A (long ish) weekend in NYC called for a road trip. I had originally planned on going to PEI and New Brunswick, but Lingon ended up having a conference in Toronto at the tail end of our road trip period, so off towards Canada we went.
We started off the drive by going through the Taconic State Parkway, which is a parkway that sort of starts in the Bronx, and took us up to Vermont. It was a pretty road, mostly well maintained, lined with many trees and state parks. Our trip was in early September, so while it was not prime fall colours time yet, some of the leaves had begun to change to yellow and red, though not the dark crimson colours I was hoping for. One takes what one can get!
Our first destination was Woodstock, VT. I had read this article on northeast roadtrips, and pretty much stole the itinerary there. Our first stop was the Woodstock Farmer's Market, recommended by friends who went to school in New Hampshire, and boy were we hungry after being in the car for what seemed to be over 5 hours. I got a piece of salmon, and Lingon got a turkey wrap, both were very good. The market itself had a ton of fresh produce, flowers, etc., anything you would expect at a market. It also had a huge cooked food deli section, salads and pastries/bakery section for to go, or eating at the lovely seating right by the river outside. Great quality food, and overall charming and cute.
We drove past the White Cottage Snack Bar, where said article told us to eat ice cream and fried food, but unfortunately we had eaten too much the past few days in NYC, so I had to give a pass to both. I was crushed. But we did not say goodbye without taking a quick photo.
Such sadness as I see that photo again. :-(
Next, we check out the Woodstock Inn, which is the premium lodging in town. We took a walk inside, and it seemed cute and cozy, but for some reason did not seem like my kind of place to stay. (Also, after seeing how small the town was, I'm glad we did not - I had thought about spending 2 nights here! The town was super cute, but it was tiny!)
We walked a little and saw this funny sign for Suicide Six which for some reason does not seem very funny now, and a tad inappropriate, just by itself.
Other things the article told us to do included Gillingham's General Store, Yankee Bookshop (Vermont's oldest continuously operated independent bookshop) and The Prince and The Pauper (a restaurant institution - some guy saw us checking it out and told us it was really good and to check it out for dinner since it was closed for lunch). So we visited!
Then, we went back to our car, and guess what, we got a parking ticket!!! The meter was camouflaged into the railings where we were parked. Sneaky. It was the nicest, and one of, if not, the cheapest tickets we had ever received, and it said basically to pay $10 for the ticket or support a local store and purchase something and they will reverse the ticket. So we went to the general store and Lingon got a $2 coffee. Haha. If only all parking tickets could be that nice. We got a $85 ticket from SFPD, not quite so nice or forgiving. Lol.
After that, we headed to Quechee. No idea how to pronounce that name. Our friends had told us of a good lunch spot, Simon Pearce, which ended up being a glassblowing place too. Super cool, but all the products were $$$$. There was a dam right there too with an old rickety looking bridge that we drove across, really pretty area.
Next off, we went to Waterbury. Not sure if this is a big place, but there were actually 3 things we wanted to do there! The first, which was the highlight of my trip, was the Ben and Jerry's factory tour. Every ice cream lover's dream. The tour cost $4 and included a giant sample. Ours was the AmeriCone Dream, Vanilla Ice Cream with Fudge Covered Waffle Cone Pieces & a Caramel Swirl, which I devoured. I had fun, and the factory had cool pictures that were nice and bright and cheery.
Then, off to the Cabot Annex Store for cheese samples. Both this and our last stop closed at 6pm, and it was something like 5.42pm, and each place was 1 minute from the past, so I can't say much about it except I speed-ate a ton of cheese samples and they were yummy. Lingon joked that this was our dinner, so I probably ate a bit more than I should have, but no regrets there!
Lastly, to the Cold Hollow Cider Mill, where I had a yummy super cold refreshing sample of cold pressed apple juice. My old roomie said this was a must-visit, and I'm glad I did!
Sad I did not get to spend more time in both places. But maybe some day we will come back!
We spend the night in at the Sheraton in Burlington, VT, which was uneventful, great beds for a good night's sleep. Our Starwood Platinum breakfast was a free entree at G's Restaurant, but we did not even make it to breakfast to see what it was. Yelp gave it pretty dismal reviews, so no regrets there.
We had dinner at Misery Loves Company in Winooski, VT, which really seemed like an extension to Burlington. Got the beef tartare, scallops, and squid ink spaghetti. The beef tartare tasted a bit weird (some weird herb-y thing) but otherwise dinner was enjoyable.
