Vermont: Days 1-5

Photo: Hammond Covered Bridge

Day 1: 09/25/22

  • The new adventure begins!
  • The Plan: See scenic Fall colored leaves in Vermont, New Hampshire and Michigan!
  • Went through Texarkana to Memphis. Nice drive overall. Several donut shops spotted on the way but alas, no time to stop today.
  • The Aggies played Arkansas on Saturday and won so….. The TXDOT sign in Texarkana said “Don’t Swine about it just buckle up for safety – Go Aggies!” I’m sure all the Arkansas fans just loved that as they were driving back home. lol
  • About 511 miles today

Day 2: 09/26/22

  • Breakfast at the Fairfield hotel and Nothing but a long road today… Memphis, Hopkinsville, Nortonville, Louisville, Cincinnati, to Columbus, OH. Glad to finally get to the hotel tonight.
  • About 581 miles today

Day 3: 09/27/22

  • Breakfast at the Fairfield hotel this morning and ready to hit the rode!
  • Beautiful drive today on our way to Vestal, NY. Leaves not turning yet, but you can tell they are getting close.
  • HIGHLY recommend the Chautauqua Overview / Rest Center. The view is awesome and the rest center is spotless. Could easily spend a hour here just appreciating the view and a picnic type lunch.
  • Spent the night in Vestal, NY at the Marriott Courtyard there.
  • Dinner at Kampai – a Japanese Steakhouse. Good overall
  • About 475 miles today

Day 4: 09/28/22

  • Breakfast at the Courtyard and on to our Courtyard in Middlebury, VT tonight so making it to Vermont today baby!
  • Beautiful drive today but slow….with traffic. Some color changing beginning with the leaves. Several stops today.
  • Bennington Battle Monument: Beautiful monument to the Revolutionary battle that took place here in 1777. The British came for the storehouse but were repelled. This defeat set up the British for there surrender at Saratoga one month later. Sadly couldn’t go to the top of the monument as the elevator and gift shop were closed since it was a Wednesday.. Still trying to figure that one out. 🙂
  • Next up was Mulligan’s of Manchester for a quick lunch. Clam chowder and a Reuban sandwich with homemade cherry pie for desert. YUM!!!
  • Continued up historic 7a to the New England Maple Museum. Great artifacts and short film on the making of maple syrup. Quick fact is it takes 40 gallons of tree syrup boils down to 1 gallon of maple syrup so think about that next time you pour the maple on your waffles in the morning. Of course the Museum had every kind of souvenir available that you could want.
  • About a mile up the road was the Hammond Covered Bridge. This is a beautiful old covered bridge build in 1842. Hopped out for a few pictures and then onward HO!
  • Last stop before the hotel was the Vermont Hard Cider Company. They are the makers of Woodchuck Hard Cider and man is it GOOD!! Literally 20 different flavors/kinds of cider here. It’s a big operation that has a short self guided tour you can take that is well worth the time. After the tour onto the tasting room for a sampling of their hard work! Lisa really liked the Belgian White, Winter Chill, and the Barrel Select (rye based) so……. 3 squealer’s later we were headed down the road to the Courtyard by Middlebury to spend the night and plan out tomorrow.

Day 5: 09/29/22

  • Busy day today so quick breakfast at hotel and then left Middlebury headed north. First stop was Artisan Coffee in Waterbury Center. Cool photo of the silo outside that says coffee. Finally, a thermos big enough!!!
  • Next stop the Trapp Family Lodge Kaffeehaus Bakery Delicatessen Bakery. Drive was beautiful to get there and the food was good to. Looked like a great place to stay next time in the area.
  • Drove up to Stowe Cider but they were closed and didn’t open until noon. All the cider’s here appeared to be dry or semi-dry with only a couple of exceptions. As a side note all the cideries we stopped at (or tried to) didn’t open until 11:30 to noon so plan accordingly!!! NEXT!!!!
  • Lunchtime! Highly recommend Piecemeal Pies in Stowe. Cool shop and cool stop. Pastries were original and tasted great. We got a rabbit and bacon pastry, beef with mushroom and blue cheese pastry and a smoked trout pastry along with an oatmeal currant and a molasses ginger cookie. All were YUM! Definite stop here again.
  • Up the road to Fisher Covered Railroad Bridge. No walking or driving is allowed on it however the drive was pretty and it was cool to look at.
  • Next was Kent’s Corner Historic District; a pretty drive but the roads are bumpy.
  • Great next stop at Morse Farm Maple Sugarworks. We were there about 4 years again and it was like seeing an old friend again. Bought several nicknacks and my favorite a 1/2 gallon of very dark robust maple syrup. Go Mike!!!!! Spent about an hour there as we needed to book rooms for the night (score!! got them on points baby!) and make another stop or two.
  • Ellie’s Farm Market and Gift Shop was next on the stop list. They had some homemade items that her and her family made and sold (cool mittens for us as well as some pumpkins and cider). Rest of the shop was more Vermont antiques and such.
  • Back to the road and our next stop at the Northfield Falls Covered Bridge. This is a VERY cool old bridge you can drive across and it’s very photogenic. Make sure you drive across and take the back way up to Waterbury because it’s a beautiful if bumpy ride and BONUS score here…. There are 2 more covered bridges right after the main one so you get 3 covered bridges for one stop! We drove the back roads up to the Fairfield Inn & Suites in Waterbury to spend the night. Great hotel and highly recommend for its location, service and staff. Regarding the drives today the leaves were just starting to change with yellows, ambers, and reds appearing. Quite lovely however they did lack the “glow” status. Only the occasional tree exhibited the coveted glow status. No hillsides glowing yet.
  • Checked into the hotel for the night and while I walked across the street to the supermarket to get a beer Lisa made some new friends with a couple visiting from Bristol, UK. They talked for about an hour or hour and half in the lobby. Great conversation and great couple. He was retired from the beer trade industry. Upon pressed for his recommendation he said to try a Czechoslovakian Pilsner for the best beer flavor. After that he liked to drink ales as they were top fermented as opposed to lagers that were bottom fermented. But his final advice… DRINK WHAT YOU LIKE he said with a smile!!!! With that we said goodbye called it a night.

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