Tag Archive for: Northeast road trip

This was the last full day of our Northeast road trip.

We spent the night at a wonderful bed & breakfast, called the Willard Street Inn

Each road trip that we have gone on, we splurge for one night and stay at a fun bed & breakfast.  (Our other nights have been spent at Hampton Inn’s across the Northeast and we really like them as well).

Willard Street Inn

Willard Street Inn

This house was built in 1881 and was the home of a Vermont senator (I forget his name).

It was beautiful inside…

Willard Street Inn

The breakfast room overlooked the gardens…

Willard Street Inn

There was also fresh-baked Parker cookies and fresh lemonade…

Willard Street Inn

The staff was fabulous and even carried our luggage up three flights of stairs to our room.

Willard Street Inn

This is the view from our window that overlooks Lake Champlain…

Willard Street Inn

Before we left Burlington, VT for New Hampshire, we had to eat our breakfast first…

strawberry-banana pancakes, applewood

I had strawberry-banana pancakes, applewood smoked bacon and fresh fruit.  It was delicious!

Before leaving, I took pictures of the garden…

Bachelor's Button

Bachelor’s Button

Allium

Allium

White Dicentra

White Dicentra

Yellow Bearded Iris

Yellow Bearded Iris

Iris

Iris

Don't you just want to sit in the garden?

Don’t you just want to sit in the garden?

After we left our bed and breakfast, we headed for Sugar Creek Maple Farm in Woodstock, VT.

On our way, we passed by many picturesque farms.

green mountains

It was fun traveling the road through the green mountains and see what was around the corner…

Road Trip: New Friends

We arrived at the farm and were greeted by some new friends…

Road Trip: New Friends

At first, I thought this little goat wanted to be friends, but I think he really was hungry…

Road Trip: New Friends

Thankfully, there was some goat food for me to feed them.

After we visited with the goats, our attention was drawn to this adorable little calf…

Road Trip: New Friends

She was so friendly…

Road Trip: New Friends

And she like to lick our arms.  Her tongue was a little rough, but she was so sweet!

Road Trip: New Friends

Quite honestly, meeting her was the highlight of our entire day 🙂

After we visited with the animals, we saw a trail leading to a little chapel on the farm.

Road Trip: New Friends
Road Trip: New Friends

Inside was a pulpit that had an old Bible open to 1st Psalms.

Road Trip: New Friends

They had pictures of the beautiful weddings that they have here sometimes.

We passed a post with little signs on it.  As I looked closer, I saw that it showed the annual amount of snow that they have received in different years.

Road Trip: New Friends

It is hard to believe that so much snow can fall in one place.

Now, it was time to see where they made the cheese and maple syrup…

Road Trip: New Friends

We passed by one of the draft horses that they use to haul the sap from maple trees in early spring.  I said “Hi”, but he mostly ignored me.

Because this is a working farm, when we entered the building, we saw them wrapping the cheese in foil and then dipping it in wax.

Road Trip: New Friends

Because they package their cheeses this way, it can remain unrefrigerated for a few days.  

We were invited to taste the different varieties of cheese.  They were delicious, but I narrowed it down to three – Vermont Light, Mellow Cheddar and Cheddar Sage.  I know my husband will enjoy them as much as I will.

Then we tasted the different grades of maple syrup.  Did you know that there are different grades?  It’s not that one is better then the other – but they are different colors and are harvested at different times.

I chose a 16 oz. container of ‘Fancy’ maple syrup and I was able to fit into my suitcase.

I think I will make french toast later this week 🙂

We left the farm and continued our journey to New Hampshire.

I wish that I could say that we explored New Hampshire and did some shopping, but we decided not to because….

Road Trip: New Friends

It started to rain very hard and continued the entire day.

We did however, find a yarn store and bought some yarn for future projects.

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THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR JOINING US FOR OUR ROAD TRIP ADVENTURE.

I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO GOING HOME AND SEEING MY HUSBAND, KIDS AND TOBEY (MY LITTLE DOG).

We woke up this morning in Amish country and couldn’t wait to get started exploring some more.  As we drove through the countryside, we noticed an unusual amount of Amish buggies out on the road.

Amish country

Amish country

As we passed some of the farms, we noticed a huge gathering of buggies and horses…

Amish country

Amish country

Horses gathered together while their buggies were parked in a row.

Amish country

Horses play a huge part in Amish life.

Amish country
Amish country

As we drove into one of the small towns, I was on the lookout for the one Amish delicacy that I love…

Amish soft pretzel.

You have not lived until you have tasted an Amish soft pretzel.  They make them from fresh dough and bake them in a convection oven.

As I sat in the sunshine eating my pretzel, it was just a small piece of heaven.

There are also other Amish delicacies….

Road trip

Some of which, I have no desire to try….

I forgot to mention an incident from yesterday…

We were in the parking lot of Target, having picked up some essentials, when we heard a long siren go off, warning the city about ???.  We didn’t know what the signal meant.  There were clouds off in the distance, but they didn’t look too threatening.

My mom went and asked the lady who worked at Target what told us that it was the tornado siren that is tested every Wednesday afternoon.

So, we obviously stuck out as tourists – but seriously, we don’t get huge tornadoes in Arizona.

Road trip

For lunch today, we ate slices of fresh Amish wheat bread and some of our Amish butter.  It was delicious.

McDonald

McDonald’s has designated parking for trucks, buses, Amish buggies and RV’s.

Fairy Gardening

Fairy Gardening is quite popular in this area.  I like to imagine tiny fairies living in the garden.

The Amish countryside is so beautiful – I had so much fun taking pictures…  

Amish countryside
Amish countryside

As we left Ohio for Pennsylvania, we had to drive through a small part of West Viriginia.

