The Green Mountain State

On our first day in Vermont, we set out to discover what Vermont is famous for. After driving over rolling hills and past one dairy farm after another, I realized that I could be in the most beautiful corner of the world. Around each bend in the road, I could hardly help but jump out of the car with my camera. Each town chapel was unique and covered bridges were the norm. Stone walls lined colonial cemeteries and swans floated on ponds. We arrived at our first stop of the day, the Cabot Cheese Factory. We watched a video of the history and production of Vermont cheese and then took a tour of the production plant. We ended up in the cheese tasting room, where the kids tried everything from Tiki Marsala cheese to Hot Buffalo Cheddar. I then let the older kids choose a hunk of their favorite cheese to bring home with us. One of my very favorite quotes of the week was from Jonathan, my sports loving, outdoors enthusiast, who said the next day while I was running through our agenda, "Why can't we do something fun, like go to a cheese factory!" Needless to say, this random little stop tucked in dairy country was a hit!

We left the town of Cabot and wandered through the country side, looking for a far off the beaten path town called Peacham. Tucked in one of the back pages, my guide book mentioned that if one wanted to experience quintessential Vermont, this picturesque town should not be missed. I set my navigation system and soon found myself on tiny dirt roads. We passed little red barns and beautiful pastures and drove through maple groves, still tapped for the syruping season.

We soon came upon Peacham, which was full of authentic New England charm, complete with picket fences, a white steeple chapel, a country store and an itsy bitsy town library. This town was so tiny, I couldn't imagine many travelers had heard of the place. Later in the week, I met an older couple who had retired in Vermont so that the man could fulfill his dream of photographing the Vermont country side. His wife chimed in that his photographs had been published in national magazines. After mentioning that I too loved photography, albeit on a very amateur level, he leaned in and whispered, as if it were a secret, that I must visit the tiny town of Peacham! "We were just there!" I exclaimed. His face lit up and he pulled out a few photos of Peacham in the fall. His beautiful photographs of Peacham nestled in the fall foliage inspired me to plan a trip back to Vermont in October.

When the kids heard that we were going to go to Vermont for our break, they begged to go back to the Ben and Jerry's Factory, which we visited last July. I promised them that we would schedule a stop, so off to Ben and Jerry's we went.

Afterwards we made a quick stop at an apple cider mill, where we drank freshly squeezed cider and cider donuts. The cider shop was full of Vermont maple products, so I had to pick up a few maple candies to share.

We returned home for a late night swim, in the pool that we had all to ourselves!

Despite Jonathan's sorrow that we would not be touring another cheese factory, we looked forward to more Vermont adventures the next day.