Hey Guys!

This post will conclude our time in New Hampshire and Vermont.

Our travel dates were Oct 5 – 12.

However, we were supposed to be flying home today but due to Hurricane Milton, we had to change our flight home from Oct 12th to Sunday, Oct. 13th.

As crazy as it may seem, our layover from Manchester, NH to Nashville was in Tampa, FL and Tampa was expected to take a direct hit so, Southwest let us change our flight to a different airport. Since there was limited availability, we had to book our returning flight home for Sunday.

Since Woodstock was 1.5 hrs from the airport in Manchester, we decided to book a hotel closer to the airport instead of staying in Woodstock. 

After getting up and packed, we headed out for the day.

A shot of our hotel in Woodstock

Across from our hotel, was the Village Inn that is housed in a beautiful, historic home!

The inn also has a restaurant located in the house called the Vic Tavern.

We decided to leave our rental car at the hotel while we walked through Woodstock and checked out some of the historic homes and buildings.

The homes in Woodstock are incredible!

Conde Nast Traveler has consistently named Woodstock as the Most Beautiful Town in America.

The great thing about Woodstock is that it is a small, walkable town with a compact center, making it perfect for browsing local small businesses.

We decided to find a t-shirt and a coffee cup before leaving the charming little town.

I had read that the F.H Gillingham & Sons General Store was a good place for souvenirs so that’s where we headed.

The front window of the store was full of pictures and articles about the owners and history of the store.

Frank Henry Gillingham opened this store in 1886 and today, the current owners are descendants of F.H. Gillingham. It is one of the oldest family ran general stores in the US.

The store was full of all kinds of goods!

These bins were built in the store in 1886!

This old scale was brought into the store back in the 1940’s …the scale was patented in 1895.

We walked around the store checking out all of the antiques…it was really interesting!

They had this old elevator in the store…it was built and installed in the store in the 1930’s and it’s still used today! It has a 1000 lb capacity and was built with an emergency brake.

We never found any t-shirts or coffee cups so we headed back outside and continued our walk through town.

Tip: There was hardly any stores that carried souvenirs. We ended up finding a t-shirt at a store that carried ski and hiking clothing. I think it was called Elevation clothing. 

We spotted a store called The Mountain Trading Company that was housed in an old historic building. The store is now permanently closed. The building dates back to the 1800’s.

As we continued our walk, we spotted this memorial statue that was erected in 1909 in memory of those who had fought in the civil war.

We then spotted the street where you will find the pumpkin lined fences. This area is very popular with instagrammers.

There were several people here taking pictures.

The houses in this area are really pretty.

We then spotted the beautiful First Congregational church.

And the historic home that used to house the Ardmore Bed & Breakfast. 

We then headed back to our hotel and drove to a popular covered bridge called Middle Bridge.

The bridge was the first public covered bridge built by the State of Vermont since 1889. This bridge replaced the original bridge that was built in 1877 after it was condemned in 1966.

The bridge spans 136 ft and was partially burned in 1974 and had to be restored.

We then spotted the beautiful Woodstock Inn.

The historic hotel was built in 1892 by Laurance and Mary Rockefeller for a cost of $120,000.00.

The hotel was celebrated for its grand architecture, 400 ft verandah and more than 100 guest rooms.

The hotel attracted many affluent visitors and became known as Vermont’s first winter-sports center for tourists.

Laurance and Mary Rockefeller purchased the Inn back in 1967 with plans to renovate it but it was in such bad shape, he ended up tearing the inn down and rebuilt a new inn in 1970.

Tip: Click here to book a room & click here to read reviews

They had beautiful flowers planted all around the hotel!

We continued our walk past the hotel and found lots of fall decorations!

We then spotted this incredible old church!

This church was called Our Lady of the Snows and was built in 1856.

After taking pictures of this church, we headed back to our car.

We then headed to a coffee shop about 10 mins from downtown Woodstock called Abracadabra Coffee. 

The coffee shop serves their single origin coffee out of a 1964 Shasta Trailer.

We both ordered the maple latte and it was delicious!

Read reviews here

We ended up eating our leftover cider donuts for breakfast….nothing like good coffee and donuts!

After our donuts, we headed to Sugarbrush Farm.

The drive there was really pretty.

We passed the very popular Billings Farm & Museum.

We had wanted to do both Billings and Sugarbrush but we didn’t have time to do both so I settled on Sugarbrush because it’s free to visit and Billings charges $19 for adults to visit.

However, Billings is a historic farm & museum that was established in 1871 and has much more to see than Sugarbrush.

About 15 mins after leaving the coffee shop, we arrived to Sugarbrush Farms.

Sugarbush Farm is a 550 acre farm that was founded in 1945 by Jack & Marion Ayres and were the first folks in Vermont to start packaging cheese in waxed bars to they would travel well without refrigeration.

The Luce family are the second, third and fourth generations to live on this farm.

After getting parked, we headed to the building where they make their maple syrup.

It was so interesting learning about the process of making maple syrup and just how much it takes to make one gallon of syrup!

They had store bought syrups sitting on a table showing all of the ingredients in each of them….it was shocking!

After reading about the process of making the syrup, we headed inside the store to check it out.

They were handing out samples of their cheese so, of course, we had to try all of them!

They were all so good!

In 1995 the American Cheese Society awarded Sugarbush Farm a Blue ribbon for the best smoked cheese in the country!

After trying the cheese, we walked around the store checking out their Vermont made goodies.

We ended up purchasing a coffee cup and some of these maple syrup packs.

After our purchase, we headed outside to walk around where we spotted this hilarious cut out and my hubby couldn’t resist having his picture taken with it! 😉

We then spotted the farm chapel.

Tip: There’s also a maple walk that you can do here…it’s a loop trail that takes about 15 mins to walk.

The chapel was built in 2012 and can be rented for weddings.

Near the chapel, you could see trees that were tapped for sap.

Read reviews for the farm here

After spending about 30 mins here, we continued our drive to our next stop.

About 15 mins after leaving the farm, we came up on the beautiful Quechee church that was located in Quechee. The church was completed in 1873 and has a 1274 lb bell in the bell tower.

A few minutes past the church was the Quechee Covered Bridge.

The bridge was constructed in 1970 and spans the Ottauquechee River.

We decided to park and walk across the bridge.

From the bridge you will see an old mill and a cool waterfall!

Next to the old mill is the very popular Simon Pearce restaurant.

I had actually made reservations to eat here but it didn’t work out.

Tip: If you eat at the restaurant don’t miss the glass blowing demonstrations in the bottom floor.

Tip: Also located here is the very popular Quechee Gorge. We decided not to stop because it was so busy.

After leaving here, we continued our drive.

A few minutes later, we arrived to our next stop, the Taftsville Covered Bridge.

The bridge was built in 1836 and is one of the oldest covered bridges in Vermont.

The bridge spans 189 ft and is the second-longest bridge in the state.The first bridge that was built here washed away during a flood in 1807. And, unfortunately, its next two replacements also fell into floodwaters in 1811 and 1828.

We parked and walked down to the water to get a better shot of the bridge.

We had a couple offer to take our picture near the bridge…we thought about turning them down but it was short lived! 😉

Read reviews of the bridge here

After leaving here, we continued our drive ….we were now in Hartford.

We were driving one of the many backroads and it was really beautiful.

Vermont has many scenic drives that you can do…one of the most popular is the Route 100.

We pulled over when we spotted these cute little cows!

After continuing our drive, we came up on the 4th covered bridge that can be found in Woodstock called the Lincoln Covered Bridge.

This 126 ft long bridge was built in 1865 or 1877….there have been two different dates mentioned during my research of this bridge.

Shortly after crossing the bridge, we found a picnic area to have lunch.

We were trying to eat as much of the food we had bought since we would be flying back home tomorrow and since we only travel with a carry on and a backpack, there was no way we could take anything back with us!

We had some of that delicious Vermont cheese, crackers, pastrami, etc.

But my favorite part of lunch, was dessert!

We still had our chocolates from L.A. Burdick and it was so yummy!

After lunch, we continued our drive to our next stop.

We passed this cool looking barn that had been converted to a house!

As we were driving down a backroad, we decided to turn around and head the other direction only to discover that a tree had literally just fallen across the road that we had just driven down maybe 2 minutes earlier!

My husband had to get out and move the tree out of the road…..thankfully, someone else stopped and helped him!

After getting the tree cleared out of the way, we continued our drive where we crossed over this cool looking bridge in West Woodstock. 

The leaves were really pretty along this drive!

We passed this beautiful farm along the way.

A few minutes later, we arrived to our next stop, Jenne Farm. 

Jenne Farm is located in the town of Reading, near Woodstock. The farm is an iconic and picturesque destination that has gained fame as one of the most photographed farms in the world!

The farm, tucked away in the rural countryside of Vermont, offers stunning natural landscapes and a glimpse into the state’s rural charm. With its idyllic barns, rolling hills, and maple syrup operations, Jenne Farm has become synonymous with the beauty of Vermont.

Several factors contribute to Jenne Farm’s reputation as one of the most photographed farms. Firstly, numerous magazines and films have featured the farm, captivating audiences worldwide.

Its photogenic landscapes have graced the covers of magazines like Yankee and Vermont Life, while also making appearances in movies such as Forrest Gump and Funny Farm. It has also appeared in Budweiser beer commercials.

So, of course, we couldn’t miss this iconic farm!

We had to park on the side of the road because the road that led to the farm had been closed to traffic because so many tourists were visiting and being disrespectful to the residents!

After getting parked, we had to walk about 1/4 mile in order to get views of the picturesque farm.

The farm was truly incredible with its rolling hills and barns!

Jenne Farm holds historical significance as one of the oldest continuously operated farms in Vermont, with a history dating back to 1790.

We couldn’t leave without taking pictures in front of the barn!

After taking our pictures, we headed back to our car. This cute little yellow house sat near the road where we had to park…the tree in the front yard was so pretty!

As we continued our drive, we found ourselves in Perkinsville. 

A few minutes later, we arrived to Chester.

Chester is famous for its Stone Village Historic District and Chester Village Historic District. Both districts are listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

The Stone Village section is located along Vermont Route 103 and is known for the many houses made of local granite. The Chester Factory Village has homes that were built between 1750 and 1924, and includes Victorian, Colonial Revival and Federal style architecture.

We passed the historic Yosemite Engine Fire Station. Built in 1879, it is architecturally distinctive in the state as the only period fire station with two towers. Now owned by the town, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2020.

The station’s name, “Yosemite” is a Miwak Indian tribe name meaning Grizzly Bear. “Yosemite” was also the name on the engine purchased for Chester’s Fire House.

We then spotted the Green Mountain Railroad station. The train station has been family-owned and operated by the Wulfson family for more than 50 years.

They offer scenic train rides and other excursions. You can book a train ride here.

As we drove through the charming town of Chester, we passed lots of gorgeous old historic homes and buildings. 

We decided to park at the Chester Baptist church and take a few pictures of the church.

The brick Baptist Church was built in 1832.

The cemetery that sits next to the church dates back to when Chester was chartered in 1766.

 

This church that was built in 1875.

And this church that was built in 1867.

And the historic Hotel Brooks that was built in 1871. The building now houses office space.

We also passed several incredible historic homes!

We then spotted the Creamery Covered Bridge so decided to park and take a few pictures.

Built in 1879, the Creamery Covered Bridge cost $1,037.80 to build and replaced a bridge destroyed by a flood the previous November.

In 1920, the town added a covered sidewalk to the bridge and replaced the wood shingle roof with slate. The bridge was closed to traffic in 2010.

The name “creamery” in the title derives from the old Brattleboro Creamery. The bridge served as an essential transportation route back in the day, allowing farmers to process their milk into butter or cheese at the creamery.

The bridge is Brattleboro’s last surviving 19th-century covered bridge.

Read reviews for the bridge here

After leaving the bridge, we continued our drive.

We drove through Antrim, New Hampshire where we passed the Antrim Church of Christ that was built in 1885.

As we continued our drive, we arrived to the town of Bennington, NH.

