The last 7 months have been a struggle in terms of knowing that travel would be a challenge for the foreseeable future. Other than 2 trips to visit my parents in PA, I haven’t stayed overnight anywhere like a hotel, Airbnb, or traveled via public transportation. After much debating with Weny, we finally decided to take an overnight trip with friends to Vermont this last weekend. Weny claims that I never told her about the touristy stuff in New England like seeing foliage. My researchers found these claims to be false.
After picking up friends, we drove through MA and the southern part of VT on scenic route 100. However, it got dark and we abandoned the local roads for the highway on our way to Woodstock. We ate at Worthy kitchen after about an hour wait since it was the most popular restaurant in town. Afterward, in the hotel, we played Monopoly while we sipped on wine and Cheez-its. I proceeded to win the game after being the only player to own a block of property and built up some houses. Someday I hope to quench my thirst for collecting rent from others.
After an early morning wake up, Weny and I ate at Mon Vert Café, while her friends finished up a challenging run hike in the cold. While it was a shame to miss some of the views on the trail, Weny’s knee wasn’t ready to take on the challenge. After making a stop at another coffee shop, we made our first stop to Sugarbush Farms to sample cheese and maple syrup. The sharp cheeses managed to knock some of us out. Weny and I ended up buying a small pack of the more mellow and smoked cheeses. We also got a bottle of dark robust syrup for some baking fun at home. The farm had a small exhibit with a history of maple syrup harvesting and overlooked some hills where we took plenty of pictures. They also had some smelly farm animals and a small trail among the maple trees.
Overlooking the hills at Sugerbush Farms
The next stop was at Quechee Village where we saw lots of antiques and browsed through a flea market. The indoor shops had nicely displayed items and included a pretty comprehensive toy museum. We marveled at some of the toys we played with as kids as well as some of the questionable toys like the creepy-ass dolls and realistic-looking guns. The antiques were highly-priced, but at least you don’t have to dig through piles. I was eying some old cast iron pans, but they were fetching a lot more than what I was willing to pay. At the end of our loop at the shops, some in our group fed the alpacas. Their fur was so soft and puffy.
Less crowded and disorganized alpacas
After antiquing, we drove to nearby Norwich where we got some baked goods and shopped at King Arthur Flour. The croissant was light and airy, without being greasy. The sourdough coconut loaf was also very soft, but the mix of sourdough and sweet was strange to both of us. I also wanted to declare that Weny’s brownies and cookies were superior. While we had to wait almost 45 minutes to get food and go to the store, it seemed like coming home to the motherland after so much baking during the pandemic. Weny and I are almost done with a 50-pound bag of King Arthur Flour we got near the start of the pandemic during the flour shortage at grocery stores. At the shop, we got some bread flour, a gnocchi board, vanilla bean paste, and a tote.
We're home at King Arthur Flour
After eating most carbs in the last couple of hours, we had lunch at Big Fatty’s BBQ. While you might not think of VT as being a hot spot for BBQ, I have to admit that the one thing they nailed was the tenderness in their brisket and pulled pork. The pulled pork was one of the best that Weny ever had in her brief experience of American BBQ. The texture of the brisket was the best I’ve had outside of Texas.
After Big Fatty’s, we started our drive home and made a stop at an apple orchard, Carter Hill Orchard, for some apple cider donuts and cider. The cider donuts ended up being the best apple cider donuts both of us had in quite some time. Between the two of us, we ate 7 donuts in the following 12 hours. They were legit. At the orchard, we took some more pictures and enjoyed the view on top of a lookout platform where you could see birds of prey migrate (We didn’t see any birds of prey migrate). The last couple of hours back home was filled with a lot of carpool karaoke of rap, power ballads, and Disney. I was wiped out after the long drives, but it was nice to get away and get some travel done even though the thought of the pandemic still looms over us. We’re going to be planning a few other small trips in New England before winter. Let us know if you have any suggestions!
Amazing Apple Cider Donuts at Carter Hill Orchard
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