Adventures in Vermont

Last week, Brent and I ventured to the faraway land of New England! When we arrived in Vermont, we walked down to Lake Champlain. I was told that some people call it the 6th Great Lake. As a Michigander, I take my Great Lakes pretty seriously, so I had to see for myself how great it was. It turns out it is a nice lake, but I wouldn't call it "Superior" to any of the true Great Lakes. Hahaha! Get it! I worked in a bad Great Lake pun. This is shaping up to be my best post ever!

It was really interesting and beautiful to see the ice of the once frozen lake breaking up with the spring weather.

Downtown Burlington features a lovely pedestrian mall called Church street. I got one of the most delicious mochas I've ever tasted from Lake Champlain Chocolates. Apparently, the bronzed saxophonist knew about the quality of the mocha, and asked me for a sip.

"Sorry, between myself and my chocolholic boyfriend, there isn't enough to share"

The next day, we went on a beautiful, snowy hike up to the top of Stowe Pinnacle. Sometimes I think hiking is just a fancy name for walking around in the woods, but since we needed hiking poles to get up the icy terrain, I think this trek definitely counts as a true hike. It was a perfect day, and the views were spectacular!

Watch out for Kelly Bears, though. We spotted one atop the pinnacle.

After our semi-strenuous hike, we were feeling hungry! Luckily, our intrepid host Ben knew just the spots to take us to sample some of Vermont's best local fare without having to pay a dime! Our first stop was in the adorable town of Stowe, at the Stowe Mercantile. This place is a free sample extravaganza! They carry hundreds of specialty products, and there were at least 30 different items available to sample around the store. I fell in love with their horseradish maple mustard, and Brent couldn't get enough of their wasabi peanuts and bittersweet chocolate sauce. We had to buy some, even though Ben insisted that we shouldn't feel pressured.

Next we went to the Cabot Cheese headquarters for some serious cheese tasting. They had samples of every cheese flavor they offer, along with samples of maple syrup and a few other specialty items. It was like my own personal Disney World. There was so much free cheese that I actually got to a place where I had enough cheese. This is probably only the second time in my life that this has happened (The first time being cheesefest '98 where my sister and I gathered everything cheesy in our house and nibbled til we dropped).  Brent loved the horseradish cheddar the most.  My favorite was the vintage cheddar aged 18 months.  Crumbly and perfect!  Yum!

Our host Ben doing his best cow impression.

After cheesefest '11, we walked next door to the Lake Champlain Chocolate store for some free chocolate samples. Everything was delicious! Needless to say, after all of the hiking and free goodies, Brent and I took the most epic vacation-food-coma nap I've ever had (excluding post-Thanksgiving dinner).

The next day, Brent and I headed back to Stowe for a cozy, small-town afternoon. We stopped by the Cold Hollow Cider Mill where we tasted delicious hot apple cider, and I found this corn bread mix that comes in the shape of an ear of corn!!!  Too cute!

Finally, we couldn't leave Vermont without stopping by the Ben & Jerry's Factory tour!  We weren't allowed to photograph the factory (for fear that Haagen-Dasz spies may have been among us), but we did get to see where the chunks, swirls, and flavors get added, and the vast tubing network that pumps 100,000 pints of ice cream through the factory everyday.  We also learned that one lucky B&J's employee is the quality inspector (aka taste tester)! Yum!

My first visit to Vermont was definitely action packed!  Thanks to Ben and Lori for their excellent hospitality! It was also very nice to meet their friend Jen!