Ben and Jerry's

On Sunday, we had our friend Wendy, who was in town back from a music camp, over for brunch. Again, I hadn't seen her for three years. It's strange to spend such a short amount of time with someone I used to be very close with. And it also felt awkward because I felt bad that she's been struggling with relationship/fertility issues for so long when I can not honestly be very empathetic since I get pregnant so quickly (though not now, hopefully). But she is so wonderful, so it was great to see her. She was beating herself up for not having kids earlier in life. But what did we really know, then? We were the product of such a strange generation of thinking we could have kids later in life and wanting to establish our identities first as women and as mothers second, if at all - which was my case.

What does this have to do with Cherry Garcia? Well, right after she left, we threw some clothes in a few bags and hopped into the car. I'm usually such the constant planner and organizer that I start packing days in advance of a trip with lots of lists. Is this just a product of my new role? No time to plan? That's how Chris always packs.

Anyway, all we knew was that we wanted to get away for a few days. We had no destination in mind or any reservations. Just a travel guide book on New England we had picked up the day before, so when we got to the end of the street, we realized we had to figure out where we were going, at least in terms of which highway to head toward. We decided on Vermont and to go through New Hampshire to get there. So we set out.

In the end, we spent a tad too much money (Ok, maybe more than a tad) on accomodations, but at least they were easy to come by. Our first stop, mostly because the kids were waking up from their naps by that point - was Montpelier, the capital of Vermont and a very sweet little town. We were lucky to find a B & B "carriage house" (i.e. apartment over a garage) with two bedrooms, a kitchen and a living room. We got it very cheap because we called late on a Sunday night, and I think they wanted to sell the room at any price. This set the bar kind of high for us as both Chris and I were expecting a one room Motel 6, but it was great to stretch out a bit and make bedtime easier. Fortunately, there was even a crib for Kalian, and we somehow were so exhausted that we allowed (?) Liam to watch the Emmy's with us until Chris generously agreed to put him to bed.

The weather was lousy, so we headed off to Waterbury in the morning after a yummy b'fast - the best part, IMO, about B & B's. Liam was still trying to wrap his brain around where we were and why we were going into someone's house we didn't know to eat.

Yep, we toured the Ben & Jerry's factory - where Kalian had her first taste of ice cream. Hopefully, Chris will post the photo of it on his blog where she first grimaced at the cold and then eagerly lobbed her head forward to lick some more. Then we headed out to Burlington, where we had a fabulous lunch at a restaurant run by the culinary institute. Well, our good fortune somehow detiorated at that point. Spontaneity can be so great, but we then decided to walk down to the waterfront - on Lake Champlain. It took forever to get there and then we somehow ended up sitting in bleachers in front of a skate park for awhile(not "state" - skate - watching pre-pubescent boys use their scooters up and down cement curves and hills). Liam and Kalian both loved it and wanted to go inside. Maybe when they're 18.

Both Chris and I were frustrated, having wanted a much more bucolic experience, so I selfishly offered to trek back up the hill and bring our car around. I just didn't have the energy to battle two nap hungry kids. After picking them up we decided to head up the Champlain islands to find a state (yes, state) park to go on a hike. Everyone but I was soon asleep. It was amazing how in late August that the leaves were already changing in the wetlands on the first island. The road was not near the water, so I soon questioned my lobbying to head so far up north. We tried to stop at a state park, but it turned out it was primarily for camping, so we just headed back down toward Burlington. I constantly try to do the "perfect" way to spend my time or money, so I was pretty frustrated. Looking back on it, now, though I guess I was able to see the area while the kids napped in the car. That ended up being our modus operandi - napping the kids while we drove to another destination.

We really wanted to go to Shelburne Farms, so we headed down that way. The guidebook we had - a Fodor's - was a tad too bougie and pricey, so it was tough to use it for accomodations - we had found the previous B&B by a sign on the road - of course, a small brown sign since billboards thankfully are banned in Vermont. Anyway, we drove past Shelburne to try for another lucky find, but we were so far south of Shelburne at this point, that we decided to stop somewhere and ask for suggestions. The "travel info" place where we stopped was pushing one motel and one only - and the brochure made it sound pretty cheesey, so I thought I'd give the actual Inn at Shelburne farms a try, though it got 2-3 $ signs (out of 4), so I knew it would be expensive, but they said they had a room available, and we were so exhausted and tired that we decided to go for it.

When we pulled up to the entrance of the 1400 acre non-profit farm, we stopped at the gate. We were asked if we had reservations, I said we had just called and that there were a few rooms available. I just figured that this far north in Vermont on a Monday night that accomodations were relatively plentiful. The guard was friendly but he would call at the Inn to let them know we were coming and let us through. Hmmm...Well, as we drove into the farm, my heart rate slowed and the stress of travel just melted away. Having kids makes spontaneity much more challenging than when I hitchhiked by myself around New Zealand for a month. This place was stunning in its beauty and really reminded me of New Zealand, as well as Cape Breton - right on the coast and so many gently rolling hills. Then, as we pulled up to the Inn, I swallowed with a gulp. This place looked pretty darn ritzy. When we pulled up, I was reminded of the family camping trips I took with my parents and 3 sisters in our volkswagon when we'd occasionally go to a fancy hotel for one of my dad's conferences and we'd unload like a car of clowns oodles of camping gear.