The town was named to commemorate the 1777 Battle of Bennington, an American Revolutionary War battle fought in New York near Bennington, Vermont.

We passed this church on the way. It was built in 1805.

We then drove through Wilton, NH.

Finally, at around 6:30 pm, we arrived to our hotel in Nashua, NH where we would be spending our last night.

Nashua has a population of around 91,350 and is the second-largest city in northern New England after nearby Manchester.

Unfortunately, I had waited to book a room the same day we needed one and all we could find was a room at the Clarion Inn and it costs us $440 for one night!!

Everything was booked up due to indigenous people weekend and fall foliage season!

Our room had two queen beds and a large bathroom.

I wasn’t expecting much but it was nicer than we thought it would be.

Read reviews here

After getting settled into our room, we headed to Hooked Seafood Restaurant in Manchester which was approximately 20 mins from the hotel.

We had to have one more lobster roll before leaving to go back home!

After getting seated, we took a few minutes to look over the menu.

Tip: You need to make reservations if you don’t want to wait for a table!

We started out with the artichoke, crab and shrimp dip….it was incredible!

For our main meal, we both ordered the lobster roll….so delicious!

Read reviews here 

After dinner, we headed back to our hotel and called it a night.

The next morning, we headed to the airport.

The airport in Manchester is really small and there was hardly anyone there when we arrived!

While we waited to board our plane, we grabbed a coffee and muffin at Starbucks.

A little later, we were on the plane headed home where I spotted this very strange cloud formation!

If you look closely, you can see a rainbow in the clouds!

After arriving back to Nashville, our daughter picked us up at the airport where we headed to one of our favorite places to eat, Mas Tacos! Yum!

This concludes our time in the beautiful states of New Hampshire & Vermont!

A shot of all of our souvenirs!

Thanks for reading!

Click here to see links to all of my blog posts

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hey Guys!

This post continues our time in New Hampshire & Vermont.

Read Day 1 here, Day 2 here, Day 3 here, Day 4 here, Day 5 here & Day 6 here & Click here to see links to all my blog posts

Our travel dates were Oct 5 – 12th.

We are now staying n Woodstock for the next two days.

We woke up to clear blue skies after having a day of clouds and drizzling rain the day before.

Our room at the Shire had views of the Ottauquechee River.

Read reviews for this area here

We decided to start our morning with breakfast at a nearby restaurant in Woodstock called, Soulfully Good.

It was one of the restaurants that I had seen mentioned several times in the Vermont Facebook page I follow.

Tip: Click here for the best places to eat breakfast in Woodstock

After getting parked, we headed inside.

We arrived around 8:15 and were some of the first ones at the restaurant.

If you want to eat breakfast, you will have to get there early because the restaurants in these small towns stay very busy during the fall season!

We took a few minutes to look over the menu.

I decided on the pancakes and the hubby ordered the breakfast burrito.

The food was average ….my pancakes were not cooked well enough and my hubby wasn’t impressed with the burrito…..I mean, who serves a salad with a breakfast burrito?! 😉

Read reviews here

After leaving the restaurant, we headed to our first stop of the day.

We passed the Mon Vert Cafe which has some of the best reviews for breakfast in Woodstock….that’s where we should have eaten!

We also passed the picturesque First Congregational church.

The original church was constructed in 1807.  In 1818 a committee of three journeyed from Woodstock to Boston and purchased the church bell at a price of 45¢ a pound from Paul Revere & Sons.

The bell weighed 711 pounds and cost  $319.95. It is interesting to think how long the trip by horse and wagon would have been to Boston and back, and how a 711 pound bell was lifted into the bell tower!

While Paul Revere is best known for his famous Midnight Ride, after the Revolution he set up a foundry in Boston, making iron and later brass items such as stoves, hearths, anvils and cannons.

Woodstock holds the distinction of being the only town with five bells manufactured in the foundry established by Revolutionary War patriot Paul Revere.

The Revere Bell is now displayed on the south porch of the church and is the oldest of Woodstock’s bells and the only one cast in Paul Revere’s lifetime.

Tip: Read here about a Revere Bell walking tour you can do in Woodstock

If you zoom in on this picture, you can see the bell to the left under the covered roof.

Three of Woodstock’s five Revere Bells still ring from the Masonic Temple (formerly the Christian Church), Saint James Episcopal Church, and the North Universalist Chapel. The fifth Revere Bell rests on a pedestal behind the Woodstock Inn in front of the Inn’s putting green.

The original chapel was moved to the rear of the meeting house and in 1880 the current Billings Chapel was erected.

Read the very interesting history of this church here

As we continued our drive, we passed this cool looking barn.

We were now driving through Bridgewater.

As we were driving through the small town, we passed the United Church of Christ.

The church was built in 1879 by William C. Bugbee, contractor. The dedication of the church occurred in 1880 and later that year, the 650-pound bell was placed in the belfry. The bell is still ringing 145 years later.

Continuing our drive

We passed a sign for the Killington Resort. 

The ski resort is hugely popular during the winter months but they also offer a scenic gondola ride that you can take any time of the year.

Tip: Tickets for the gondola start at $32 and must be purchased online

We then spotted this incredible stone church and decided to check it out!

The church was called, the Mission Farm Chapel and was built in 1895.

In addition to the church, the 170-acre Mission Farm property includes an 1817 farmhouse, a guest and retreat house, a vicarage, a bakery and agricultural buildings.

This property was placed on the National Register Historic places.

After this short stop, we continued our drive.

We then arrived to our first stop of the day, Kent Pond.

During my research, I had read how beautiful this pond was and how you could capture some incredible reflection shots from the pond.

However, when we arrived, it was way too windy for any reflection shots but the pond is definitely worth a visit!

Tip: The Appalachian Trail also goes along the south side of Kent Pond.

After leaving here, we continued our drive.

During our drive, we passed another body of water so we decided to pullover and check out the views.

Our location showed that we were now in Plymouth. 

The lake offered incredible views of the nearby mountains.

After researching, I’m pretty sure this was Emerald Lake. 

The colors in the trees around the lake were really vibrant!

Shortly after leaving the lake, we arrived to our next stop of the day, President Calvin Coolidge State Historic Site.

Tip: This site is only open during the months of May-Oct and only on Tues-Sun from 10 am to 5 pm

After getting parked, we headed inside and purchased our tickets. Tickets are $12 for adults, $4 for children ages 6-14 or you can buy a family pass for $30…this ticket includes up to 6 people with 4 adults.

After purchasing our tickets, we walked around the small museum inside the ticket building.

The museum housed exhibits and archives recounting Calvin Coolidge’s private and public lives.

Calvin Coolidge was the 13th president of the US but only became president after the sudden death of President Harding in 1923.

The Coolidges were actually on vacation in Vermont when President Harding died and Calvin’s father, who was a notary public at the time, swore his own son in as President by kerosene light at this homestead!

This was the Bible that Coolidge took the oath of office as President on August 3, 1923.

Calvin Coolidge’s presidential chair….so ornate!

This was Grace Coolidge’s (Calvin’s wife) cosmetic case.

After spending a few minutes walking around the museum, we headed outside to check out the rest of the property.

The historic site encompasses over 200 acres and includes Calvin Coolidge’s birthplace, the family homestead, as well as the homes of relatives and friends.

Its 12 or 13 buildings and their surroundings constitute a historical site in which the story of rural American democracy is told and preserved.

You will also see the Union Christian Church that was built in 1840, the Florence Cilley General Store, a one-room schoolhouse, the Aldrich House, the Wilder Barns, the Wilder House, and the cheese factory.

We headed to the Plymouth cheese factory. 

The factory was established in 1890 by Colonel John Coolidge, the president’s father, along with James S. Brown and three other local farmers. The factory closed in 1934.

In 1960, President Coolidge’s son John revived the cheese factory which had been closed since 1934. The Coolidge family still owns about 500 acres of the surrounding small hill farms.

In 1998, John sold the cheese factory to the state of Vermont with the understanding that cheese would continue to be made there as long as the building was standing.

You could see where they made the cheese at the factory.

There were lots of pictures of the Coolidge family hanging on the walls.

They were offering cheese tastings so of course we had to try it out!! It was so good!

There was a small museum located on the second floor of the cheese factory.

The museum displayed a lot of the original equipment they used to make their cheese.

After heading back downstairs, we noticed a sign where they offered lunch bags for sale that included their cheese, pepperoni, crackers and water.

So, we decided to purchase one for later.

After the cheese factory, we checked out the old schoolhouse.

The schoolhouse was built in 1890 and where Calvin Coolidge attended school.

Back when Calvin was a boy, there was no formal US Dept of Education or standardized educational requirements. The average American completed an eighth grade education. which was defined by proficiency in reading, writing, math and basic life skills.

Seems like we need to get back to those basics for today’s education!

We then headed to the barn that still contained the Coolidge’s possessions.

The 1½-story farmhouse with connected barn had been purchased in 1876 by Colonel John Coolidge, who added the front porch and 2-story front bay.

The Coolidge Homestead is furnished exactly as it was when Vice President Calvin Coolidge took the oath of office following the unexpected death of President Warren G. Harding.

The quilt in this room was made by Calvin Coolidge when he was just 10 yrs old.

Calvin’s dad was a deputy sheriff at the time they lived here and would sometimes keep prisoners in this room when he didn’t have time to take them to the jail in Woodstock.

This bedroom belonged to Colonel John Coolidge in 1923. The president and Mrs. Coolidge slept in the middle bedroom upstairs. Because it was not possible to arrange public access to the second floor, the furnishings used by Calvin and his wife have been moved down to this room.

Two pair of Calvin Coolidge’s shoes were sitting on the bedroom floor.

A few more pictures of the inside

And of course, we couldn’t miss having our pictures taken on the front porch of the house!

Next, we walked over to the home that Calvin was born in.

This was the original home of his parents and is attached to the general store.

Calvin Coolidge was born in this bedroom on July 4, 1872. He was the first child of John Calvin and Victoria Josephine Moor Coolidge. Calvin’s sister, Abigail, was born in 1875. The family lived in this modest house until 1876, when they moved across the road to what is now called the Coolidge Homestead.

A few more shots of the inside

Next, we checked out the church where the Coolidge family used to worship.

The church was built in 1840 and dedicated as a Congregational Church in 1842.

We then headed to the general store that was built during the 1850’s.

John Coolidge became storekeeper in 1868. The rent was $40 a year, and by careful management, profits averaged $100 a month.

Coolidge soon purchased the store and entered into a partnership with his wife’s brother in 1875. He sold his share of the business in 1877, but owned the building until 1917.

Florence Cilley, whose name appears above the front door, operated the store between 1917 and 1945. The small post office at the front of the store served the town until 1976.

Today, it is still an operating general store and full of antiques from when the store was originally opened.

After leaving the store, we checked out 3 “tiny homes”.

These were actually called the, The Top of the Notch Cabins. These cabins provided tourists with modest, but comfortable accommodations. They are typical of the late 1920s and were prefabricated. The rates for the cabins were $7 a day!

These cabins, a gift shop and a tea room called “Top of the Notch”  were in operation for many years. The middle cabin had been restored and was open to the public for viewing.

Also located here is the hillside cemetery in which President Coolidge is now buried with the members of his family….sadly, we missed this as we saw nothing about it on the pamphlet we were given!

Read reviews for this historic site here

After spending about an hour here, we headed to our next stop.

About 15 mins after leaving the Coolidge homestead, we arrived to Ludlow. 

Ludlow was founded in 1761 and, like many of the towns in Vermont, was full of historical buildings like this incredible church!

Ludlow Baptist Church was built in 1892 for a cost of $11,079.52. It was designed by George H. Guernsey of Montpelier.

Guernsey worked as a builder but established himself as an architect and became a leading architect in Vermont where he designed many incredible structures throughout the state.

In 1897, he was elected as Montpelier’s third mayor. He died of tuberculosis at his home in 1900 where he was buried at Green Mount Cemetery in Montpelier.

After this stop, we continued on our way to our next stop.

