Long Weekend in Stowe

We spent a long weekend in Vermont - Waterbury, Stowe, Shelburne, and Burlington. Alix and Chance took lots of pictures from the road like this:

Our first stop on Friday was at the Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream Factory in Waterbury. http://www.benjerry.com/ We had a tour of the factory and then sampled the flavor of the day Strawberry Cheesecake (not so great).

After the tour Alix, Chance and Paul tried out their Spin Art techniques. Nice colors guys.

I think the highlight of the Ben & Jerry's visit for Chance was meeting two Bernese Mountain Dog puppies. He took several close up shots of them. The puppies were sweeter than ice-cream.

Next stop Bingham Falls in Stowe. The falls are a short hike from Route 108. Because of recent heavy rain the river was raging. We didn't let A&C venture too far into the water much to their disappointment.

Then up the road a bit to Smugglers Notch State Park.

http://www.vtstateparks.com/htm/smugglers.cfm

Paul and I had camped at Smugglers Notch several times before kids. Rain always accompanied our trips here and this trip was no different. We had rain Saturday afternoon and a downpour with thunder and lightning later that night. Alix was a bit freaked out with the lightning and wanted to seek shelter in the car but we were able to convince her to stay put in her tent. Chance somehow slept through the whole thing.

We had campsite #18 which was a park and walk a short distance in site. The site was very level and secluded. We were at the campsite only for sleeping as the rest of the time was spent sightseeing. A&C thought it was weird not to be spending time at the campsite.

Saturday we were up early and on our way to Shelburne. Along with way we stopped at a rest area outside Burlington. Chance thought this moose carving was cool and we all thought the farm tractor picnic tables were very original.

After our quick stop at the rest area we arrived at our destination of Shelburne Farms.

http://www.shelburnefarms.org/ The farm was created in 1886 as a model agricultural estate. In 1972, it was founded as an educational nonprofit. The nearly 400 acres of sustainably managed woodlands received Green Certification from the Forest Stewardship Council in 1998. The grass-based dairy supports a herd of 125 purebred, registered Brown Swiss cows. Their milk is transformed into award-winning farmhouse cheddar cheese right on the property.

We parked at the visitor center and walked the trail to the Farm Barn. The barn is amazing. Alix and Chance were convinced it had to be a castle and not just a barn.

We spent a lot of time at the Children's Farmyard where we were able to visit with a Brown Swiss cow and calves, goats and kids, sheep, a mama pig and her new piglets, crested hens and bantams, turkeys, and donkeys. Chance was enchanted with a very special chicken. Her name is Roadrunner. She was content to be carried around the farmyard in his arms. I thought for sure I would find Roadrunner smuggled out of the farm in Chance's backpack.

The day we visited was Green Mountain Draft Horse Field Day. We were able to watch

demonstrations of traditional farming methods - plowing, mowing, reaping. In addition to the draft horses there were also miniature horses. Alix loved them.

Our next stop was up to Charlotte to check out the Adirondack Guide Boat workshop.

http://adirondack-guide-boat.com/index.html

Paul saw one of their wooden boats on display at a rest area and wanted to check them out being a boat builder himself. The workshop was open and one of their employees was thrilled to give us a tour of their operation. But what was more thrilling was when the man asked Paul if he was ready to take one out for test ride. Paul politely declined but I told him to go for it. I could take the kids to the Vermont Teddy Bear Factory just down the road. Paul headed off with the man to a nearby pond for a row.

Down the road Alix, Chance and I went to take a tour of The Vermont Teddy Bear Factory.

http://shop.vermontteddybear.com/tour-essentials.html They enjoyed the tour but were not too happy about not being able to go home with a bear (a $60 bear just wasn't in the budget. They did get cute t-shirts though.

We picked Paul up about 90 minutes later. He had really enjoyed his quiet time in the boat.

Sunday we packed up a very wet campsite after having a campsite breakfast of bagel and eggs with sweet, happy-farm sausage. The plan for our last day was to drive through Smuggler's Notch and around to Burlington. Alix and Chance were amazed by the road through The Notch. We also did some exploring by walking and climbing through the rock outcroppings. We also found Smuggler's Cave.

Upon arriving in Burlington we drove down to the Lake Champlain to go to the ECHO Lake Aquarium and Science Museum. http://www.echovermont.org/ We came here almost two years ago. But this year Chance took pictures of two new species at the musuem -- an Alexander and a Natalie. We were so surprised to run into Alexander (Chance's best buddy), his sister, Natalie, and mom, Laurel.

We finished up our stay in Burlington with a walk along the boardwalk of Lake Champlain. It was a beautiful day. The kids spent some time wading in the lake and Paul and I relaxed on the grass.

Then it was time for our weekend to come to a close. As we left the city Chance noticed this gargoyle.

From the road a couple of final messages from Chance.