Our Vermont Trip Part 3- On the Town.
We did quite a bit during our trip to Vermont. On our first day we went to my favorite place, up top of Mt Mansfield in Stowe, which happens to be the tallest mountain in Vermont. We have always taken the gondolas up but because there were so many of us and it's too cheap of a ride, we opted to take the Toll Road which was an adventure in itself. Very very narrow roads and very very winding. I'm so glad I left the driving to daddyo, especially when we met another car coming down!
That's a cliff just outside the window there.
Once we drove as far as we could, we decided to take a quick hike on the trail.
We didn't really dress for the occasion of hiking as we had all expected to take the gondolas up until my dad mentioned last minute that we should drive. We may have been the first ever to climb part of the mountain in sandal and flip flops!
Our whole crew at the top.
Liam and Evan have never been to the top of the mountain, and Ian was only 5 months old last time we went up so I was so happy to get all of my boys to my favorite place on top of the world! There used to be Alpine Slides which we always visited when I was growing up but a few years ago they did away with them. They now have a zip line... We almost did it and then I chickened out. Flying down a mountain didn't exactly sound like my kind of thing, maybe next time.
There was still a little bit to go up but would have been too hard for the babies so after everyone began back my aunt suggested we ditch them and finish climbing. So we did!
We would have stayed up there all day but were afraid they'd all send a search party looking for us. And here's proof I wore sandals... Only a Florida girl!
No trip to the Stowe area is complete without a visit to Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream Factory. The house we rented is just 5 minutes from here... that made it dangerous!
Every time we go I get a picture of the kids on these steps. I now have 4 pictures, each time with a new child in it.
This guy doesn't even like ice cream but he did like my mom's Mango sorbet. I think he ended up stealing most of it!
He loves coins so he had to add this imprinted penny to his collection.
Somewhere I have a picture of the 2 of us in this exact photo op taken 10 years ago, except I was very very pregnant!
The babies did it the best though!
One day while our parents and hubbies were golfing, my sister and I took the boys to Main St. Stowe which is about 15 minute car ride from the house. If you don't know about Stowe, it is voted one of the quaintest towns in America. It is perfect!
Full of bed and breakfast lodging places, cafes, and general stores.
This church steeple is the iconic symbol of the town, and seen everywhere on art and souvenirs.
We ate lunch here at the Cafe on Main. I had a chipotle black bean burger which was delicious! It's a tiny place but so good! Lots of good shopping here too!
For Hubby's birthday date, I stole him away from the farmhouse and we traveled back to Stowe where we rented some bikes. We've never taken a bike ride together but I think it's made us want to do more scenic bike ride dates in the future. My family and I used to rent bikes and ride the trail when I was younger. It's so much fun and you can see things you can't from just riding in a car.
We stopped a few times to visit the banks of the river that flows through the town.
In the background you can see Mt Mansfield.
On the trail you see lots of river scenes...
And lots of fields with the mountains or lodging resorts in the background. Also all of the restaurants that happen to back up to the trail have back entrances for those coming from the trail instead of by car, with a place to park your bikes and everything.
For lunch we ate at Grazers which boasted gourmet burgers. I had a black bean burger again. I debated between that and the salmon burger but after having a salmon burger at Cow Fish, I'm usually disappointed in others. We ate outside with this view.
And since we didn't have any kids around we got us some ice cream cones at The Scoop Shop next door and could actually finish them before they melted!
On our way "home", we stopped at Cold Hollow Cider Mill to pick up some apple cider donuts as a thank you to our family for watching our
On our last day we visited another favorite stop, Emily's Bridge. It's a popular haunt in Vermont. The story goes that Emily was left at the alter on her wedding day. She was so devastated that she ran off and jumped off this bridge and died (she must have hit her head because it's not deep at all). Anyway, she haunts the bridge looking for an eligible bachelor to spend the rest of her life with. Some say their car has stopped in the middle of the bridge without explanation and others say after driving on the bridge they notice hand prints all over their car. Make believe or not, I had one who was not too happy about walking or driving over the bridge. I may have had to bribe him to stand there to take a picture.
Below the bridge along the creek bank.
My dad really wanted to take the older boys hiking so we found a trail near by that wasn't too long called Sterling Falls Gorge. This cobblestone house was near the trail start. Not sure if it is a private home or what but it was adorable and took all I had not to walk over there and explore more!
At the bottom of the trail near the small waterfall.
The larger waterfall.
We had to pass this bridge on the way up to the trail and it asked me to take it's picture.
Our last night there we were recommended The Blue Stone for dinner. I thought it was pretty good as well as everyone else I think. This was located in Main St. Waterbury.
While we waited for the pizza, Ev was getting a bit crazy so we went for a little walk and discovered some train tracks just down the street.
And then we had to bring brother back to show him too.
And like I said before, our house was very close to Ben and Jerry's so we made one last stop there afterwards for dessert.
Peace, Love, and Ice Cream... it should be everyone's mantra!!!
Meg
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