As we were driving, we spotted the ski slopes at the Okemo Ski Resort. 

The ski resort offers year round scenic chair lift rides and so much more!

Tip: Don’t miss driving the Mt Equinox Skyline Drive when in this area!

Continuing our drive through Ludlow

As we were driving, we spotted a small pond so we stopped to take a few pictures.

I’m not sure what this pond was called but it offered beautiful views!

Click here to read about a hike you can do in this area called Tiny Pond

A few minutes after leaving the pond, we crossed into the town of Weston where we would find our next stop, the Old Mill Museum.

Unfortunately, the mill was closed when we arrived so we just walked around and checked out what we could.

It’s only open for tours on Wednesdays and weekends during peak season, and opens on select dates the remainder of the year.

The Mill Museum overlooks a picturesque mill pond and waterfall.

Built in 1785 as a sawmill, and later as a grist mill, its collection of early trade tools and products includes equipment used in farming, cheese making, coopering, blacksmithing, woodworking, weaving and spinning, and tinsmithing.

Standing next to the mill is the Craft Building that was built as a firehouse in the late nineteenth century. In the 1920s, Frank Mansur took over the firehouse in the 1920s and used it as a machine shop.

Read reviews here 

Tip: Near the mill is the historic Farrar-Mansur House that was built in 1797…we missed the house.

After leaving here, we stopped off at the Weston Village Store. The general store has been opened since 1891.

We walked around the store and checked it out.

The store had everything from Vermont made goods, to homemade fudge to souvenirs and so much more!

We found a couple of Vermont sweatshirts that we liked so decided to purchase those and a few other goodies!

Read reviews here 

After leaving this general store, we drove across the street to the very popular Vermont Country Store.

In 1946, Vrest and Mildred Ellen Orton opened The Vermont Country Store in Weston. Vrest was inspired by childhood memories of his father’s general store in North Calais, Vermont. The Weston store became the first restored rural general store in the nation.

Today the store is owned by Lyman Orton and his three sons. Together, they are 7th & 8th generation Vermonters, and 4th & 5th generation storekeepers.

The building that houses the Vermont Country Store was built in 1827!

The store was much bigger on the inside than we thought it would be and it had everything you could imagine!

It was like taking a step back in time….my hubby and I loved it!

It felt like part museum and part general store!

I saw two gentlemen in the store playing checkers and it reminded me of the old picture that the store had posted on their site!

There was a glass cabinet that was full of old antique scales.

We picked up some of their hand cut Vermont cheddar to take with us for the picnic we had planned later!

The store was full of old toys from the past and candy that you can no longer find in your local grocery stores!

The store had everything…..clothes, shoes, food, candy, toys, housewares, books and more!

Read reviews. here

As we were checking out, the cashier pointed out these hats that were hanging on the wall that belonged to the original owner, Mrs. Mildred Orton.

Mrs. Orton passed away at the age of 99 in 2010 and Mr. Orton was 89 when he passed in 1986.

Mrs. Orton’s nephew, Howard Wilcox still makes Wilcox Ice Cream, Vermont’s original, which was introduced by Mildred’s father in 1928 as a way to diversify for a growing family.

After making our purchase, we headed outside where we had a gentleman take our picture by the store.

Beside the country store was a small restaurant that was named after Mildred.

Tip: Don’t miss the Weston Village Christmas Shop when in this area

After leaving here, we headed to the small historic area of Weston.

We stopped to take pictures of the Old Parish Church. 

The construction of the church began in 1816 and was completed in 1832.

Since its construction, the only significant change to the church has been the replacement of a simple dome over the doorway with today’s clock tower.

After taking our pictures of the church, we continued our drive and passed this beautiful horse farm along the way.

As we continued our drive, we entered into the town of Londonderry.

We passed the Second Congregational Church that was built in 1840.

Continuing our drive

It was now 1 pm and we were ready for lunch so we decided to find somewhere to eat our “picnic style” lunch.

I actually had a place picked out that was on my itinerary in case we wanted to have a “picnic”  and it just so happened that it worked out perfectly.

I had seen pictures of it on the Facebook page that I follow so I made a note of it.

It was called Hapgood Pond Recreation area and was ten minutes from Londonderry.

However, when we arrived, we quickly discovered that all 12 acres of the pond had been drained in order to build a fishing pier!

I was so disappointed!

So, instead of having our picnic lunch by the water, we had lunch by the mud! lol!

Read reviews here

At least our food was delish!

And so were the trees! 😉

After leaving here, we continued our drive through the small town of Peru where we passed the J.J. Hapgood General Store and Eatery.

I had read that the food here was top notch!

Read reviews here

Tip: Scenes from the  movie Baby Boom starring Diane Keaton was filmed at the general store 

We passed the Peru Congregational church Construction on the church began on the Fourth of July in 1845, with contractor and resident J.J. Hapgood utilizing much of the timbers of the former church building in the new church. In 1853, a tornado swept through Peru, damaging the west end of the church and moving it from the foundation, however, it survived.

As we continued our drive we entered into Manchester which would be where our next stop is located.

Manchester was one of the top recommended places to visit on the Vermont Facebook page I follow.

The charming Vermont town was settled in 1764 and the town was laid out in 1784. The arrival of the railroad from industrialized centers like New York City brought tourists, drawn by Manchester’s historic architecture and beautiful setting among mountains. Following the Civil War, the town developed into an affluent resort area, which it remains today.

Manchester is also home to Hildene, Robert Todd Lincoln’s 412-acre summer estate and that’s where we were headed.

A couple of the historic homes we passed in Manchester

One of them was actually a hotel called the Wickham House.

The Wickham House was originally built in 1790 as a tavern and inn by Captain Peter Black. The inn was later purchased in 1837 by Rev. Dr. Joseph Wickham, legendary headmaster of Burr and Burton Academy.

Heading to the Hildene House

After getting parked, we headed inside to purchase our tickets. 

Tip: Ticket for adults are $23 pp and $6 for children ages 6-16. The house is only open Thurs – Mon from 10:00 am to 4:30 pm.

Once we had our tickets, we headed back outside and waked a short distance to the house.

Abraham Lincoln’s son Robert and his wife, Mary built this house in 1905 as a summer home.

Robert was the only child of Mary Todd Lincoln and Abraham Lincoln to survive to maturity.

Peggy Beckwith, Abraham Lincoln’s great-granddaughter and the last Lincoln descendant to live at Hildene, died in 1975, and left Hildene to the Church of Christ, Scientist in accordance with her grandmother’s wishes.

The non-profit Friends of Hildene purchased the estate in 1978 and began the long process of restoring the home and formal garden.

The estate encompasses 412 acres and includes the house and 14 historic buildings, includes the home, formal garden and observatory.

The house has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1978.

The tour is self guided but they only allow so many people in at a time and a group had just entered into the house when we arrived so we had to wait for the next group to enter the house.

While we waited, we checked out the nearby observatory.

Robert Lincoln had gotten his initial interest in astronomy from his father, Abraham Lincoln so when he built this house, he also built his own observatory.

Robert became a voracious reader of books on astronomy, about thirty of which still remain in his library at the Hildene house.

The views near the observatory were incredible!

After checking out the observatory, we headed back to the house to get in line for the next tour group.

There was a small square outlined in the grass near the front door of the house that showed the size of Abraham Lincoln’s first home compared to his son’s home!

After a few minutes of waiting, we were allowed into the house.

There are several rooms that can be explored so we took a few minutes and checked out the downstairs as well as the upstairs.

Here are a few pictures I took of the inside.

President Lincoln’s top hat

After checking out the inside, we headed outside to check out the gardens.

The gardens are beautiful!

There are more than 1,000 peony blossoms throughout the gardens!

The garden was designed by President Lincoln’s granddaughter, Jessie Lincoln, for her mother, Mary Harlan Lincoln in 1908.

The prestigious American Peony Society designated two of Hildene’s peonies, “Hildene” and “Jessie Lincoln,” as previously unidentified cultivars. The research that led to this honor took place in the Observation Garden located behind the the Welcome Center.

The mountains surrounding the house  are absolutely stunning!! I can see why they would want to build a home in this location!

Tip: Besides the house, observatory and gardens, you can also visit the Welcome Center and Museum Store in the historic carriage barn; 1903 Pullman car, Hildene Farm, the solar-powered goat dairy and cheese-making facility,  greenhouse, composting facility, animal barn, vegetable gardens, apple orchard, 600 foot floating wetland boardwalk and an 1832 schoolhouse.

Read reviews for the house tour here

A few more photos of the outside

We had to go back through the house to exit so I took a few more pictures on the way out.

After the gardens, we left the house and continued our drive.

We passed this cool looking house as we were driving through Manchester.

Tip: The two most popular trails in this area the Lye Brook Falls Trail and the Prospect Rock Trail.

Continuing our drive through. Manchester

We passed the Orvis Outlet Store

In 1856, Charles F. Orvis founded the Orvis Company in Manchester, Vermont, offering superior fly-fishing equipment and priding himself on customer satisfaction and service. It is the oldest mail-order retailer in the United States.

Downtown Manchester

As we continued our drive, we passed beautiful farms.

The views along the way were so amazing!

We spotted a covered bridge so decided to pull over and check it out.

This is the Scott Covered Bridge and is located in Townshend.

The Scott Bridge is actually three bridges, put in place by Harrison Chamberlin in 1870 after the flood of 1869.

The bridge is 277 feet long and one of the longest covered bridges in the state. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. It’s closed to all traffic.

Driving through Townshend

A few minutes later we found ourselves in the quaint town of Newfane.

Fun Facts: The West River in Newfane yielded the largest gold nugget ever found in New England, at 6.5oz and the  small town was featured in episode 8, season 4, of the TV series “Route 66” in 1963. A sign for The Village Store at Newfane, Vermont, 1876, appears in an early scene.

There are around 1700 people that live in Newfane.

After arriving to the historic downtown area, we decided to park and take a few pictures of this cute, little town.

When we arrived there was some kind of farmers market or festival going on so it was difficult getting decent pictures of the beautiful historic buildings.

The First Congregational Church was built in 1839.

Near the church was the beautiful Four Columns Inn.  The house was constructed in 1832 for General Pardon T. Kimball, a cattle-broker, general of the state militia and later, a state senator.The house was converted to an inn in 1965.

Next, was the incredible Windham County Court House. It was built in 1824 and remodeled in 1853 to its present appearance.

Next is the Union Hall that was built in 1832 for $1600.oo. After twenty years it was abandoned, then converted to a public hall in 1872. It is now used for meetings, weddings, concerts, etc.

We then spotted this statue that had been erected in memory of the men of Newfane who had served in the Civil War.

We then spotted this cute little building that used to be the post office but now houses an antique shop.

Next to the post office was the rarest sighting of the day! 😉

We then headed inside the Newfane General Store to check it out. This store was built in 1889 after the original store that was built in 1822 was destroyed by a fire.

The store had a full menu of delicatessen and prepared food.

They also offered coffee, breakfast, lunch, dinner, groceries, cheese, maple syrup, ice cream, baked goods, and lots more!

They even had a few antiques in the store.

After checking out the general store, we continued our drive where we arrived to the Dummerston Covered Bridge in Dummerston.

The original bridge was built in 1872 but was totally renovated in 1998.

The West Dummerston covered bridge is 283 ft long and one of the two longest in the state, and it is the only one with diamond-shaped side ports.

Tip: The academy-award winning movie, The Cider House Rules, was filmed in Dummerston at Scott Farm in 1998.

Fun Fact: You can stay in the former home of famous author Rudyard Kipling. In fact, he wrote The Jungle Book, The Days Work, The Seven Seas and Captains Courageous while living there.

Continuing our drive

About 15 mins after leaving the bridge, we arrived to Putney where we spotted the Putney General Store.

The long history of this store dates back to 1796, the year when George Washington handed over control of the government to John Adams. The store has seen a lot in more than 2 centuries since then, including the recent loss of the original building to 2 fires in 2008 and 2009.

