Came out this morning to this...
..fog.
The two things I thought I would do while it was still early and before the, apparently, huge crowds arrived, was Smugglers Notch and Emily's Haunted Bridge - a covered bridge called that coz that's where Emily threw herself into the river (as we learned last night).
Didn't fancy either in the fog - Smugglers Notch, because it's a narrow, steep drive and I wanted to be able to see the scenery. The bridge - well, it's haunted. And I wanted to be able to see it. So I waited til 8 for the coffee shop to be open and asked when did the fog usually disperse. Not til 10. Okay.
Spent some time searching for the money I had put 'in a safe place' when I took it out - obviously it's better to take out one large amount than lots of little ones coz you pay for each transaction. I was sure I had out it into the bag in the suitcase - coz that would make sense - keep it separate from the purse so if one goes, I've still got the other. Couldn't find it, kept looking through, thought I'll empty the bag later and search everything. Was looking for some stamps in the pocket where I keep the purse and there was the money - right next to the purse, so that theory worked well. Anyway, got the money now. Just couldn't find the stamps... Just retread this paragraph and it doesn't make a lot of sense! Oh well.
And, randomly, there was a kids show on TV while I was searching. On came the most disturbing things ever seen on children's television. They were meant to be cute, singing about recycling in a cute way, but have a look...!
That would give you nightmares!
While waiting for the fog to clear, I decided to go to the Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Factory tour first. It's ten minutes out of town and takes thirty minutes. It was great!
We were greeted by the guide -who was 12!...
..then up a staircase painted with cartoon cows with mooing being played. Into a little viewing room to watch an introductory movie on how Ben and Jerry created their business and made it successful after going halves in a $5 correspondence course on how to make ice cream. Very funny and well put together movie.
Then into the factory itself. As it's Sunday, the factory is obviously not operating but they show another funny and informative video while the guide explains how all the machinery works. They don't allow photography - like Willy Wonka - in case there are any spies, like from Haagen Daas!
Then into the tasting room where today's tasting flavour was triple caramel crunch. It was yummo! From there you could wander around on your own, through the top ten wall where they have the top best-sellers (I guess, didn't really check that). Love the flavour name Cherry Garcia. Then out the back to the graveyard, where flavours that have been discontinued have a headstone with funny rhymes.
This is a headstone - I cut the top off accidentally.
Back into town to check out of Butler House. This was a great place too - brilliant location, right in the middle of town. It is a self-contained apartment, not a B&B. there is a Mexican restaurant right downstairs which is great to order takeaway tacos, not so great if you don't like loud chatter going on til late - didn't worry me. Slept through it all.
Next on today's agenda is a drive through Smugglers Notch Pass - so named because smugglers used to pass through it with alcohol during the Prohibition and hide it in caves. It's part of the Appelation Trail. The drive up is really pretty. The roads narrow and the trees almost enclose them. It becomes one lane as it gets near the top so the driving is slow and careful.
There is a parking area and parking on the shoulder of the road. And it's packed! Managed to find a spot and clamber up to have a look at the caves.
It reminded me of Hanging Rock. Went further up the road to Smugglers Notch ski resort and then started back down again. Very pretty.
Driving back to town, I passed a farmers market so stopped in to have a look. So cool, all stalls with local produce and a band playing. Tried some cheese. Saw a stand with maple soda but at $4, it was a bit too much for something I was fairly sure was going to be horrible.
There was pumpkin chunking somewhere but I couldn't find it.
Next stop is Emily's haunted bridge.
When I get there, there's Mimi and Mitch (how perfect are those names!) who were on the lantern tour last night. We had laughed lots and so when I drove up and saw them there, we all laughed again. Apparently I had been a topic of conversation at their breakfast table - the brave Australian girl touring so far all by herself! Had a look at the bridge, saw where Emily went over, Mimi asked if I'd send them an update of my travels, so we swapped addresses, laughed some more and parted ways.
Here they are - perfect Kansas folk. Mitch said to say, "howdy, y'all" to the "folks back home."
Stopped at a place advertising vegetarian food for lunch - the Green Goddess. Ordered a grilled tofu wrap which was maple ginger marinated tofu with red onion, tomato, greens and lemon tahini dressing and it was delicious.
At lunch, I had the single travellers best friend - the iPad, for updating this blog. Since Philadelphia I have been taking notes so I remember stuff I want to write and remember. And I discovered it was good if I could get stuff written during the day. So when I have a coffee or a meal, I write this. If I miss a day of writing, it'll all be over - I'll miss one day, then another and another. There was one day in New York after the theatre, it was well after midnight and I'd written two thirds of the day, imported a photo, did something wrong and deleted the lot. Had to begin again! I think I finished about 2am that night.
Anyway, back to today. After lunch it was about 2 so I decided to head off to my next spot - Quechee, next to Hartford, Vermont. It was a relatively short 1.5 hour drive. Some pretty stuff along the way...
Arrive at Inn at Clearwater Pond and it's on beautiful grounds...
With two lovely rescue dogs giving their greeting.
It's a true B&B where the guest rooms are in one section of a private home. So it's not an inn, but a B&B. Tina, who runs the place, had been such a help, though email, in helping me plan this New England leg of the trip so it was nice to meet her. We went upstairs and she said she had a policy where if one of the bigger rooms was free, then a person would be upgraded at no extra charge. So I went from this (bad photo but you can see)...
To this...
It's gorgeous!!! Looooove it! And two nights.
Went down to Worthy Kitchen for a vegetarian lasagne - very different, it was kale, chard, roast leek and tomato and was delicious too. Back to watch some Law & Order SVU.
There is limited Wi-Fi here. I have a SIM card but I can't get it to work. If anyone has an idea what I'm doing wrong, can you email and tell me? I'll go downstairs and stand in the one particular spot where the Wi-Fi works and check emails in the morning.
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