Cheesing it to Vermont!

This past weekend we packed up a suitcase and headed up north to the Green Mountain State in pursuit of some quality ice cream (in the form of Ben and Jerry's) and cheese (Cabot). Vermont did not disappoint.

On Saturday morning we drove straight up to Waterbury/Stowe thanks to a very tired Ellen who ended up sleeping for 2 1/2 hours of the 3 hour trip. At our arrival we checked into our hotel and stayed long enough to change a dirty diaper. We quickly took the locals up on recommendations for a lunch/brunch spot.

We then stopped at a Cold Hollow Cider Mill for some samples of apple cider. Which apparently, Ellie LOVES so much that she will drink it straight from mommy's cup. Alas, she was pretty messy when we left (only a prelude to what was to come).

Ben and Jerry's was waiting for us. After climbing up a small hill to park and hiking about 1/4 of a mile (it was pretty crowded) we elbowed past the international tourists (seriously, you come all the way from India or Germany to go to the middle of nowhere Vermont for a half scoop of free ice cream?) and got our tickets for the plant tour. Our tour time was about 50 minutes after we got the tickets which was barely enough time to decide on a souvenir t-shirt for Ellie and purchase some ice cream for us. We actually got some ice cream that is only sold in the Vermont plant scoop shop. Ellie LOVED the ice cream I picked out for us (Nick had his own double scoop of some coconut concoction which Ellie and I didn't like). She barely let me take my own bites! The tour was interesting, however, they weren't making ice cream that day, and the free scoop (one for each of us) of mint chocolate chunk at the end was awesome. What planning they did to have my favorite flavor of ice cream for samples!

Nick got a couple of pints for after dinner (ice cream OVERLOAD) and we took Ellie to play on a little playground. She really like racing Nick down the slide. We also visited the flavor graveyard, where they have "buried" all of the discontinued flavors.

After getting back to the hotel, Ellie and I went for a dip in the hotel pool. Then, maybe due to the ice cream or excitement of the pool, Ellie decided that she wanted to stand up and yell in her crib instead of sleeping. So Nick and I sat outside the hotel room, eating our takeout dinner, with the windows open, waiting for Ellie to fall asleep. Fortunately the weather was georgous. Eventually she did fall asleep and we quietly crawled back in to get our ice cream out of the freezer.

Sunday was chock full of more fun. We started the day by going on a bike ride. The hotel had bikes that you could borrow for free, including child trailers (something for Ellie to sit in which we attached to Nick's bike). Stowe actually has a recreation path which was beautiful. Ellie didn't enjoy her "hat" but really liked the ride. She was a real trooper for trying two new things (a pool and a bike ride) this weekend.

We then headed back to Cold Hill Cider Mill to purchase some cider, syrup, and applesauce and headed towards the town of Cabot and Cabot Creamery, home of the World's Best Cheddar (a title they won in Wisconsin!). We drove through Montpelier and Ellie got to see her second state capital (she also collected states 6 and 7 on this trip).

The plant tour and the free cheese samples did not disappoint. Full of tika-masala cheddar (seriously awesome) and some terrific sharp vintage cheddar we headed back towards Boston. On the way we drove through the White Mountain National Forest and Ellie collected her third state capital (Concord).

We had a great time. Nick wants to head back once the snow has fallen. I'm happy to go back next summer, and maybe make a trip over to Burlington to the Teddy Bear factory and hospital!