We headed inside to check it out

Since it was around 5:30 pm, we decided to order a couple of deli sandwiches for dinner.

After getting our sandwiches, we headed outside to eat on the front porch of the store.

They were so good!!

Read reviews here

After we were done eating, we continued our drive and crossed into Westminster. 

Westminster is Vermont’s oldest existing town and was chartered in 1735. It was also the first capital of the Republic of Vermont. It borders the state of New Hampshire. The population is around 3100.

We passed this beautiful church as we were driving through the town.

About five minutes after arriving to Westminster, we crossed over into Walpole, New Hampshire where we passed another beautiful church! This church was called the Walpole Unitarian Church.  The church was built in 1842 but  was replaced after the roof collapsed in 1920.

Tip: Filmmaker, Ken Burns lives in Walpole

We then passed this beautiful house!

We were in Walpole for one reason, to purchase some delicious chocolates at L.A. Burdick.

L.A. Burdick has 7 different locations but the location in Walpole is their flagship store.

L.A. Burdick Chocolates began with one man who had returned from training as a chocolatier in Bern, Switzerland and had a desire to make chocolate confections that could truly be called chocolate as most chocolate in the US was mass produced.

In 1987, Larry Burdick founded L.A. Burdick and today is widely regarded as a pioneer of fine chocolates in America.

Tip: I had read that Ashton Kutcher served L A Burdick chocolates at his wedding

We were a bit overwhelmed by all the choices!!

They had this haunted house made entirely from chocolate!

I couldn’t pass up on these caramel trios! I love caramel….and chocolate! 😉

After picking out our chocolates, we decided to order a delicious dessert and coffee.

We ordered a slice of the chocolate raspberry cake and a slice of the chocolate mousse cake.

The cakes were incredible and the coffee was some of the best we had on our trip!!

Tip: They also have a restaurant attached to the chocolate store

Read reviews for the chocolate store here & for the restaurant here

After leaving here, we drove an hour back to our hotel in Woodstock where we called it a night!

Thanks for reading!

Stay tuned for Day 8!

Read Day 1 here, Day 2 here, Day 3 here, Day 4 here, Day 5 here & Day 6 here

Click here to see links to all of my blog posts

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hey Guys!

This post continues our time in New Hampshire and Vermont.

Our travel dates were Oct 5 – 12, 2024.

Read Day 1 here, Day 2 here, Day 3 here, Day 4 here & Day 5 here & Click here to see links to all of my blog posts

This morning we decided to have breakfast at a very popular restaurant in Stowe called, the Butler’s Pantry. 

The restaurant was listed as one of the “10 Best Places to Grab Breakfast Before Skiing in New England” by New England Ski Journaling and voted the “Best Pancakes” in Vermont in 2020 by Insider.com.

We arrived to the restaurant around 7:45 am only to find a long line of people waiting to get in.

Tip: The restaurant doesn’t take reservations for breakfast but they do use the Yelp waitlist that allows you to get in line remotely. You can however, call and make a reservation for dinner.

The restaurant is located in a house that was built in 1830 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The building was originally the home of Orion W. Butler, one of Stowe’s first and most prominent lawyers.

The beautiful Stowe Community church sits directly across from the restaurant.

Once the restaurant opened their doors at 8 am, the line started moving pretty quickly.

The Butler’s pantry also offers lodging.

After being seated, we took a few minutes to look over the menu.

We both decided on those famous pancakes with that delicious Vermont maple syrup.

The food was good but definitely not the best pancakes I had ever eaten.

Read reviews here

After breakfast, we decided to walk to Shaw’s General Store to find a t-shirt and coffee cup.

On the way, we passed the Avocado Pit. A Mexican restaurant that is housed in a beautiful, old house.

We also passed these beautiful houses!

The Stowe Village Historic District encompasses most of the village center of Stowe and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.

Click here for a self guided walking tour of 11 historic sites in Stowe

Shaw’s General Store is a 2 minute walk from Butler’s Pantry.

The store has been family owned and operated since 1895!

It still has the original wood floors and countertop from 1895!

The store offered a variety of things from Vermont made goods, candy, toys, souvenirs and much more!

Read reviews here

After not finding what we were looking for, we headed to another store called, Stowe Mercantile.

This store was very similar to Shaw’s General store.

They had tons of candy!

As we were walking through the store, we spotted this old gondola and a set of skis.

We ended up finding our t-shirts, a coffee cup and some Vermont made chocolate bars!

Read reviews for this store here

After purchasing our souvenirs, we headed back to our hotel and checked out as we would be staying our next two nights in Woodstock.

Click here for best hotels in Stowe

Once we were checked out of our hotel, we headed to our first stop of the day.

Our drive took us through the small town of Morrisville.

This was another cute, colorful town with lots of historic buildings.

We passed this old church.

I thought Tennessee had a lot of churches…this place is right up there with TN…however, the difference is, we use our churches for church services. A lot of the churches we saw in Vermont were either not being used for services or they had been converted to something else.

Actually, Vermont consistently ranks among the least religious state in the country.

We decided to park and get out and walk around for a few minutes after we spotted this beautiful, old house.

We discovered that it used to be the governor’s mansion.

Governor George W. Hendee, the only governor of Vermont from Morrisville, had this house built in 1878. Mr. Hendee went on to represent Vermont in US House of Representatives from 1873-1879.

We continued our walk through town where we spotted another church called, United Community Church. 

This church was built in 1839 and was remodeled in 1857 and again in 1875.  A pipe organ was added in 1885 and the church was enlarged and renovated  in 1897 in the Gothic Revival style.

After the church, we spotted this gorgeous, old house that was for sale.

After this house, we headed back to our car to continue our drive.

We spotted the Fisher Covered Railroad bridge along the way….it was located in Wolcott.

The bridge was built in 1908 and was the last covered bridge in Vermont to carry railroad traffic, and is a rare surviving example in the state of a double Town lattice truss. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.

We didn’t stop to take pictures, so I just snapped a few while we passed the bridge.

Continuing our drive to our next stop, the Nichols Ledge hike. 

The hike is located in Woodbury which is a 45 minute drive from Stowe.

The drive there was on a very narrow, gravel road!

But the drive was so beautiful!

Thankfully, we never met another vehicle on this road!

After finally arriving to the small parking lot at the trailhead, we got out and started the short hike to the ledge.

There was only one other car in the parking lot when we arrived at 10:45 am.

This hike is located on private property but the owner allows people to hike here. However, during March 15 – Aug 1, this trail is closed to hikers due to the peregrine falcons that nest here.

The hike to the ledge is only 0.6 miles and you will gain about 250 ft of elevation.

You will be walking through the woods the entire time and the last section of the trail is a bit steep.

It took us about 10-15 mins to reach the top and the views were incredible!

Nichols Ledge sits at an elevation of 1,707 feet and presents you with  exceptional views of Nichols Lake, East Long Pond, Woodbury Mountain, and the Worcester Range of the Green Mountains.

The leaves were popping with colors of orange, yellow, reds and greens!

We couldn’t believe that there was only one other couple here when we arrived and they actually left shortly after we arrived!

It was cloudy and drizzling rain so it was hard to capture just how vivid the colors were.

Nichols Ledge reminded me of the Artist Bluff trail that we had hiked earlier in the week while we were in New Hampshire.

After taking way too many pictures, we headed back to our car.

The trail was really muddy in some areas.

After arriving back to our car, we continued our drive to our next stop.

Instead of going back the way we had come, we continued down the one lane road.

It was like driving through a painting!

About 15 minutes after leaving the trail, we passed one of the lakes we had seen from Nichols Ledge. Our location now showed that we were in Cabot.

Tip: Cabot is home to the Cabot Creamery Visitor Center 

Our drive took us through Marshfield but we were still on the backroads driving gravel roads.

The trees along this drive were so beautiful!

I couldn’t stop taking pictures ….as usual! 😉

We were now in East Calais where we spotted an overlook that gave us awesome views of a nearby church!

As we continued our drive, we came up on the church that we had just seen from a distance.

We then passed this pond. Vermont has tons of lakes and ponds!

About 45 mins after leaving the Nichols Ledge trail, we arrived to our next stop, Bragg Farm Sugarhouse. 

We were ready for our daily creemee!

Tip: Click here for a guide to visiting Vermont’s maple farms

After getting parked, we headed inside.

They offered all kinds of Vermont made goodies!

And of course, their own maple syrup!

The Bragg Family has been producing Pure Vermont Maple Syrup at the Bragg Farm Sugarhouse for 8 generations!

They make their maple syrup the traditional way, using buckets and a wood-fired evaporator.

After walking around the store for a few minutes, we headed to the front to order a delicious maple creemee!

We then headed back outside to enjoy our creemees on the front porch.

Maple creemees are a combination of the state’s two most famed products: high-quality milk and high-quality maple syrup and they are pure perfection!

Read reviews here

After finishing up our delicious creemees, we continued our drive through the beautiful countryside of Vermont.

We drove back through Marshfield but this time, we were driving through the town instead of the backroads.

We passed the Marshfield Village Store. The historic town market dates back to 1852.

A few minutes later we found ourselves back in Cabot where we passed the Cabot Creamery facility.

The original creamery was built in 1893 by 94 farmers who invested in proportion to the number of cattle they owned. The creamery started out making butter, but began making cheese in 1930.

The creamery receives milk from 800 family farms across New England and produces 130 million pounds of cheese per year.

Tip: Click here to watch a 5 min YouTube video on Cabot’s creamery and their tours

Driving through Cabot

We passed this incredible house!!

We saw so many gorgeous, historic homes in Vermont….I’m not sure if we even saw any newer homes here!

About 30 mins after leaving Braggs Maple Farm, we arrived to our next stop, Burt’s Apple Orchard. 

There are tons of orchards in Vermont!

During their open season, Burt’s orchard offers pick your own apples, cider donuts, pumpkins, maple syrup, cider, cider slushes, hones and more!

Burt’s has 26,000 maple trees that they tap for sap!

After arriving to the orchard, we walked around and checked it out.

They had acres and acres of apple trees!

And tons of pumpkins!

My hubby decided he would try out one of the apples that had fallen to the ground. 😉

The orchard grows about 40 different types of apples!

We headed inside the small building where they were selling their apples, syrup, vinegar and other goodies.

After seeing that they sold the cider donuts, we decided to order a couple with some hot apple cider!

There’s a large kitchen behind the registers where the donuts are made all day, and bags of them are lined up on counters as well.

The hot apple cider hit the spot on this cold, wet day!

After leaving here, we continued our drive.

A few minutes later, we spotted a covered bridge so we pulled over to take a few pictures.

This is the AM Foster Bridge Covered bridge and it’s a reproduction of the Martin Covered Bridge that was built in 1890.

This bridge was built in 1988-89 by its owner, Richard Walbridge Spaulding and sits on private property.

After leaving the bridge, we continued our drive.

We were now driving through West Danville and heading to a back road that is popular during the fall called Bayley-Hazen Road. It is also one of Vermont’s most historic dirt roads.

Tip: Don’t miss the largest corn maze in New England while in this area!

On the way, we spotted the Greenbank’s Hollow Covered Bridge so we made another quick stop.

The original bridge was built in the mid 1800’s however, a mill fire in 1885 leveled the bridge as well as the whole community that was located here.

The bridge was rebuilt in 1886, but the community was never rebuilt but now the Danville Historical Society is currently recovering and restoring the site that has been dormant since the 1885 fire.

Near the bridge, is a historic site marker entitled A Forgotten Village and foundations are marked as to their use in 1885.

There was a sign hanging in the bridge with a QR code that you could scan to read about the bridge and 5 other bridges located in Caledonia County.

Views from the bridge

There are several remnants of the old mill and town that once stood here.

There were also several site markers that marked the spots where the mill, homes and other structures once stood.

After leaving here, we continued our drive.

We made another quick stop when we spotted these trees that had been tapped for maple syrup.

It was so cool to see first hand how the sap was collected from the trees!

Continuing our drive

We were now on Bailey-Hazen Road making our way to the very small town of Peacham.

