Under the Vermont Sun

***WARNING: This blog entry is fully-loaded with colorful photos and is ridiculously long.***

Once upon a time, in a land up north, a kind gentlemanly gentleman helped his young, fabulous, super good-looking, ridiculously witty and hilarious wife celebrate her 24th birthday. He whisked her away to a land further up north taking her along windy roads lined with bright colored trees with sparkling clear water to the side.

Okay, that's about all of that I can muster. Flowery language, pah, who needs it! In case you couldn't decipher the Shakespearean-esque paragraph above, here is how the weekend went:

We woke up bright and early on Saturday morning and Kent straightened up the house while I neatly and strategically packed our bag for the weekend. Our beautiful, shiny, new Jeep drove us all the way to Wakefield, NH where we stopped at the Miss Wakefield Diner for a real breakfast. The waitresses were what Kent likes to call "surly" I just say they are energetic girls stuck in a small, quiet town. I must admit that they were much more interested in the 45-year-old regulars sitting at the counter than us. But we managed to enjoy ourselves anyway.
















And of course it wouldn't be a New Hampshire diner without a huge moose out front.









We continued our scenic drive up through New Hampshire and turned on to the Kancamangus Highway, which is a pleasantly situated route that takes you through miles and miles of trees, water, and mountains. Ladies and gentleman, this is the White Mountain Region.













Periodically along the Kancamangus are these spots to pull over, some more established than others. This one is Rocky Gorge. I guess they used to allow people to swim here a while ago, but then some silly chick couldn't quite handle the rapids and now there is NO swimming, not even for Kent. He was very sad about that...in fact, he couldn't even bear to read the whole news story the had posted about the incident. Beside being a death trap, Rocky Gorge did have some scenic vistas...

Kent really wanted to take a hike to get some better panoramic views so we stopped off at Mt. Potash. Our nice stroll through woods turned out to be not so much of a stroll...

We were lost in the thick trees for a while, but eventually Kent found an open ledge where I was nervous living on the edge, but he was able to enjoy his view.
















We finished our drive along the Kancamangus and over the mountain pass. Once we were back on a major interstate (I-93) we were able to visit the Old Man in the Mountain, who recently suffered from a botched face lift. He should really sue the plastic surgeon...




Then it was off to the Vermontian countryside. But first we had to satisfy Kent's extreme hunger for industrial buildings and trains in St. Johnsbury, which is where we crossed over into the land of cheese.












Naturally we found our way to Cabot Creamery to see the house that cheese built. Cabot Creamery is found in Cabot, VT named after some guy's girlfriend a million years back or so. I learned that interesting tidbit during the video portion of the factory tour. The tour was a bit limited, but it's cool to see the big tables of cheese they make...Can't catch me I'm the stinky cheese man.






After nibbling some cheese, we were forced out by a busload of crazy seniors (and not the fun or high school kind) who rudely showed up by the busload and didn't call ahead to give any warning. We left Cabot in our dust and continued west to Stowe, where we would be staying in the Honeywood Inn. We arrived after dark, and lights out means lights out. There were no street lamps along the road, and lighted signs are apparently optional, so it made for some interesting navigating. Needless to say, Kent got really good at his 3-point turn.

We had dinner the first night at a place called Cactus Cafe. It was neither a Cactus or a Cafe, so I think it's a bit misleading. They did have some rather tasty mexican food, although a bit overpriced. I guess that's what you get in resort towns. Once we got back we took a dip in the the hot tub, and I say dip because it was only deep enough to stick in one toe at a time.

Sunday we took it easy and were pleasantly surprised to find that the breakfast portion of the Bed and Breakfast was full service. They even gave us like 4 different hot options! I opted for the Apple Pancakes while Kent stuck with the tried and true scrambled eggs.

After showers and digestion we headed up into the mountains for a refreshing morning walk. Once again our walk was a little more than we bargained for, but at least this one had a clearly marked trail. We ended up at the top of Smuggler's Notch, which is a ski resort. Kent insisted on risking his life by climbing up to the top of the ski lift, (in wet sneakers mind you!) and couldn't quite grasp why I wouldn't look up and smile...











After the hike we were ready for an afternoon nap, so we drove down to the Waterbury Resevoir and picked out a nice spot on the grass. We lucked out with some beautiful weather, and it was nice to stay outside and rest up. We were run out of the park by yappy dogs and screaming children and decided to stop in downtown Stowe to check it out. They had an adorable looking covered pedestrian bridge and an old-fashioned general store. They also had a wire giraffe standing out front of their Town Hall, which I still can't figure out...



We ended up at Pie in the Sky for pizza. This place is owned and run by hippies. They all had long, curly hair, some with dreds and they all smelled like hemp. In other words, not my normal crowd. But true to form, they were very peaceful and provided some pretty tasty pizza. Once we were back in our room, we watched the Red Sox game while Kent clobbered me in Scrabble. Just as a side note: Kent only wins because he gets lucky with points. He'll put down a 3 letter word and get 25 points while I come up with these awesome words and stretch out the board. I just thought everyone should know.

Monday morning led us to another hot breakfast (Blueberry Waffles - Kent, French Toast - Mel) and check out from the Honeywood Inn. On our way out of Vermont we stopped by the Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Factory. Let me just say I was a bit disappointed. First, they don't really produce ice cream for the company here. Secondly, on this particular day they weren't producing ANY ice cream at all. NONE. Not a single scoop. They told us the Factory Tour would consist of an additional video to show the production process. L-A-M-E. So we looked around the gift shop and then peaced-out of there. LOL









All in all the birthday was great. We had beautiful weather, beautiful foliage, and beautiful company. Aaaahhh. We made excellent time home and then met up later with my sister Amber and roommate Michelle for some yummy pasta for a birthday dinner. Then Kent had made me an excellent chocolate cake, so that made dessert.

And no, I won't tell you what I wished for.