We are currently in Vermont for a few days. This is such a beautiful and rural state. Every bend in the road offers a new delight! Each small town and village had a special charm all of its own. What I adore about Vermont the MOST is the antiquing! Hubby and son sat in the shade while eating donuts and drinking down fresh cider from the Cold Hollow Cider Mill while I poked around in this wonderful barn from 1828. In fact it's called the 1829 Antique Center! Three floors of wondrous treasures fill this barn and just looking at the wonderful huge, hand-hewn timbers inside is a thrill on its own!
I also visited the nearby Green Apple Antique Center in Jeffersonville, VT. It, too, is crammed with wonderful offerings! Near our hotel in Waterbry, is the M. Lewin Antiques. This tiny shop is a delight for folks who love vintage sewing like I do! There is quite an assortment as well as other fun things! I managed to add several fun things to my stash on these excursions!
Now, the first thing we did today was stop at the Ben and Jerry's Factory! YUM! We took a tour which was topped off with a generous free sample of one of their newest flavors for 2007: Creme Brulee! Delish! I can't wait to find it at my local grocers! Here is a tombstone from Ben and Jerry's Flavor Graveyard. Sorry Suzy aka GeorgiaPeachez ;)
We drove through Stowe and up a winding hill to this place. In 1997 I was in Salzburg, Austria and took the Sound of Music bus tour. Silly, I know, but it was the cheapest way to see the area and you did get to see cool locations from the movie (while putting up with the movie soundtrack blasting through teh tour bus). Well, ten years late I find myself on top of a mountain in Stowe...
This is the Trapp Family Lodge. The family toured the world singing their little hearts out and making big money after being chased out of Austria by the Nazis. They eventually settled in Stowe and built this lodge. And, yes, when I went in the gift shop, the soundtrack from The Sound of Music was blasting in there. My Trapp family journey from Austria to the USA is now complete...
One of the more thrilling parts of our day today was driving up Smuggler's Notch. There's no worry with falling off the mountain, but more worry of running into one of the huge boulders which are on the edge of the road.
But this little sign on the information hut was so funny. I guess they don't want the doggies getting hurt climbing around on the rocks!
But why is the Target Dog on the bone? Isn't he a cutie?
More later! XXOO, Beth