The history of this road begins in 1776 when Benedict Arnold and Richard Montgomery attempted to capture Canada. The American army needed reinforcements and supplies to continue the siege of Quebec.

Jacob Bayley, head of the frontier militia and a resident of Newbury, wrote to General George Washington about the need to build a new road to shorten existing supply routes.

In 1778-79, General Moses Hazen continued the construction of the Bayley-Hazen Military Road as far as Hazen’s Notch on Route 58—now marked by a historic site plaque. The military road was abandoned in April 1779 when news broke that the British patrols might use it as an invasion route.

As a military achievement, the Bayley-Hazen road was considered a flop. Still, nearly 250 years after it was built, the road continues to generate interest among history buffs, locals, and visitors.

Unfortunately, there wasn’t a lot of color in the trees.

A short while later, we arrived to Peacham. 

 

 

Hey Guys!

This post continues our time in New Hampshire & Vermont.

Our travel dates were Oct 5 – 12, 2024.

Read Day 1 here, Day 2 here, Day 3 here & Day 4 here. Click here to see links to all of my blog posts over the years.

As you know by now, we are in Stowe, Vermont staying at the Field Guide Lodge.

Stowe is one of the most, if not the most, popular town to stay in when visiting Vermont during the fall.

So, you will need to make your hotel reservations early if you ever plan on visiting during this time of year.

Tip: I book all of our hotels through Booking and Travelocity and then keep checking prices up until the time we leave for our trip. Just be sure to book a hotel that you can cancel a few days prior to your arrival date.

This morning we decided to have breakfast at a restaurant called, the Skinny Pancake.

The restaurant was right across from our hotel.

We arrived before 8 am to find that they were already opened so we headed inside.

We had thought we were going to be able to order pancakes with some of that delicious Vermont maple syrup, however, these were not the kind of “pancakes” we were expecting!

Instead, they were crepes. Their menu included sweet and savory crepes and breakfast sandwiches.

My hubby decided on the Noah’s Ark which was 2 eggs, sausage and two “cinnamon roll” style crepes with a side of potatoes.

I chose the Early Riser which was two eggs with Cabot cheddar cheese in a crepe. I also added bacon to my crepe.

The food was just ok. It wasn’t terrible….it’s just that it wasn’t what we were expecting or wanting.

Read reviews here & Click here for best breakfast in Stowe

After breakfast, we walked back to our hotel.

Tip: Another popular restaurant that was directly across from our hotel was, The Bench

After getting back to our hotel, we headed to our first stop of the day which was located in Stowe and just a minutes drive from the hotel.

We would be taking pictures of the most photographed church in Vermont called the Stowe Community Church.

Tip: Click here for the 11 best “instagrammable” spots in Stowe

This viewpoint can be found in the same parking lot as Salon Salon, a hair salon in Stowe.

Tip:  Upon entering the parking area, you’ll find a dedicated lower lot for the viewpoint.

The white-steepled New England colonial-style church was completed in 1863.

Unfortunately, they were doing repairs to the church when we were there and there was scaffolding around the steeple.

It still made for some beautiful pictures but the lighting wasn’t the greatest either.

Our next stop would be another popular stop in Stowe, the Gold Brook Covered Bridge aka Emily’s bridge.

The bridge is located 7 mins from the viewpoint for the church.

It was built in 1844 and is a single-lane, 50-foot-long bridge.

This bridge is often referred to as Emily’s Bridge because legend has it that back in the mid-1800s, Emily was supposed to meet her secret lover at the bridge to elope.

When he never showed up, it’s said that Emily took her own life from the rafters of the covered bridge.

The bridge is now believed to be haunted by the spirit of Emily.

Ok, ok….I don’t believe in all of that stuff but we couldn’t pass up having our pictures taken at the bridge!

Tip: Get here early because it gets crowded! I’m talking tour buses come here!

Tip: Read reviews for the bridge here

After leaving the bridge, we spotted an overlook that gave us beautiful views of Stowe!

We could see the Stowe Community Church from this overlook as well!

We then headed to our next stop of the day, the Stowe Gondola Sky ride.

Our drive took us back through the town of Stowe and I was able to snap a quick picture of the church as we were passing by.

The gondola was located 20 mins from Emily’s Bridge.

When we arrived to the gondola, a thick layer of clouds was blocking the views of the mountains!

I had already pre purchased our tickets prior to leaving for our trip so, we decided to go ahead and take the gondola to the top since we had already paid $40 pp!

After arriving, we had to go to the ticket booth to show them our online reservations so they could give us a paper ticket instead.

Tip: You can take the gondola during the winter months too as you can ski here. Stowe is very popular during the winter!

After getting our tickets, we headed to the Stowe sign to have someone take our picture!

Once we had our picture, we headed inside to get in line for the gondola.

There was no wait at all which was surprising as I had read that during the fall, you could wait over an hour to board the gondola at the bottom and at the top when you come back down!

I’m sure the weather had something to do with the crowds but it also had to due with us being there as soon as the place opened….it doesn’t open until 10 am and the last ticket is sold at 4:15 pm.

On the gondola on our way up to the highest mountain in Stowe, Mt Mansfield!

The mountain reaches an elevation of 4,393 feet above sea level. It is also the highest peak in the Green Mountains.

Tip: You can also drive the toll road to the top. Read reviews here

The gondola provided spectacular views of the mountains ablaze in fall colors!

However, as we got closer to the top, we couldn’t see anything!

Once you reach the top, you can spend a couple of hours enjoying the summit.

There is a restaurant where you can have lunch, or if you prefer, you could pack a lunch and eat at the picnic tables at the top.

There is also a hike which is quite rocky so make sure you wear proper shoes, but it provides stunning views once you reach the top. There is also a zipline if you prefer to zip down instead of taking the gondola.

I had actually made reservations at the very popular Cliff House restaurant on top of the mountain but the reservations were for 11:15 am and we arrived to the top around 10:15 …not only were we not hungry at the time but we didn’t want to wait around until 11:00 to eat especially when the views were obscured by the clouds!

Click here for a list of restaurants in Stowe

Also at the top is a small gift shop.

There were a few signs hanging on the walls that told about the history of the area.

One of the employees pointed out that it had been snowing right before we arrived!

After spending a few minutes at the top, we boarded the gondola and headed back down the mountain.

The views were spectacular on the way down!

Just enjoying the views!

The closer we got to the bottom, the more fall colors came into view.

After leaving here, we headed to another very popular site that was only 7 mins from the gondola called, Smuggler’s Notch.

The famous Smugglers’ Notch is a narrow pass through the Green Mountains. Lined with 1,000-foot cliffs, the winding road is closed in winter.

In the earlier days, only a footpath and trail for horses existed here.

It got its name after President Thomas Jefferson passed an embargo in 1807 that forbid American trade with Great Britain and Canada and Vermonters used this notch to continue trading with them illegally.

Later, fugitive slaves used the Notch as an escape route to Canada. During the Prohibition years, liquor was smuggled from Canada over the improved road built in 1922.

Smugglers Notch is now a gorgeous scenic drive that is very popular during the fall months.

The road is free to drive but it does have strict vehicle restrictions since it’s a very narrow road.

The road is only about 4 miles long and passes through picturesque forests and rock outcroppings. The road  lies within the Smugglers’ Notch State Park and Mt. Mansfield State Forest.

It is the first officially designated “Scenic Highway” in the State of Vermont.

The road is known for being narrow, winding, and steep, with hairpin turns, giant boulders, and cliffs.

Click here to read about other scenic drives in Vermont

The trees were not at their peak colors but it was still a gorgeous drive!

After driving for a few minutes, we pulled over to check out these huge boulders!

Click here to read about the hiking trails along this drive

The trees were so beautiful!

After taking a few pictures, we continued our drive.

We passed this beautiful, roadside waterfall.

More views along the way

Read reviews for this drive here

Tip: At the end of the Smuggler’s Notch road is where you will find the Smuggler’s Notch Resort

After finishing the drive, we stopped off at a “sugar house” called, Wyckoff Family Maple.

A sugar house is where maple sap is boiled down to create maple syrup and maple sugar.

They are often small, wood buildings that are unheated and typically located near or in a strand of maple trees.

There are over 3,000 sugar houses in Vermont!

Many of these sugar houses have been family owned for generations and use methods to produce syrup that have changed little over the years.

Tip: Click here for the oldest sugar house in Vermont….it’s 35 mins from Stowe.

After going inside, we were greeted by a really sweet lady who offered to give us a short tour of the facility.

She explained how they made their maple syrup and showed us the equipment they use.

She told us they have 6,200 maple trees that are tapped to collect the sap they use to make their syrup and that it takes, get this, 43 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup!!

The sap, that is made up of 98% water and 2% sugar, can only be collected during specific temperature conditions. Above freezing during the day, and freezing at night and no leaves on the trees….is that not crazy?!

After our short tour, she took us back to the front of the sugar house to do a tasting.

This particular sugar house offered 11 different flavors of maple syrup!

Oh,My.Gosh. is all I could say…I couldn’t believe how delicious this syrup was!

This family also infuses their maple syrup with things like lavender, vanilla beans, cinnamon sticks, ginger, coffee beans and more.

My hubby and I loved all of them but our favorites were vanilla, lavender, coffee and cinnamon!

The colors of the syrup will dictate the flavor you end up with.

The golden color gives you a light maple flavor, the amber color gives you a rich taste that is the most popular for pancakes, the dark color is more robust and is good for cooking and the darkest colors gives you the strongest maple flavor that is great for baking or BBQ sauce.

Tip: You can purchase their maple syrup online….that’s exactly what I did when I got back home!

Tip: Did you know that maple syrup is full of vitamins and nutrients? I use their flavored maple syrup to flavor my coffee!

After our tasting, we continued our drive.

We were now in Jeffersonville.

We made a quick stop when we spotted this beautiful, old church!

We also passed the very popular Hanley’s General Store.

The store has been in operation since the early 1900s and has become a popular destination for tourists.

Our next stop would be in Jeffersonville.

During my research, I had read about these amazing murals that were painted on old silos.

After seeing pictures of them online, I had to see them for myself!

The silos were located in the middle of town so they weren’t hard to find.

After getting parked, we headed towards the silos to take pictures.

There was a small pool of water on the ground near one of the silos that made for some cool shots!

These murals were completed in 2016 by local artist Sarah Rutherford.

The two silos were once remnants of the old Bell-Gates Lumber operation.

The south silo was once originally used as a kiln to dry lumber while the north silo was used to store sawdust.

The murals represent the towns past and future.

On the North Silo you will see a male farmer who portrays the past and current generations while the covered bridge, church clock tower/steeple, and horses drawing logs represent the town’s history.

The South Silo illustrates the winter and spring seasons, with the bandstand that once sat at the head of Main Street and a child representing the area’s future.

This silo used to bear an image of a zebra.  The current artist had tried to incorporate the zebra into her mural but felt it didn’t fit into her vision of Vermont “in the future” so she painted over it.

Both of these silos feature the thrush and red clover, which are Vermont symbols.

Each silo is thirty-six feet tall; at 5,000 square feet total, the two comprise the largest outdoor mural in Vermont.

After taking way too many pictures, we continued our drive!

Shortly later, we spotted a small cafe called the Farm Store and decided to stop and purchase a cup of coffee.

We spotted these old horse head hitching posts in the parking lot.

Once inside the cafe, we looked over the menu…..so many choices!

We both decided on the maple latte and they were so good!

After our coffee, we decided it was time for lunch!

We thought about eating at the Burger Barn but decided to eat our leftover pizza instead!

After lunch, we headed to our next stop, a covered bridge called the Grist Mill Covered Bridge.

The bridge is located in the Brewster River Park.

No one really knows the exact date that this bridge was built or the exact name of the bridge.

It’s also known as the Bryant Bridge, Canyon Bridge, and Scott Bridge.

Before the Flood of 1927, Jeffersonville was home to 13 covered bridges. Now there are only three.

Views from the bridge

After leaving this bridge, we spotted another bridge. I’m not sure which bridge this was as we just snapped a picture from our car.

