Sunday, October 16, 2005

My Trip to Vermont

Whew....

Back from our trip to Vermont, which was somewhat a disappointment in the foliage department, but a definite food and drink fest.

The fall colors weren't as varied as Cindy and I would have liked – a few fiery oranges, fewer reds, mostly lighter yellows – but still beautiful. Everywhere we traveled in Vermont (mostly the west/central part of the state) offered great scenery, inviting attractions and a welcome lack of gaudy signs and franchise overkill. More on some of those attractions in a moment; first the food.

On Monday night I had a wonderful free range oven hearth chicken with asparagus, garlic mashed potatoes and a super-smooth vegetable gratin. Heaven. Neither Cindy nor I could find any room for dessert, so we went back the next night for a chocolate bomb that was the bomb.

The next morning I got zipped up by sampling the various maple syrups at The Maple Museum. I never realized that the best of the syrups you can get in stores consist of only 3% maple syrup. Vermont (100% maple) produces syrup grades:

Fancy – light amber, mild maple flavor
A-Medium Amber – a traditional maple flavor
A-Dark Amber – a heartier maple flavor than A-Medium
Grade B – Very strong maple flavor, really stout stuff

They're all great and we bought some of all of 'em! (Just drop on by our house for pancakes anytime.)

Some of the touristy stuff was pretty good, as touristy stuff goes: The Norman Rockwell Museum, The Calvin Coolidge Museum, The Vermont Country Store (a really fun place) and the Robert Frost Trail. This last one is a great idea, mainly because it honors a writer. It's an outdoor trail interspersed with Frost's poetry every few yards. (It's ironic that there's a signpost at "The Road Not Taken" that points the correct way to go. You actually could walk in the other direction.) I'm not a huge Robert Frost fan, but just the thought of having poetry posted along a nature trail is way cool. I wonder if we'll ever see the Ursula K. Le Guin Nature Trail or the Kelly Link Rosebud Garden Path. Wouldn't that be cool?

(Cool also was Frost's cabin where he spent several summers writing, although you can't go inside).

We visited two breweries, the Long Trail Brewery and the Otter Creek Brewery, both of which have excellent offerings. I liked the Otter Creek Octoberfest beer best of all.

A lot of the really great stuff in Vermont you have to find on your own, but it's worth the effort. I met a guy that owns a used bookstore in Middlebury – he actually used to live in Bowie, MD (just five miles down the road). He sold me a Lucius Shepard book* and told me about a great restaurant in Middlebury called Tully and Marie's, where I had an absolutely succulent leg of lamb with carrots and potatoes.

The cottage where we stayed also served meals Wednesday thorough Sunday, so we ate there during our last evening in Vermont. The ribeye was exceptional, but the maple flan for dessert absolutely took me to another plane. Man....

So all in all, a great trip. Great food, great attractions, great used and independent bookstores, great people. I'm a Vermont fan for life.

Now Playing = "Sophisticated Lady" - Duke Ellington (America's greatest composer)

* I also discovered Vermont writer Joseph A. Citro's work (horror/suspense) which I highly recommend.

2 comments:

tcastleb said...

Awwww. . .Sophisticated Lady's one of my favorite tunes. Pathetically enough, it was Chicago who sang the first version I heard and fell in love with, but then I found a good one by Ella. There's a big band version with a written-out bari solo I got to play in rehearsal, but never for a concert.

Anyhoo, Vermont sounds cool. I've never really been back east (well, D.C. for three days and Boston for one) There's no color changing out here in San Diego. Well, green or brown, not much of an in between. And now I want some pancakes with some good syrup, darn it.

My concerto's not here yet. It's backordered. Grrrrr.

Andy Wolverton said...

Hang in there - the concerto will hopefully arrive soon.

I highly recommend Vermont. Wish we had gotten over to New Hampshire, but maybe next time. Boston is definitely on our to-do list.

San Diego may be green or brown, but at least you won't be shoveling snow in January...I'm not looking forward to that.