Moving on to Montpelier!

 13 June 2022

We had nothing officially scheduled today, so we made sure to take advantage of sleeping in. Check out of our Air BnB was at 11, so by 9 it was time to start moving. We managed to get ourselves combobulated right before 11 and headed out to find a brunch spot.

We settled on a place called The Spot. It was a Hawaiian surf themed restaurant. We sat outside and both had some tasty food. I know Ross was hoping for a beach vacation, but this is the closest to Hawaii he’s going to get for now. Before we could leave Burlington, we had to visit probably the most anticipated location of the entire trip…..the world’s tallest filing cabinet. Ok - maybe it wasn’t that impressive. It’s just plopped in the parking lot of a business center. And I want to know, is it the world’s tallest filing cabinet from the ground to the top? Or just from the cabinets, and not including the giant concrete pedestal it is standing on? The world may never know. 

After spending 5 minutes at the cabinet, we headed out of Burlington and started southbound. We had a few stops marked along the way before arriving in Montpelier. The first was Cider Hollow - a place that makes apple cider, hard cider, cider donuts…you get the idea. We were curious how it compares to the orchards back home. The fresh cider was good, but tastes the same and the donuts were fine, but did not have a cinnamon sugar coating on them, so I’d say not quite as good. We are convinced that Vermont and Wisconsin are basically the same place - both make cheese, cider, maple syrup, the sign in the cider place says “Don’tcha know”…..Vermont just has a few more mountains and moose. 

Moving on, we were going to stop at a Cabot cheese annex - but they’re closed on Mondays. So we headed to the next best thing - the Ben and Jerry’s HQ. They were mostly open, but no tours. Booo! We did get to see the flavor graveyard, played on the playground, and of course have some ice cream. Ross got the dairy-free Change the Whirrled Colin Kapernick flavor and I got the dairy-free Strawberry Marshmallow. Both were good, but Ross’ pick was better. As we walked back to our car, we saw a whole group of kids, filled with ice cream playing on the playground. Lots of the equipment spins, so we were expecting all that ice cream to come spewing out any moment. 

With another item checked off our list, we headed south to Montpelier. The state isn’t that big, so another 20 minute drive and we were there. Our next Air BnB was ready for us a little early, so we pulled in and checked out the new space. This little house is so fun! It’s a 700 square foot house built in 1900! The decorations are great and everything is very cheery. We will enjoy three nights here! Even though our day wasn’t that busy, we were both tired, so we crashed for a few hours. Naps are great!

A few hours later….time for dinner! The house we’re staying in has a few bikes, so we pulled them out of the shed and headed downtown. Both bikes are kind of rickety, but they get the job done. We found a Mexican restaurant to eat at and had another delicious and not overly filling meal. I was happy with the squash and veggie enchiladas. 

I was still a little hungry after dinner, so we biked over to the local grocery store to see if we could find anything to fill the void. We hemmed and hawed and Ross had the great idea to try the Cabot cheese we missed out on earlier. I snagged some Wheat Thins and two Granny Smith apples. I noticed the store didn’t have any plastic bags. Nice job Vermont! 

We got back to our place, Ross cut the cheese…..(nope that smell was just the dead skunk outside), and we tried our hand at some Parcheesi. The crackers, cheese, and apples hit the spot. Ross handedly won at Parcheesi. Another day done! Tomorrow is the day I have been looking forward to most! 

Stats for the Day:

Steps: 4,603

Similarities between WI and VT: At least 4 major ones

Subarus in sight at any given moment: 10