We also spotted another beautiful church …this one was called Community Christian Fellowship.

We then headed to our next stop, Fairfax Falls in Fairfax.

Once we arrived, we realized it was just a falls that was created by a hydroelectric dam and we couldn’t find anywhere to take a good picture of it so we headed to our next stop.

We spotted the Fairfax Covered Bridge along the way so stopped for a quick picture.

Built in 1865, it is the town’s only historic covered bridge, and is a rare two-lane covered bridge in the state. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.

After the bridge, we continued our drive and passed this beautiful, picture perfect house along the way!

We are now in Westford where we passed this civil war memorial.

And this beautiful church!

This iconic building was built in 1840 as a church and has now been transformed into the Westford Common Hall.

As we continued our drive, we entered into the town of Essex and passed this beautiful house!

And this Christmas tree farm!

About twenty minutes after leaving Fairfax, we arrived to Jericho where we would find our next stop, the The Chittenden Mills

The mill was declared a National Historic Site in 1972. It is one of two remaining mills out of eight that were once sited on the Brown’s River.

The Chittenden Mills has the longest and most interesting history.

Chittenden Mills aka  the “Old Red Mill” is named after Thomas Chittenden who was the first and third governor of Vermont.

The Mill house located adjacent to the mill was built in 1859.

After getting parked, we headed inside the mill.

The old mill now houses the Historical Society Museum, Snowflake Bentley Exhibit and a Craft Shop.

Old pictures hanging inside the mill

Priceless mementos of “Snowflake” Bentley, original milling machinery and the products of Jericho’s water powered mills are all on display.

I had no idea who Snowflake Bentley was until I started writing this blog.

He was an American meteorologist and photographer, who was the first known person to take detailed photographs of snowflakes and record their features.

His photographs and publications provide valuable scientific records of snow crystals and their many types. Five hundred of his snowflake photos now reside in the Smithsonian Institution Archives.

After taking pictures of the inside, we headed back outside to photograph the mill from the outside.

The mill is located in the Old Mill Park, a 12 acre park that offers picnicking, hiking, & cross-country skiing on trails that wind along the Browns River.

You will not want to miss photographing this mills as it is so amazing!

After leaving here, we headed to our next stop in Jericho called, Palmer Lane Maple. 

Palmer Lane Maple is a small, family run maple syrup farm and I had read that they had amazing creemees!

After getting parked, we headed inside.

The small store sells their maple syrup along with other Vermont made items.

After looking over their creemee menu, my hubby and I both decided to order the maple sundae.

The maple sundae was a small maple creemee in a cup, drizzled with pure Vermont maple syrup and topped with their original maple sprinkles!

After making our purchase, we headed back outside and sat on the store’s front porch and ate our delicious creemees!

After gobbling up our creemees, we decided to drive around and check out the town.

We first spotted this beautiful, old church!

As you can see, we love covered bridges, churches, and creemees!

It was so hard not taking pictures of everything we came across as there was so many historical buildings in Vermont and they are all so picturesque….especially during the fall!

We then spotted the most beautiful house we had ever seen…..well, maybe not ever seen but it was way up there!!

Many of the historic homes in Jericho were built by the successful mill owners.

Most of the historic homes here were built between the late 1800’s and early 1900’s.

I took way too many pictures of this house!

We had parked at the church and were walking along the sidewalk taking pictures of all the beautiful homes!

After coming up on the Jericho Town Hall, we turned around and headed back to our car.

Tip: When visiting Jericho, don’t miss the historic Joe’s Snack Bar!

Continuing our drive

Shortly after leaving Jericho, we arrived to the small town of Richmond.

There are so many awesome small towns in Vermont and we loved them all!

We passed these beautiful, old homes shortly after arrivng!

Driving through the main downtown area

Tip: Richmond is located 25 mins from Burlington, VT and 30 mins from Montpelier which is the capital of Vermont

As we were driving through town, we saw a sign for the historic round church so, of course, we decided to go check it out.

And, we were so glad we did!

Just look at this church!

The sixteen sided church was built in 1812-13 under the direction of local craftsman William Rhodes to be the Town Meeting Hall and place of worship for members of five denominations in the area.

Eighteen men worked a combined 922 days to erect the building. William Rhodes received $3,000 for labor and materials. Three other men received from $12 to $20 per month and the rest were volunteers.

The Round Church is the most well-known historical site in Richmond. The Old Round Church became a national landmark in 1996 due to its unique architecture as a place of worship.

The church ceased to be used for regular religious services in the 1880s but continued to serve the town as a meetinghouse until 1973 when State regulations declared the church unsafe for public use.

In 1976 the town deeded the church to the Richmond Historical Society for forty years so that restoration could proceed with federal assistance. This was renewed for an additional forty years in 2016.

We headed inside to check it out.

The inside was so unique as the seats were enclosed….I had never seen anything like it!

The inside of the couch had been completely restored.

There were a few signs inside the church that told about the history.

They still had the old furnace in the church.

How special to have something like this in your town!

After leaving this church, we spotted another awesome church in Richmond.

The church, built in 1879, now serves as a library.

It served as a church until 1956, when the congregation decided to disband and sell the property to Richmond resident Walter A. Griffith.

After taking our pictures of this church, we continued our drive where twenty minutes later we arrived to the town of Waterbury.

In Waterbury, we passed the Colby Mansion.

The house was built in 1870 by George J. Colby.  It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.

About 25 minutes after arriving to Waterbury, we arrived to our next stop which was back in Stowe which was Moss Glen Falls. 

Tip: Click here for more waterfall hikes in Stowe & Click here for the best waterfalls in Vermont

Read reviews for the falls here

The 1/4 mile hike to the falls started out on a wooden boardwalk.

On the way, we spotted a tree that a beaver had chewed through!

Not long after starting the hike, the wooden boardwalk ended and the trail turned into a dirt path.

We then arrived to several concrete steps that were pretty steep!

Arriving to the falls!

Moss Glen Falls is the tallest waterfall in Vermont, cascading 85 feet!

It was difficult to get a good shot of the falls as the trail had been roped off due to recent flooding in the area.

I walked to different vantage points trying to get a good picture!

This area is dangerous as it has sheer drop offs!

After getting our pictures, we headed back to our car.

We continued to our next stop and passed beautiful farms along the way.

We stopped when we spotted the popular Spear Barn!!

The barn was built in 1850 and is a popular place to take pictures in Stowe.

There’s a huge maple tree that sits in front of the barn and during the fall, it makes for a beautiful picture.

However, the tree had already lost most of its leaves but it was still pretty!

We walked to the side of the barn and were able to get a shot of the barn with some cows standing near the barn.

After leaving the barn, we arrived to our last stop of the day, the Trapp Family Lodge.

If you are familiar with the movie, the Sound of Music, then you will be familiar with the Trapp Family!

Yes, this lodge is owned by that Trapp family!

In the early 1940s, the von Trapp family toured the United States as the Trapp Family Singers before eventually settling in Stowe, Vermont.

In 1950, they began welcoming guests to a rustic, 27-room family home/lodge. After a devastating fire in 1980, the original structure was replaced by the new Trapp Family Lodge that sits on 2600 acres. The entire property is still owned and operated by the von Trapp family.

After getting parked and taking pictures of the outside of the lodge, we headed inside to check it out.

Tip: It’s free to park here but you will have to pay $17 pp to walk the trails, see their farm animals, etc. They have lots of different tours. There’s an old historic church you can hike to that was built by the Von Trapp family. It takes 20 mins to hike and it’s uphill. The trail pass is $15 pp.

The inside of the hotel was very plain….nothing fancy. However, I had read that if you went downstairs, you would find lots of pictures and history about the Trapp Family.

So, that’s where we headed.

After making it downstairs, we found the pictures of the family.

There were several so we spent a few minutes looking at each of them.

We were shocked when we found out that the movie exaggerated the truth about the family….can you believe that?! 😉

The family didn’t flee Austria in the middle of the night like the movie portrays …they were actually on a train to the US to perform when they found out about the Nazi regime and just never went back.

Maria did marry the Captain but they also had three children together and it’s one of those children that run the lodge today. That child is Johannes Von Trapp and he’s the last living child of Maria and the Captain.

Johannes and his two children, Kristina and Sam live on property with their families at Trapp Family Lodge.

Tip: You can also book a reservation to eat here and tons of other neat experiences

After taking pictures on the inside, we headed back outside to take a few more pictures.

I had read that the Trapp family was buried in front of the lodge so, we asked one of the employees where the cemetery was located.

The small cemetery is located to the left of the lodge.

Maria, Captain von Trapp and six of the von Trapp children are buried here.

After taking pictures of the cemetery, we headed back to our car to go find something to eat.

As we were leaving, we saw lots of people walking down to see the Highland cows that are on the Von Trapp property.

So, we parked again, and headed down to the pasture to see the cows!

The Trapp Family Lodge has a herd of 75 Scottish Highland Cattle that have been on property since Johannes von Trapp introduced them in 1963.

I was so excited as I had always wanted to see highland cows because they are so darn cute!

And all of them were so close to the fence!

We took so many pictures of these cute little cows!

I would love to have one for myself! 😉

After taking 1500 pictures of the cows, we headed into Stowe to find something to eat.

We decided on a place that I had read about that was laid back and didn’t require reservations …it was called Doc Ponds.

We arrived around 5:30 pm and were seated right away!

We couldn’t believe that we didn’t have to wait for a table!

After being seated, we took a few minutes to look over the menu.

We both ended up ordering the mushroom and Swiss burger with fries.

Ya’ll this burger was out of this world delicious!!

Their fries were really good too!

Read reviews here

After dinner, we looked for somewhere in Stowe to purchase souvenirs as we would be checking out of our hotel in the morning and heading to Woodstock. 

We headed to Shaw’s General Store but unfortunately, the store was already closed.

We then headed to Stowe Mercantile but they were closed too!

Since we had no luck with souvenirs, we headed to a Stowe mural that I had read about during my research.

The mural is located on the side of the Laughing Moon Chocolate’s building. 

It was dark when we arrived to the mural so we had to use our flash.

After taking our pictures, we headed back to our hotel and called it a night!

Thanks for reading!

Stay tuned for Day 6!

Read Day 1 here, Day 2 here, Day 3 here and Day 4 here. Click here to see links to all of my blog posts

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is part of my Vermont & New Hampshire Fall Road Trip Itinerary

Read the full itinerary here –  Vermont & New Hampshire Fall Road Trip Itinerary (7-10 Days)

In this post you will read about the following places: Cold Hollow Cider Mill, Bridges & Churches, Scenic drives & views, Bristol, Vermont, Bartlett Falls, Vergennes, Vermont, Yates Family Orchard, Lincoln, Vermont, Sunset Ledge hike, Warren Falls, Moss Glenn Falls, Warren, Vermont, Blueberry Lake, Waitsfield, Vermont, Where to eat & Where to stay

This post continues our time in New Hampshire & Vermont.

Read Day 1 here, Day 2 here, & Day 3 here. Click here to see links to all of my blog posts

Stowe, Vermont is one of the best destinations in New England for a fall road trip, offering scenic drives, charming small towns, waterfalls, and easy hiking spots all within a short driving distance.

This 1-day Stowe itinerary is based on my Vermont road trip and includes the best things to do nearby, from cider mills and historic towns to waterfalls and sunset views.

Morning: Cold Hollow Cider Mill (Vermont Classic Stop)

We started our morning at a very popular cider mill in Stowe called, Cold Hollow Cider Mill.

If you’ve ever planned a trip to Stowe, you will find that this place is always on the list as a must visit!

During my research, I had read that it was highly recommended to get here early as this place becomes a mad house during the fall season.

So, that’s what we did.

The cider mill opened at 8 am so, we arrived at approximately 7:45.

There was only one other car in the parking lot when we arrived.

While we waited for them to open, we got out and took a few pictures.

The mill also operates a cafe where they serve breakfast from 8 am – 10:30 and lunch from 11 am to 4 pm.

