02 Sep
30 Aug
Earning Your Eats the Old-Fashioned Way: The White Cottage Snack Bar
After our adventurous descent down Mount Tom’s Precipice Trail we were hungry. Very hungry. Not handmade local croissant or organic frittata hungry. But cheeseburger hungry. Milkshake hungry. Lobster roll hungry. Fried clam strips hungry. You know what I mean. And after hiking up and down a beautiful Vermont mountain with two four-year olds and a five-month old we had earned our eats the old-fashioned way. The White Cottage Snack Bar in Woodstock may be America’s most beautiful roadside burger and shake joint. The signage,... Read More
24 Aug
The Perfect Al Fresco Lunch: Trap Door Bakehouse, Quechee, Vermont
When the boys were younger, say one and two years old, we considered finding restaurants with picnic tables equivalent to winning the lottery. Meals were so much more enjoyable with a little more room to breathe and a little more space for the noise to carry. Now that they are older and a very wee bit calmer, we do okay at inside tables. But a place like the Trap Door Bakery and Cafe makes you question why you would ever eat indoors again. This place served up the perfect midday meal, allowing us to assemble our own tasting menu of frittata... Read More
20 Aug
Get Ye To Church (Or At Least to a Church Blueberry Festival)
We were driving down Route 5 from our campground to downtown Brattleboro when I saw it. One of those small signs sticking out of the ground that usually announce politicians or lawn services. This one was advertising a blueberry festival at the local First United Methodist Church. Did you see that, I asked Jeremy, my voice quavering with excitement. The hours were from 7 to 2. Do you know what that means? My husband stared at me, wondering what exactly he was missing here. I clarified. Seven a.m. That means…PANCAKES! Blueberry pancakes... Read More
13 Aug
A Rainy Day in Vermont and a Glass Factory: Our Family-Style Anniversary
It rained from dawn to dusk today on our 13th wedding anniversary, but I’m pretty sure we managed to make it as romantic as possible with my lovely mother and three kids in tow. The Simon Pearce Glass Factory in Quechee is just simply a beautiful place, and even though the price tags on their items are too rich for our blood, the views (and glass factory tour) are free. We got to watch from just a few feet away while the craftsmen created vases and bowls and glass pumpkins. Jeremy seems to have developed a bit of a man-crush, but I am... Read More
13 Aug
More Food, and the Best Kind (eating in Brattleboro, cont.)
Walker Farm, an organic farm and market was just next door to our campground outside of Brattleboro. My mother and I regretted bringing any food whatsoever from New Jersey once we stumbled into this place. We tried to restrain ourselves from buying one of everything. Instead we left with a random assortment including corn picked that morning, a melon, a cucumber, two raspberry cookies, and some local goat cheese. The real find ended up being some Beer Bratwurst from Green Mountain Smokehouse. The next night we had the brats loaded up with... Read More
12 Aug
