collision of chocolate and vanilla ice creams with Heath Bar chunks, white chocolatey chunks, peanut butter cups & chocolatey covered almonds)

Jeanne: Chocolate Peanut Buttery Swirl (chocolate ice cream with huge chunks of chunky peanut butter)

Natalie: Mint Chocolate Chunk (mint ice cream with fudge chunks)

Alayna: Triple Caramel Chunk (caramel ice cream with a swirl of caramel & fudge covered caramel chunks)

As if we hadn't had enough calories, we also stopped for taste-testing at the local Cabot cheese shop, home of "the world's best cheddar".  Alayna was in heaven!  

One of our favorite food-stops while here, though was actually at Panera.  We try to avoid the chain restaurants while traveling, but just couldn't pass it up when we saw this sign... 

Only in New England!  Can't say we've ever spent $17 on a Panera sandwich before:)  Of course they also served Clam Chowder... now Jeanne was in heaven!

We loved the downtown area of Stowe and enjoyed a day of shopping and biking there.  Natalie & Alayna were quick to find a yarn shop where they could've browsed for hours.  Next door was a shop called the "Wooden Needle" that caught their attention.  There we met the sweetest lady who was so happy to introduce the girls to needlepoint, giving them a lesson and starter's practice kit asking for only an email of their progress in return.  The Stowe bike trail was a beautiful 5 1/2 mile (each way) ride through perfectly manicured parks, trees & interesting sights throughout town.  Sleigh rides, a corn maze, artsy sculptures, an elite dog-training camp, local artists in action, streams and scenery of the Vermont mountains to boot. 

One day from Stowe, we took a day trip 30 minutes south to Montpelier, VT- the smallest state capital in the U.S. with a population just over 8,000 people.  And it had the quaint, small town feel.  We found more fabulous food at The Skinny Pancake which, as the name indicates, is a crepe shop... a Marmon food favorite!  

Made with all local ingredients, we had the Johnny Crepe (Winding Brook pulled pork, Rookie's root beer bbq sauce, caramelized onions and Cabot cheddar in a cornmeal crepe with root slaw & extra sauce on the side), the Deja Vu Crepe (Winding Brook Italian sausage, sliced apples & cheddar with Vermont maple syrup & herb salad) & Heady Hot Dogs (Sugar Mountain Farm uncured nitrate free hot dogs dipped in Butterworks Farm corn batter & fried corn dog style, served with organic  ketchup, whole grain mustard aioli & salad) and ate them Marmon-style,  dividing it up so we each get a taste of everything!  Oh, so yummy.

Yummy homemade hot chocolate for dessert

Next we visited the Maple Sugarworks at Morse Farms... the farm that provided the delicious drizzle of maple syrup on our Deja Vu Crepe!

The woodshed "theater"

We were given a maple syrup history lesson via a short video learning facts such as:

~It takes 40 gallons of maple sap to make 1 gallon of pure maple syrup

~Each tree will give 10 gallons of sap in an average year

~Vermont is the largest maple syrup producer in the U.S.

~Pure maple syrup has the same calcium content as whole milk

And were educated on the sugarmaking process:

In the spring, sap is collected by drilling a small taphole into the trunk of the tree.  A spout is then inserted so the sap (which has the consistency & appearance of water) can drip into a bucket or into plastic tubing, which is most common today, running the sap to the sugarhouse.  Once the sap arrives at the sugarhouse, it's boiled in an evaporator where it increases in density until "syrup-y".  A hydrometer checks for proper sugar content, then the syrup is filtered, removing the gritty "sugar sand".  Next is the taste testing, color grading and packaging.  We couldn't leave without stocking up on maple kettle corn, maple candy and of course, pure vermont maple syrup:)

Our next destination was to a campground in White River Junction, VT a little over an hour south.  We had hoped to use this destination to explore the Green Mountains nearby.  Unfortunately, the remains of Irene kept us from getting anywhere near.  In trying, though, we happened across the sweet town of Woodstock which happened to be holding an art festival.  We chatted with artists, one in particular who was eager to share his love for painting in watercolors with the girls, and took a photo-op in a nearby covered bridge.

We visited a small church just south of us in Plainfield, New Hampshire which reminded us of a "Little House on the Prairie" service:)  And south of Plainfield, we found another fabulous covered bridge.

The Cornish-Windsor Bridge is so named because it connects Cornish, New Hampshire with Windsor, Vermont.  It was first constructed in 1866 with an original cost of $9,000.  Because of floods and wind damage, several reconstructions have taken place over the years.  The most recent in 1989 cost $4,450,000!  Being nearly 450 feet long, it's the longest wooden covered bridge in the U.S.

Another beautiful site near our stay was the Quechee Gorge, Vermont's deepest gorge.

 The girls (especially Alayna) love biking around our campgrounds to see what amenities they might enjoy during our stay.  Our site in White River Junction had the perfect spot for Artist Alayna.  She knew when she saw it that she needed a paintbrush in hand, so one late afternoon the girls took off on their bikes with their supplies and watercolored till the sun set.

So much more of Vermont we would have loved to see, if only we could've gotten there.  Guess we'll just have to revisit someday!

On to Massachusetts!

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A)  Stowe, VT
B)  Montpelier, VT
C)  White River Junction, VT
D)  Plainfield, NH
E)  Cornish-Windsor Covered Bridge