The cider mill opened its doors promptly at 8 am.

The store offers all sorts of goods from Vermont made foods, to home goods to t-shirts.

However, we were here for two things, the apple cider and the apple cider donuts!

We found the apple cider first.

They offer a testing tank where you can taste their delicious apple cider for free!

I’m not a big fan of apple cider as it’s way too sweet for me but who doesn’t like free?!

I wasn’t going to pass on trying their freshly pressed apple cider that’s made with Vermont grown apples!

The cider was good but I still thought it was too sweet.

After walking around the store for a few minutes, we headed to the front of the store where they were making their homemade apple cider donuts.

Their donuts are made fresh daily and are one of their biggest sellers!

Tip: You can purchase their cider donut mix here

It was so cool being able to watch how they make them!

We decided to purchase 1/2 a dozen donuts and some coffee to have for breakfast.

After making our purchase, we spotted some delicious looking maple cinnamon rolls….my husband and I love cinnamon rolls….however, we decided to refrain from purchasing anything else.

We then headed outside to enjoy our coffee and donuts.

Like most apple cider donuts, Cold Hollow Cider’s donuts were very dense and cake like.

They are not like your typical light and airy donut like you would buy at Krispy Kreme.

My hubby and I thought they were just ok. They weren’t terrible by any means just very bland.

I would definitely recommend you give them a try if you ever visit Vermont as they are very popular during the fall season.

Read reviews here

After eating our donuts, we then headed to our next stop of the day.

Bridges & Churches

On the way, we passed the Ben & Jerry’s ice cream factory.

You can take a tour of the facility to watch how they make their ice cream as well as purchase their ice cream.

Read reviews of the factory tour here

We passed beautiful old churches along the way.

We then arrived to our second stop of the day, the Great Eddy Covered Bridge in Waitsfield. 

The Great Eddy Bridge, also known as the Waitsfield covered bridge, is the oldest operating covered bridge in the state.

It was built in 1833 and restored in 1975, and it has the longest clear span of any Burr truss bridge in Vermont, spanning an incredible 105 feet.

Tip: Click here to read about a 39 mile driving tour that brings you through 7 covered bridges

Our next stop of the day was another covered bridge called, Pine Brook.

This bridge was built in 1872 and is one of two surviving 19th-century covered bridges in Waitsfield. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.

Scenic Drives & Views

After this bridge, we continued our drive.

About 20 mins after leaving the Pine Brook bridge, we arrived to our next stop….an overlook on the Appalachian Gap Road.

Tip: Gap roads are mountain passes. Other gap roads in Vermont include the Middlebury, Lincoln, Brandon, and Roxbury gaps.

This overlook gave you sweeping views of the surrounding mountains.

The leaves in this area looked as if they were at peak!

The views were incredible!

After leaving the overlook, we continued our drive along the gap road.

I highly recommend driving some of these gap roads as they usually offer amazing views!

We passed these horses grazing in the fields….how picturesque!

The colors were popping around every curve!

Best Small Town Near Stowe – Bristol, Vermont

As we neared our next stop, we passed this huge, granite rock that had the Lord’s Prayer engraved on it.

In 1891, Dr. Joseph C. Greene of Buffalo, N.Y., formally of Vermont, returned to Bristol and paid William McGee and another man $45 each to carve the Lord’s Prayer into the large Rock located just east of Bristol Village.

We then arrived to our next stop, the small, quaint town of Bristol.

Bristol is a mountain town in central Vermont, surrounded by the Green Mountain National Forest. The town has a population of approximately 3,800 people.

The town was chartered on June 26, 1762.

Bristol’s Main Street is home to a small, historic downtown that includes some incredible architecture.

We drove through the town snapping pictures along the way.

I could definitely live here! It reminded me of Mayberry from the Andy Griffith Show!

The houses here were absolutely incredible ….just look at these houses!!

After driving through the town, we decided to park on Main Street and walk around for a while to check out the cute little town!

The old, historic buildings on Main Street were so colorful!

The buildings date back to the early 1800’s!

Tip: Read about the history of the town here

We spotted these beautiful maple trees in the town’s square!

Each of these small towns in Vermont call their town squares, greens which is the town’s center.

Bristol’s town green includes a fountain, bandstand, playground, peace garden, and memorials.

The Bristol Band has played outdoor summer concerts on the green since the Civil War. The green also hosts other events, including a summer music festival and street fair, and a winter celebration of fire and light.

Also located in the town’s center was the beautiful, First Baptist Church. 

The church was built in 1819.

After taking way too many pictures of the church, we continued our walk through the town.

We passed beautifully landscaped homes.

Is this not what you envision when you think of the perfect place to live….a small town with white picket fences?!

It was like walking through a Hallmark Movie!

Speaking of movies, one of the residents of Bristol, told us this house was used during the filming of a movie called, The Wizard of Loneliness. It was filmed back in 1988.

We had never heard of the movie but now I want to watch it just to see this house!

Tip: Click here to see a list of movies filmed in Bristol

This small neighborhood was so beautiful!

After walking around for a while, we headed back to our car.

We had wanted to eat lunch here, but it was too early and not much was opened.

After getting back to our car, we headed to our next stop.

However, shortly after leaving Main Street, we spotted an old stage coach so decided to make a quick stop to check it out.

The stage coach had been used to transport guests to the railroad station from the old Bristol Inn and back again.

The Inn was located across the street where the parking lot is now and used this coach to transport its guest until the 1920’s.

Tip: Click here to read about another historic Inn in Bristol that you can still stay at

There were several old pictures of the stagecoach and signs telling about its history.

Sitting beside the coach house was the Howden Hall Community Center.

And sitting beside the community center was the original bell that was placed in the building in 1866.

Bartlett Falls – (Waterfall near Stowe)

After this stop, we continued to our next stop, Bristol Falls aka Bartlett Falls.

The falls were located about 5 mins from the town of Bristol.

The falls are located very close to the road but there’s no real parking for the falls…..you just park along the dirt road.

Bartlett Falls is a beautiful 14-foot waterfall with a swimming hole below it.

I’ve read that this place stays super busy during the summer months!

Tip: Read here about a 2 mile hike you can do in Bristol that has amazing views

After this stop, we continued our drive and passed beautiful farms and rolling hills along the way.

Historic Vermont Town: Vergennes

About 15 mins after leaving Bristol, we arrived to the town of Vergennes. 

This was another picture perfect town!

We passed this picture perfect house and this beautiful old church!

Our next stop was the Vergennes Falls Park.

The park offers trails, picnic tables, kayaking and views of a beautiful waterfall.

Tip: The basin below Vergennes falls is where American Revolution Commodore McDonough built his ships as many Revolutionary war battles were fought out on Lake Champlain. Check out the local history, there is a lot to be seen.

We just snapped a few pictures and continued our drive which took us back through the downtown area of Vergennes. 

Vergennes was settled in 1766 by Donald MacIntosh. It was established as a city in 1788, the only one in Vermont not to have been first chartered as a town or independent village.

The population of Vergennes is approximately 2,600.

We decided to park and get out and walk around the town.

The town, like Bristol, has lots of historic houses and buildings.

Walking through the town

The houses were just incredible!

After walking for a while, we decided to head back to our car.

We passed the historic Stevens House Hotel.

After getting back to our car, we continued our drive.

Yates Family Orchard – Best Orchard near Stowe

Once we spotted this beautiful farm in Monkton, we just had to stop and take a few pictures!

Vermont is full of beautiful farms!

About 10 mins past this farm, we arrived to our next stop, Yates Family Orchard.

There are tons of wonderful orchards in Vernont!

The Yates Family Orchard is a family owned and operated apple orchard that began in 2009 with an orchard that had been planted in the 1930’s.

The orchard offers apple picking with 28 different varieties of apples, pears, plums, cherries, raspberries and peaches.

The orchard also offers hot, made to order cider donuts, pies, baked goods, various artisan crafts, ice cream and more!

They are also home to the original Dreamee- a hot, fresh made cider donut with Vermont maple soft serve ice cream on top…and that’s what we were here for!

So, we headed to the window where you had to place your order.

It took a few minutes to get our dreamee because they make the donuts after you place your order so they are fresh and hot!

And it was so worth the wait…..so delicious!!

Unlike the cider donuts at Cold Hollow Cider, these donuts were hot and crispy and sprinkled with sugar!

We enjoyed our dreamee on the deck overlooking the orchard.

After our yummy dreamee, we walked around the orchard and took a few more pictures before heading to our next stop.

Tip: Click here to read about the Vermont Cider donut trail

Lincoln, Vermont – Best General Store near Stowe

Our next stop, Lincoln, was 20 mins from the orchard.

Our first stop in Lincoln was the Lincoln General Store.

This community fixture has been around since 1843 and is the place to go to stock up on everything and anything.

The one thing that you will find at all of these small general stores is fresh made sandwiches, soups, chili and more!

We decided to purchase a sandwich and some yummy homemade macaroni and cheese made with that delicious Vermont cheese!

After making our purchase, we headed back outside where we found a big rock that sat right above the New Haven River and ate our lunch.

It was so peaceful!

After our lunch, we continued our drive.

Our next “stop” was a scenic drive along another gap road called, Lincoln Gap Road.

The Lincoln Gap Road is one of several ‘gap’ roads that cross over the Green Mountains. The road runs 7.67 miles between the towns of Lincoln and Warren and through portions of the Green Mountain National Forest.

The leaves in this area were really vibrant!

The gap road is a well maintained paved  road …however, two miles of the road is dirt like lots of roads in Vermont.

Actually, Vermont has more dirt roads than paved ones. With nearly 8,600 miles of unpaved roads across the state compared to 7,151 miles of paved roads.

The trees along this drive were beautiful!

Scenic Hike near Stowe – Sunset Ledge

As we were driving, we saw several cars parked in a small parking lot so we decided to stop and see why they were there.

Another couple told us that it was a hiking trail that led to an overlook that offered beautiful views.

So, we decided we would hike it.

The trail was called Sunset Ledge and is 2.2 miles roundtrip.

You will be hiking through the woods the entire length of the trail.

The hike was not an easy hike…you gain several feet of elevation and you have to scramble over rocks so be sure to have really good shoes on if you hike this trail!

After a 30 min hike to the ledge, we were greeted with spectacular views!!

This sort of reminded me of the Artist Bluff trail in New Hampshire.

The colors were so vibrant!

Be careful as there are steep drop offs from the ledge!

We took way too many pictures as usual!

There was only one small group of people here when we arrived and shockingly, it was a small wedding party!

We actually witnessed someone getting married on the ledge!

They certainly ended up with some amazing wedding pictures!

From the ledge, you will have views of the Adirondack Mountains. 

Tip: From this trail, you can also hike to a plane wreck that happened in 1973

After seeing rainfall in the distance, we decided to head back to our car.

It was much easier going down the trail than up!

After getting back to our car, we continued our drive.

The views were amazing!

Quick Waterfall Stop: Warren Falls

Shortly after leaving the trail, we made it to our next stop, Warren Falls.

The trail to the falls is flat and very close to the parking lot.

It seemed more like a swimming hole than a falls.

There were lots of little round pools of crystal clear water.

I’ve since read that it’s a popular place to swim during the summer.

Tip: Be cautious if swimming here as there have been drownings at this location

After leaving the falls, we continued our drive.

Shortly, after leaving the falls, we entered into the town of Granville where we spotted a beaver’s dam! 

Moss Glenn Falls – Scenic waterfall near Stowe

Our next stop would be Moss Glenn Falls (not to be confused with the Moss Glenn Falls in Stowe).

Tip: Other waterfalls in/near this area are Warren Falls, Texas Falls and Falls of Lana 

The views on the way there were incredible!

Moss Glen Falls is located approximately 10 mins from Warren Falls on the scenic Rte 100.

The falls required no hiking as it can be seen from the road.

There is a wooden boardwalk that leads to the base of the falls but it was closed on the day we visited due to storm damage.

The waterfall is a gorgeous 35ft tall horsetail with thin streams of water flowing down a slightly angled rock face.

