Our Friends Visit
- Loretta Hubler
- Jul 21, 2019
- 3 min read
Updated: 4 days ago
Sue and Bryant came up for a visit. We took them around the small town of St. Johnsbury, to the Saturday morning Farmer's Market, and even had Sue playing cards with Mary and me.
One day we drove over to New Hampshire to the Mount Washington Cog Railway. We didn't take the trip up the mountain but just watched as the trains pulled out. We also saw the steam train coming down the mountain.
Washington Cog Railroad
From the museum
The Steam Engine coming down the mountain
Mount Washington Hotel
Then we stopped at the Mount Washington Hotel. This place is something else. The hotel opened in 1902, and was built to be a luxurious hotel for the wealthy and the premier resort in the Northeast Kingdom.
The Cave is a small tavern in the basement of the hotel. Why the narrow hallway entry? If you look at the floor plan you will notice that the Cave is tucked out of sight under the front porch of the hotel. It was a "speak-easy" during prohibition, so they didn't want it to be too obvious.
Edmon, the Bird Man
One day we took Mary's "Belly Ache" Tour. We stopped to see the "Birdman of Cabot". This guy carves birds and other stuff out of wood. He is really a character and loves talking to people.
Goodrich Sugar House
We then stopped at the Goodrich Sugar House. They are one of the best maple syrup makers in the area and boy is it good. We met the owner and she took us on a tour and explained how the maple syrup is gathered and processed. Naturally, we bought some maple syrup.
Goodrich has won all these blue ribbons for their syrup and boy is it good.
Cabot Cheese Factory
We continued on to the Cabot Cheese Factory and took their tour; unfortunately, they do not allow pictures but do allow you to buy their cheese. After picking up some, we stopped at Sara's Country Diner in Cabot, the woman at Cabot told us they had good food. This little diner is in the back of the local hardware store that also has a bar in front. Never saw that before.
Braggs Ice Cream Store
They have lots of good stuff, including maple creamies
On to Braggs Sugar House. We were still full from lunch, but we just had to have their Maple Creamies. They have all kinds of stuff for sale but they have the best Maple Creamies ever.
Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Factory
We continued on to Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream in Waterbury, VT. We all know about Ben & Jerry's ice cream. We took the tour (again no pictures) and tasted samples. We also showed them the Flavor Graveyard. These are flavors that didn't make it and they had a few more than the last time we visited.
We sure love our ice cream. We found this shirt, really neat.
They are now selling the "bits" they put in the ice cream. Today's sample was Broccoli Cheddar Chunk (just kidding). The real flavor was Americone Dream, a vanilla ice cream that tasted like an old fashion waffle cone with chocolate and caramel; pretty good.
The Grave Yard
If you go to Ben & Jerry's, you MUST go up the hill to the Flavor Graveyard. They are gravestones for all the flavors that didn't make it big. It's a hoot....Here are some examples
Cold Hollow Cider Mill
We needed some refreshment so we headed over to Cold Hollow Cider Mill. They have some of the best Apple Cider Donuts around and the cider is excellent.
By this time we were pooped. So we came home to relax the rest of the night. We didn't even want dinner and our bellies did ache!
Chili Contest
That Saturday the campground had a chili cook off. Sue participated and came in first out of six participants. She got $50 and a new chili pot to take home. Needless to say, she was thrilled, and Bryant will never live it down! (no, he didn't participate; he knows hers is the best). Ha, Ha.
AND THE FIRST PLACE WINNER IS.....SUSAN!
We had a great time and looking forward to a return visit soon.