I took Kalian inside. The "front desk" was a discrete room on the side of a large sitting room that overlooked the lake. The woman working there had her hair in a bun and looked like the epitome of a friendly yet proper librarian. She was very genteel and had her assistant help me. When they found out we had kids, she said we would have to rent both rooms. Yikes. That's 1/2 month's supply of food or a big chunk of my course books. But we were now way out in the most relaxing place I can imagine with both kids upset after waking up that I handed her my credit card.

I must say that it was pretty darn close to being worth it. The rooms were amazing and the service so homey yet somehow prim at the same time. It reminded me of the classic eastern country club set. Nostalgic memories of the rich kids I grew up with but sickened by the exclusivity.

Unfortunately, after paying that much money we just missed the tea and sandwiches but we still got brought a nice basket of apples, crackers and their own homemade cheese. We then discovered an incredible playroom just outside of our rooms. It's the classic early 1900's play area - giant dollhouses, metal and wood tractors and trains, flapper dress-up clothes and sweet books. It was so great to come somewhere and have the kids be able to relax and play. But then I looked outside and saw the amazing "lawn" out near the water, and I knew we all needed some fresh air, so we went outside and had walked around. We had a blast and Chris commented to the disdain of a couple sipping a glass of wine in adirondack chairs facing the water, "We gotta start spending our equity loan at some point."

Chris had found out that they had rowboats and kayaks to use, so he took Liam out in a rowboat. My heart was pounding the whole time since Liam can't swim - although he was wearing a fitted life jacket and I "made" them stay within 100 feet of the shoreline. It was a perfect evening. We were too broke now to have dinner at the Inn, not to mention that you have to "dress" for dinner and kids have to behave themselves, and the concept of getting ourselves and the kids back into the car and driving out of this heaven on earth was not conceivable, so we had a yummy array of leftovers outside on their patio. After putting the kids to bed, Chris and I took a bath in the yummy clawfoot tub and enjoyed some quiet time together without television in our comfy bed. (Is that subtle enough?) - it doesn't matter because I'm sure noone is reading this far down...

The next morning, I got up early with Kalian - or should I say Kalian got me up very early. I took advantage of the one time I could take a hike, so I strapped her to my back in the Ergo and set out in the morning mist. We walked along farm roads and paths seeing the rugged coast, a hidden garden, and heaps of animals like deer, sheep, and even gophers. Kalian was such a trooper as I hiked around for more than 90 minutes. Chris hadn't seen my note but was happily engaged with Liam after getting some coffee and tiny complimentary muffins.

Chris really wanted to have breakfast at the Inn. I didn't want to spend the money, but eating out breakfast is one of his favorite things to do, so I braced the wait staff for our kids' energy and was hoping that breakfast is a tad more mellow. Unfortunately, it was drizzling or we would have been able to eat outside on the patio. Liam's normal and lively voice made quite the loud echo in the formal dining room, but I cared little as I knew we were leaving soon. He soon quieted down with a large bowl of raisin bran that the waitress offered (not on the menu, of course). With all of the silverware in front of me, I realized how long it had been since I took those ettiquette classes in Ottawa Hills in the 7th grade.

We then packed up our stuff and headed out to the actual farm. It was a treasure. So many educational opportunities and a very friendly staff. We watched the chicken parade and cows being milked. Liam did try to catch chickens but was too scared to try to milk the cow, though he did try to imitate it later on. It's amazing how much those kidlets soak in. I asked the woman doing the milking if cows let down like humans. She said she wouldn't know since she's never had a baby. Hmmm....

Liam was in heaven playing with the myriad of tractors around, and Kalian liked playing with the small wheelbarrow and loading it up with rocks. We visited the cheesemaking area, the woodshop and the bakery on site. We then took a tractor ride to complete Liam's tractormania. He was thrilled when the driver said he could get up in the driver's seat. We ate lunch and then tried to decide what to do. This was our constant struggle on this trip - balancing out everything we wanted to see with the kids' schedule, our budget and trying to drive. Chris really wanted to go to the Shelburne museum, so at 12.30 we headed out to what turned out to be a huge outdoor historical village. The ticket prices were hefty, so we debated ad nauseum whether or not to stay. Finally, Chris convinced me that we were here, so why not? This place was so big that to try to go in before the kids would completely melt down by 2pm was a tall order. It was so big that a small part of the area was a real paddle wheel boat complete with sleeping cabins. Liam was simultaneously entranced and frightened, but relaxed more at the train station and old fashioned toy building.

When we left, we managed to drive, partially in the rain, all the way down to Brattleboro during nap time. This time we stayed at a hotel in the guidebook. It said it was an art deco place downtown. Once again, we opted for the two room option for just a few bucks more. It was in a slightly seedy part of town but was very convenient to tooling around town and going to a nice cafe overlooking an old-fashioned bridge on the river. The next morning convinced Chris to eat the bland continental breakfast at the hotel and we head out back toward Mass. We really did want to go on a hike. First, we tried a hike in the guidebook in a small town, but when we drove to what we thought was the parking lot, we realized that we had driven to the top of the hike itself overlooking the town, and it was very urban, which we were not in the mood for.

So we hopped back into the car and headed back toward Boston. We saw that Erving State Park was on the way. We decided to go for it. It took a long time to get to the parking area, but we ended our trip with a great find. Liam was a trooper as he did the mile long hike up a mountain/hill for a great lookout and then down again. It felt great to take a hike with our family - that the kids are slowly getting old enough to do it - or at least Liam is old enough and Kalian is still small enough to throw in the backpack. We were then so lucky that on the other side of the parking lot was a beach on a lake - where we had a nice lunch and the kids played in the water til we threw them in the car for the final nap and ride home.