The next morning we drove off, to Canada, and our short visit to Vermont ended.
We started off the drive by going through the Taconic State Parkway, which is a parkway that sort of starts in the Bronx, and took us up to Vermont. It was a pretty road, mostly well maintained, lined with many trees and state parks. Our trip was in early September, so while it was not prime fall colours time yet, some of the leaves had begun to change to yellow and red, though not the dark crimson colours I was hoping for. One takes what one can get!
Our first destination was Woodstock, VT. I had read this article on northeast roadtrips, and pretty much stole the itinerary there. Our first stop was the Woodstock Farmer's Market, recommended by friends who went to school in New Hampshire, and boy were we hungry after being in the car for what seemed to be over 5 hours. I got a piece of salmon, and Lingon got a turkey wrap, both were very good. The market itself had a ton of fresh produce, flowers, etc., anything you would expect at a market. It also had a huge cooked food deli section, salads and pastries/bakery section for to go, or eating at the lovely seating right by the river outside. Great quality food, and overall charming and cute.
We drove past the White Cottage Snack Bar, where said article told us to eat ice cream and fried food, but unfortunately we had eaten too much the past few days in NYC, so I had to give a pass to both. I was crushed. But we did not say goodbye without taking a quick photo.
Such sadness as I see that photo again. :-(
Next, we check out the Woodstock Inn, which is the premium lodging in town. We took a walk inside, and it seemed cute and cozy, but for some reason did not seem like my kind of place to stay. (Also, after seeing how small the town was, I'm glad we did not - I had thought about spending 2 nights here! The town was super cute, but it was tiny!)
We walked a little and saw this funny sign for Suicide Six which for some reason does not seem very funny now, and a tad inappropriate, just by itself.
Other things the article told us to do included Gillingham's General Store, Yankee Bookshop (Vermont's oldest continuously operated independent bookshop) and The Prince and The Pauper (a restaurant institution - some guy saw us checking it out and told us it was really good and to check it out for dinner since it was closed for lunch). So we visited!
Then, we went back to our car, and guess what, we got a parking ticket!!! The meter was camouflaged into the railings where we were parked. Sneaky. It was the nicest, and one of, if not, the cheapest tickets we had ever received, and it said basically to pay $10 for the ticket or support a local store and purchase something and they will reverse the ticket. So we went to the general store and Lingon got a $2 coffee. Haha. If only all parking tickets could be that nice. We got a $85 ticket from SFPD, not quite so nice or forgiving. Lol.
After that, we headed to Quechee. No idea how to pronounce that name. Our friends had told us of a good lunch spot, Simon Pearce, which ended up being a glassblowing place too. Super cool, but all the products were $$$$. There was a dam right there too with an old rickety looking bridge that we drove across, really pretty area.
Next off, we went to Waterbury. Not sure if this is a big place, but there were actually 3 things we wanted to do there! The first, which was the highlight of my trip, was the Ben and Jerry's factory tour. Every ice cream lover's dream. The tour cost $4 and included a giant sample. Ours was the AmeriCone Dream, Vanilla Ice Cream with Fudge Covered Waffle Cone Pieces & a Caramel Swirl, which I devoured. I had fun, and the factory had cool pictures that were nice and bright and cheery.
Then, off to the Cabot Annex Store for cheese samples. Both this and our last stop closed at 6pm, and it was something like 5.42pm, and each place was 1 minute from the past, so I can't say much about it except I speed-ate a ton of cheese samples and they were yummy. Lingon joked that this was our dinner, so I probably ate a bit more than I should have, but no regrets there!
Lastly, to the Cold Hollow Cider Mill, where I had a yummy super cold refreshing sample of cold pressed apple juice. My old roomie said this was a must-visit, and I'm glad I did!
Sad I did not get to spend more time in both places. But maybe some day we will come back!
We spend the night in at the Sheraton in Burlington, VT, which was uneventful, great beds for a good night's sleep. Our Starwood Platinum breakfast was a free entree at G's Restaurant, but we did not even make it to breakfast to see what it was. Yelp gave it pretty dismal reviews, so no regrets there.
We had dinner at Misery Loves Company in Winooski, VT, which really seemed like an extension to Burlington. Got the beef tartare, scallops, and squid ink spaghetti. The beef tartare tasted a bit weird (some weird herb-y thing) but otherwise dinner was enjoyable.
The next morning we drove off, to Canada, and our short visit to Vermont ended.
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