We were headed for Stowe–our first year in our new guest house–but by a roundabout route. Our dear sister-in-law Emily was celebrating a big birthday, and Sue had baked a delicious cake.
Eastbound traffic on Long Island in the summer is not for the faint of heart, but we rolled into Port Jeff by early afternoon. The party was swell–and delicious! Emily had put on a shore dinner, with steamers, mussels, and lobsters, and we threw in some wonderful central Jersey corn.
Emily’s family had turned out in force!
And it even drew a smile from Tom!
The house was full to bursting, and we had come prepared: our first night sleeping in the Tesla, which proved to be surprisingly comfortable…with the right mattress.
Port Jefferson, Bridgeport, and Stowe, July 21, 2024
We started our day with a ride on the Bridgeport-Port Jefferson Ferry.
After the usual tangles of northeastern traffic, the roads cleared in northern Massachusetts and stayed that way all the way to Stowe. Even charging was a breeze: we hit two very fast chargers and were on our way both times in 15 minutes. Andrew, Emily, and the boys arrived within five minutes of us.
What a joy to be in northern Vermont in summer. Warm, with crisp, clear air. Our new guesthouse is just two building over from our winter guesthouse; both are in the “lower village,” with just four buildings and a real sense of isolation and peace.
Nathaniel and I walked up the road to the bakery to fetch breakfast pastries; he’s interested in everything, and we saw the big wood shed, the upper village, and the bakery pasture…although the herds were elsewhere, as we were about to find out.
We all headed for the pool after breakfast. We took the short feeder trail that connects the lower village with a path that leads to the lodge, fitness center, and pool. We soon learned that skiers had to relearn the trail system, because the cattle pasture now occupies a huge area between the upper and lower villages, with the result that our trail ended in an electric fence…and a lot of cows.
So we walked around through the upper village and the group, minus the water-averse grandpa, were happily swimming and splashing. The pool sits next to one of the ponds on the property, with lovely views of the Worcester Range across the valley. It was views like this that reminded the von Trapps of the Salzkammergut in Austria.
I went up to the outdoor center and snagged a summer trail map–which is quite different from the cross country ski map.
I walked along the Greenway Loop, a mountain bike track, back through the woods to our guesthouse. The woods, beneath the lofty canopy of beech, birch, and maple, were alive with ferns and moose maple (so called because the moose love the huge leaves on this understory tree).
After lunch, Sue, Andrew, Nathaniel and I walked out Sugar Road to Picnic Knoll and then back along Russell Knoll Track. Nathaniel is a great walker, and endlessly curious!
Andrew and Emily had a date night at the new Hen of the Woods in Waterbury. They had a very good dinner, but agreed that the new location is anodyne.
Grandma and Grandpa and the boys had a nice pasta dinner, and the boys crashed: a day in the outdoors ensured a good night’s sleep!
After our usual morning—Sue swam and I walked out on one of the trails into the woods—we decided to explore the villages of northern Vermont. Our afternoon led us through Morrisville and on to Craftsbury, where we had skied one year.
We then drove northeast to the Vermont lake region, passing through Barton on our way to East Burke, where we had taken part in Chris and Alyssa’s wedding. We learned about the Kingdom Trails, a huge mountain biking network in the region before heading down to Lyndonville (passing by the beloved Miss Lyndonville diner) and on to the Supercharger at St. Johnsbury…which proved to be the worst we had ever visited, with fully half the chargers out of order.
After another breakfast with goodies from the bakery, I headed up to retrieve my car, which had been charging overnight at the Outdoor Center. On the way back I saw a sheep formation that I couldn’t pass up.
We headed into town to stroll around and check out the new openings, followed by a quick bite at a gringoish Mexican joint.
The afternoon saw another kid adventure: Trapp’s “Sugar Tour,” where you learn about maple syrup from start to finish. Our guide, Katy Ann, was a real crusty Vermonter; as Emily said, she grew on us. The walk took us out Sugar Road and down Sugarhouse Chute.
Trapp has three “sugar bushes” with a total of about 2000 tapped maples, a small operation by Vermont standards. They produce just enough syrup to serve in their restaurants and sell in their shops.
Sugar season is relatively short, from late winter to early spring. It takes, on average, 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup. The taps run into small green tubes, each of which is then connected to a larger main line that runs directly to the sugar house.
In the sugar house, the long open pan sits atop the “arch,” or wood. burning cast iron stove.
And here is Katy Ann telling the kids about the stove.
I had always assumed that the four grades of syrup–from golden through amber and on to very dark–were the result of different types of processing. Not so. The tree itself determines the color and viscosity; the master sugarer simply takes a sample of each batch and determines the grade.
It started raining during our inspection of the sugar house; we waited for a while, but it showed no signs of letting up, so we had a delightful walk through the warm rain back to the Outdoor Center.
Once we had dried out a bit, we ran into town and bought steaks at The Butchery and corn at Macs. Andrew manned the grill, and we had a wonderful dinner. The 2008 Produttori del Barbaesco Reserve Paje was a great accompaniment!
We had a bit of rain in the morning, but it soon cleared and we headed for Smugglers Notch, the narrow pass between Mount Mansfield and Spruce Peak. After years in which large trucks continually got stuck as they tried to make their way along the road between boulders, the state finally put in a chicane at the entrance to the notch that keeps large trucks out.
After driving to the top of the notch, we turned back for a walk along the Barnes Camp Loop Trail. The trail–a section of the Long Trail that runs the length of Vermont–starts on a walkway above a bog; it soon turns into a typical northern New England trail: rocky, rutted, and incredibly beautiful.
The boys turned out to be terrific hikers.
Even Alex walked the first half of the trail.
Nathaniel walked the entire two-mile trail, including some very steep pitches with some scrambling.
After running along a ridge for the first half, the trail descends and crosses a swift brook on stepping stones.
The pitch then turned steeply uphill. We stopped for a well deserved break at the top, where we rejoined the Long Trail.
And here’s the happy crew at the end of the walk.
Long family tradition dictates that young hikers get a badge to commemorate their first real hike, so I headed into town and found some nice ones for these two intrepid walkers.
Every good hiker deserves some ice cream at the end of the trail, so we drove to Waterbury so that the boys could do the Ben and Jerry’s factory tour. The tour was a hit, especially once we had a free sample in hand. Today’s flavor was marshmallow sky—marshmallow ice cream with some natural flavor that turned it blue. Some of us liked it, some didn’t!
Dinner was at the Trapp Bierhall. A big success except the part where I spilled an entire beer onto Nathaniel!
Departure day for Andrew, Emily, and the boys dawned with bright sunshine…a beautiful day to start in the woods.
Emily had some work to do, so the rest of us headed down to the Sleigh Road, a trail that runs just below our guesthouse.
As you can see, the boys love the woods!
We saw some lovely things, and some unusual ones, like this young tree growing from a stump.
The boys wanted to bring maple trees home with them. Alex has just wrestled his out of the ground.
We walked back up to the house along the Stepping Stones trail, so called because it switchbacks up the hill, making a steep ascent possible for mountain bikers…and young men.
Sue and I took it easy after the family left, and decided to give a new (to us) restaurant a try: The Whip, in the Green Mountain Inn right in the center of town. It is a traditional, even old fashioned place, with many more locals than visitors. The food wasn’t bad, and the setting—a large terrace out back—was lovely.
