Bye Bye Vacation

 Ok, so maybe it wasn’t a full fledged vacation. Two nights just weren’t enough to take in all that Vermont had to offer.
And we sort of got robbed of our last day. The weather guy said sun sun sunny all day on Friday, but he missed the mark big time. What he meant to say was non-stop downpours until 2:00pm.

So, we said a tearful goodbye to the Stowe Mountain Lodge, literally. I had talked up our last day as a planned pool day. So, when the rain came down, so did the tears.

For some reason the girls thought the weather was my fault. I guess I should take it as a compliment that the girls think I control the weather.

Instead, we ate our way back down the mountain. The current Vermont state motto is Freedom and Unity. I propose they change it to the Free Sample State. Because everywhere we went, stores were offering us generous free samples of their yummy products.

Our first stop was a working cider mill where the kids learned about the cider process from tree to jug. The kids were impressed with how many apples it takes to make just one jug of apple cider.

 I thought it was especially nice that they offered free cups of cider for anyone who wanted to try some.

In the same shop, you could sample all kinds of maple syrup. My favorite was the dark grade A amber syrup. Once you try this deliciousness, it’s hard to go back to the commercial stuff.

 This came home with me. I can just imagine how good this will taste over a roasted pork loin or oven roasted root vegetables.

 And thanks to a reader’s tip, I stopped at the Cabot Annex where we sampled all kinds of tasty cheeses. The Cabot Factory was too far of a drive, but this was just enough for us to see and taste.

Conveniently, the Lake Champlain Chocolates shop was located right across the way from the Cabot Annex. More free samples, but this time chocolate. And not any chocolate, the good stuff.

Normally I’m a straight arrow Hershey’s girl, but this stuff is excellent. The factory seconds price was $19.99 per pound, if that gives you any indication on how high end this stuff is.

That free sample was much appreciated by my kids because they know not to touch the tiny sack I brought home just for myself.

Sorry, at $19.99 per pound they get Hershey’s until they get a job and can purchase the high end stuff themselves.

By the time we were done free sampling our way down the mountain, we all felt like little moo cows. Stuffed. We did purchase some fun stuff at the stores. Things we can’t easily get at home. Including this bit of nutty heaven…

So good over toast or straight off the spoon. Not that I encourage that type of behavior. In front of the kids when they are looking anyway.

Once all the bellies were full and happy, we piled into the car to make the incident free trek home. A great mini vacation that will not be soon forgotten. Especially when I step on the scale tomorrow morning. Oy.

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