Road trip

Super cute town.

Road trip
Road trip

Our goal this afternoon was to visit the grave of my grandfather along with my great-grandparents.

father's grave

My mother sprinkled some of her mother’s ashes on her father’s grave.

Then it was time to visit another cemetery where my 3rd great-grandparents were buried.

father's grave

We had a hard time finding this cemetery.  First of all, it is small and has not had any new burials for years.  As a result, there was no address for this cemetery.  I did follow the directions, but they made no sense..  My mother and I were ready to give up and drove into a parking lot to explore our options.

As we got ready to leave, I looked u AND there it was!  Right across the street!

It is always quite humbling to me to walk through a cemetery and see how long ago someone passed away.  I imagine what kind of life that they had.

father's grave

Both of my 3rd great-parents are buried underneath this marker.  The dates are beginning to fade.

Many of the grave stones showed that death occurred for many in the 1800’s.

Road trip

You will be proud to note that the trunk of our rental car is quite neat and clean, except for my Diet Dr. Pepper.

The same cannot be said for the interior of the car, however…  

Amish butter cheese

The backseat is filled with our cooler that containers our fruit and Amish butter cheese. Bags are filled with homemade Amish wheat bread and of course, we had some leftover pizza from tonight’s dinner.  The remaining bags are full of the results of our shopping.

We are having a fabulous time.

Tomorrow, we are off Niagara Falls!  

It is hard to believe that we have only been on our road trip for a single day.

We have done so much already….

First, we headed for German Village in Columbus, Ohio to visit my friend.

German Village

The homes here are over 100 years old…

German Village

Beautiful hosta fill their front garden.

German Village

My friend and her husband completely renovated their historic home along with the back garden.

German Village

Tracie and I used to work together, years ago in Arizona.She quickly became a special friend.

I have been fortunate to have been able to see her in three different locations over 3 years.

Two years ago, we met in Durham, NC when I was passing through.

Last year, she and her husband visited Scottsdale and we met for dinner.

This year, I was so happy to be coming to Columbus, where she now lives.

Another bonus is that I got to meet her new baby girl, Avery, who is just 6 weeks old.

I'm not sure why we took a picture behind the faucet

I’m not sure why we took a picture behind the faucet 😉

We had a great visit and soon it was time to get back on the road.

As we walked back to our car, we admired the beauty of this historical neighborhood…

German Village

We got in our rental car and started on our journey to Amish country.

On our way, we happened upon a ice cream factory as we were driving through Utica.

Velvet Ice Cream

We learned that Velvet Ice Cream has been making delicious ice cream for over 100 years.

So, we decided to check it out…

Road Trip

Once inside, we were faced with a problem….

Road Trip

There were over 60 flavors to choose from.

So, we decided to share the sampler plate, which had five different flavors…

Road Trip

We selected caramel honey, waffle cone, praline pecan, moose tracks and strawberry cheesecake.

The ice cream ended up being our lunch 😉

Then we continued on our trip to Amish country.

Amish farmers

Amish farmers were busy in their fields…

Amish farmers

Many Amish buggies share the road, but this Amish “pick-up” caught our eye…

Amish Butter Cheese

We took time to stop by and check out one of the many cheese factories.  We picked up some “Amish Butter Cheese” along with fresh-baked bread.  They will make a good lunch for tomorrow.

local restaurant

After eating ice cream for lunch, we felt that we needed a regular dinner, so we headed to Wooster and ate at a fabulous, local restaurant.

road trip

We have enjoyed our first full day of our road trip.

Tomorrow, we head to our next stop

Thank you for joining my mother and I on our journey 🙂

Well, after planning our Northeast road trip for a few months – we are finally on our way.

Amish in Ohio

Not much to show yet, but this shot of our plane descending into Columbus, Ohio.

We are staying at a hotel by the airport and will get our rental car tomorrow and will travel to Amish country.

I have visited Amish country in Pennsylvania and Indiana and can’t wait to see the Amish in Ohio.

**Besides the picturesque farms, the homemade items and the Amish people themselves – the thing I am most looking forward to are homemade pretzels.

Seriously – they are incredible!

I hope you join my mother and I as I blog about our road trip adventures.  *Update – click here to read about our next stop.

In just a few days, I will be boarding a plane with my mother as we embark on our second road trip together.

Last year, we toured the Midwest.  We started in Holland, Michigan and ended up in Springfield, Missouri. On the way, we visited Indiana, Illinois and Kansas.

Visiting Lincoln's tomb in Springfield, Illinois

Visiting Lincoln’s tomb in Springfield, Illinois

Our goal for road trips is to avoid major highways and take smaller highways.  The reason is that major highways are often screened on the sides with walls or trees and you don’t get to see the surrounding area.

My mother and I have road trips planned for the next few years – each one focused on a geographical area of the United States.

So this year, we are traveling to the……

Northeast!

 

geographical area

We will fly into Columbus, Ohio on Tuesday and will end up in Kennebunkport, Maine at the end of our journey.

On the way, we will visit:

Amish Country in Ohio

Washington, PA (just outside of Pittsburgh)

Niagara Falls, Canada

Geneva, NY

Potsdam, NY

Burlington, VT

and

Kennebunkport, ME

Although I have visited the Northeast before, my visits were usually confined to the coastal cities.  So, I am very excited to see all of these places.

Have any of you traveled to these areas?

Or maybe you live nearby?

What do you recommend we do?

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I will be bringing my laptop and camera along with me and will be blogging from the road.

I hope you’ll join me 🙂

Road Trip: Day 1