After leaving the waterfall, we continued our drive and came up on our next stop, the Lincoln Gap Bridge.

The bridge was built in 1880 and is sixty-two foot long. It is one of two queenpost bridges in Vermont in which the truss interior and exterior are completely enclosed.

Like most all covered bridges in Vermont, there’s a note posted inside the bridge that tells about its history.

A unique oddity with this bridge is the fact that the eastern portal extends further over the approaching roadway than the western.

It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.

Warren, Vermont

After the bridge, we arrived to the small town of Warren.

We just snapped a few pictures of some of the historic buildings in town and continued our drive.

Blueberry Lake – the most scenic lake near Stowe

Our next stop, just 10 mins from the town of Warren, would be the gorgeous Blueberry Lake.

After getting parked, we didn’t see any real trail that led to the lake so we walked through the grass to get down to the lake.

Wow was our first response after seeing the views from this lake!

The water was so still and the reflections were incredible!

The lake was surrounded by mountains that were bursting in shades of red, yellow, green, brown, and orange!

The 48 acre lake is popular for swimming, fishing, hiking, ice skating, and cross-country skiing.

The lake is adjacent to the Roxbury State Forest which offers prime habitat for songbirds, black bears, and other wildlife.

Tip: Blueberry Lake is a site for the Vermont LoonWatch annual survey.

There are several trails. in this area but there are no trails that we could see that go around the lakeshore.

The water looked like glass!

Every puff of cloud and every faint hue of color was perfectly reflected in the lake!

It was so incredibly beautiful!

After taking way too many pictures, we continued our drive back towards Stowe as it was already 5 pm and the sun started setting around 6:15 pm.

Waitsfield

Our drive took us through Waitsfield where we passed this beautiful old barn!

About 20 mins after leaving the lake, we arrived to our next stop, the Village Grocery Store in Waitsfield.

I had read that they had really good maple creemees so, we had to try them out!

Creemees are essentially soft serve ice cream. It’s ice cream pumped through a machine to make it more airy and soft.

A maple creemee is where they add their yummy Vermont maple syrup to the ice cream and it’s so delicious!

Eating maple creemees and dreamees are a must when visiting Vermont!!

Tip: Check out these places on the Maple Creemee Trail to find your favorite creemee!

We headed inside only to find that the creemee was a self serve ice cream machine.

It was good but it had a terrible aftertaste! I much prefer the creemees at the orchards we visited!

After our creemee, we continued our drive and arrived to the town of Waterbury. 

We passed some incredible old homes!!

Tip: Waterbury is where Ben & Jerry’s ice cream factory is located and is only 15 mins from Stowe.

Where to Eat

At this point, it was after 6 pm and we were ready to eat dinner.

I had read that if you don’t make reservations to eat at one of the restaurants in Stowe, you will have to wait a very long time to be seated.

I am not a fan of crowds and I am not a fan of having to wait a long time to eat.

So, we decided to find something to eat in Waterbury since it’s much less crowded than Stowe.

I pulled up some restaurants on Google and found a pizza restaurant that I remember reading about during my research called, Zachary’s Pizza.

So, we decided to eat there.

On the way there, we passed the popular Black Cap Coffee & Bakery.

Arriving to the restaurant

There was a small line of people at the front counter when we arrived but most of them were there to pick up their to go order.

Since we were dining in, I grabbed a table while the hubby placed the order at the counter.

See their menu here

After waiting about 20 mins, they brought out our delicious pizza!

The pizza was so good!

Read reviews here

Where to Stay

After dinner, we headed back to our hotel called, the Field Guide Lodge.

The hotel is very modern looking on the inside!

After getting all of our stuff up to our room, we headed back downstairs to sit by the fire in the lobby.

We had had a very long day and it was nice just to sit and relax for a while!

Later, we headed back up to our room and called it a night!

Thanks for reading the “Perfect 1-Day Stowe Itinerary Summary”

If you only have one day in the Stowe area, here’s the ideal route to follow:

1. Cold Hollow Cider Mill
2. Bridges & Churches
3. Scenic drives & views
4. Bristol, Vermont
5. Bartlett Falls
6. Vergennes, Vermont
7. Yates Family Orchard
8. Lincoln, Vermont
9. Sunset Ledge Hike
10. Warren Falls
11. Moss Glenn Falls
12. Warren, Vermont
13. Blueberry Lake
14. Waitsfield, Vermont

Stay tuned for Day 5!

Read Day 1 here, Day 2 here & Day 3 here –– click here to see links to all of my blog posts

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hey Guys!

This post continues our time in New Hampshire & Vermont.

Read Day 1 here & Day 2 here & Click here to see links to all of my blog posts

This morning we checked out of our hotel as we would be moving on to Vermont after spending the day in New Hampshire.

Our day started out rainy and foggy.

Our first stop today would be the Flume Gorge.

It was located less than 5 mins from our hotel.

This place is super popular and it’s highly recommended that you purchase your tickets ahead of time or you may not be able to get in.

I had read that it was best to reserve your tickets for the earliest possible time in order to beat the crowds and to be able to take pictures without a ton of people being in your pictures.

Well, y’all know me, I am all about the pictures so, I booked the first time slot available which was 9 am.

I had also read that you needed to show up about 30 mins prior to your reservation time so you can go ahead and get in line because you still had to show your reservation ticket at the ticket booth.

We arrived around 8:15 am but since it was raining, we decided not to get in line until it got closer to our reservation time.

As more people started arriving, we decided to go get in line…it was about 8:45 at that point.

A shot of the visitor center 

The visitor center has a gift shop and a snack bar.

The flume gorge trail is a 2 mile loop and there are hills and stairs you will have to climb.

The Flume Gorge is located inside the Franconia Notch State Park.…here’s a map of the sights you can see in this park

Once we were in line, there was only one other person in front of us however, he was able to go in about 5 mins before everyone else because the park was having computer issues so, we actually never saw him on the trail.

Tip: Flume Gorge is open to the public from mid-May through mid-October. In the winter, it becomes a destination for ice climbers.

We started the trail at approx. 9:05 am.

There were signs warning you that you were in bear country and not to take food on the trail.

The trail started out paved but quickly turned into gravel.

There are several things to see along the trail with the first being a glacial boulder that was dumped here by Ice Age glaciers . They weigh more than 300 tons.

Continuing along the trail

The next point of interest is the beautiful Flume Covered Bridge.

The bridge is bright red and was built in 1886. It’s one of the oldest surviving covered bridges in New Hampshire.

It’s especially beautiful in the fall!

We took lots of pictures of this beautiful bridge as the surrounding landscape made for some beautiful pictures!

The view from the bridge

As we continued our walk, we came up on a historic cabin that was built in 1930.

The cabin was open so we walked in to check it out. It was empty so we weren’t sure what it was used for.

There are several signs along the trail that will keep you on the right path.

The next stop on the trail was Table Rock.

Table Rock is a massive outcropping of pinkish Conway granite smoothed by Flume Brook.

Tip: There’s also this super cool hike near this area called Table Rock

Continuing the trail

The trail runs along the Pemigewasset River.

As we got closer to the gorge, the trail went from gravel, to a boardwalk.

There are signs along the way that talk about how the gorge was formed.

The Flume Gorge is a natural gorge extending 800 ft horizontally at the base of Mount Liberty.

Cut by Flume Brook, the gorge features walls of Conway granite that rise to a height of 70 to 90 ft and are 12 to 20 ft apart.

This is the main attraction on this 2 mile trail!

It was like walking through a rainforest with all of the moss covered trees and rocks!

The boardwalk runs straight through the gorge as the granite walls start to close in and become more and more narrow!

Since we were the first ones to start the trail, we were able to take pictures without anyone around!

The views were incredible!

The Flume was discovered in 1808 by 93-year-old “Aunt” Jess Guernsey when she accidentally came upon it while fishing.

At that time, a huge, egg-shaped boulder hung suspended between the walls. The rock was 10 ft high and 12 ft long. A heavy rainstorm in June 1883 started a landslide that swept the boulder from its place. The boulder has never been found. The same storm deepened the gorge and formed Avalanche Falls.

The moss covered granite walls became more and more narrow….it was surreal!

We had an “instagrammer” offer to take our picture so we would let her in front of us so she could get her “insta shot”.

Continuing the trail

The trees above our heads were growing out of the granite rocks!

More shots of the flume gorge

We finally arrived to Avalanche Falls area.

Since 1883, this thunderous, 45-foot waterfall has given the gorge its soundtrack.

You get an up-close view of the falls from the top of the Flume.

We had to climb steep stairs to continue the trail and they were slick due to the rain!

Picture of the falls

After the narrow flume and falls, we came up on the bear cave.

Views along the way

A short time later, we came to a split in the trail..one way led you to a viewpoint while the other kept you on the main path.

We took the path that led to the viewpoint which gave you views of Avalanche Falls.

We then headed back to the main path and continued the trail.

We came to another small waterfall

The views in this area were beautiful

We headed to another viewpoint that gave us views of Liberty Gorge and Liberty falls.

Tip: There’s another popular gorge near this area that is called Lost River Gorge

The colors in the gorge were a mixture of greens, yellows, reds and orange.

A short time later, we arrived to the second covered bridge called Sentinel Pine.

The bridge was built in 1939 and is roughly 60 ft long.

Below the bridge is a small body of water called, the pool.

Arriving to the bridge

The bridge is a narrow, foot bridge that crosses the Pemigewasset River.

The bridge was named after a 175 ft great white pine that stood here for more than a century.

Sadly, in 1938 the giant tree came crashing down during a hurricane.

The following year, the tree was placed across the river and the bridge was built upon it.

Views from the bridge

After crossing the bridge, we arrived to what’s called the Wolf’s Den.

The Wolf’s Den is a narrow, one way path that involves crawling on your hands and knees and squeezing between rocks.

I think I’ll pass on that!

We came to another viewpoint that gave us better views of the Sentinel Pine Covered Bridge.

And the pool below

There was a sign that told about the pool.

We then headed to the O’connor’s Overlook…

This overlook gave you a better view of the falls and the pool below.

After this overlook, we continued along the trail….we were almost at the end of the trail at this point.

We passed these wild looking trees where the roots were growing on top of the rocks!

And more glacial boulders

After about 1.5 hrs on the trail, we finally arrived back at the visitor center.

So, we went inside to check it out.

There are signs hanging on the walls that tell you about the area and a short film that you can watch about the flume gorge.

We walked around the gift shop for a while

We spotted this cool, old stagecoach.

We then headed inside the cafe to purchase some coffee and a muffin.

The cafe is open daily from 10 am to 5 pm and serves light breakfast items, snacks, soups, sandwiches, chicken fingers, ice cream and more.

After spending approx 2 hrs here, we headed to our next stop of the day.

Unfortunately, it was still misting rain and was foggy but it actually made for some cool pictures.

Our next stop was the Basin which was less than a 5 min drive from the Flume Gorge.

After getting parked, we began the short, paved trail to the basin.

The trail led you thru an underpass….it reminded us of a greenway trail.

There were signs along the path that pointed you to the Basin’s location.

There were beautiful streams that ran along the trail.

Arriving to the basin

The basin is a large pothole that is 30 ft wide and 15 ft deep.

It was formed some 25,000 years ago as the Ice Age came to a close. Water flowing from the melting glacier that filled Franconia Notch eroded the solid granite bedrock.

During the thousands of years that followed, sand and stones were whirled around by the force of the river causing a boring action that left the sidewalls smooth.

The rock formation seen in the stream bed at the outlet has been known for generations as “The Old Man’s Foot”.

The great American naturalist, Henry David Thoreau, on his first trip to the White Mountains in 1839, stood here and watched the water cascade into the granite bowl and whirlpool around its walls.

He would later write in his Journal, “this pothole is perhaps the most remarkable curiosity of its kind in New England.”

After taking pictures of the basin, we continued along the trail.

This whole area is really pretty….lots of cascading falls.

After this stop, we continued to the next stop on my itinerary.

As we neared our next stop, the Cannon Mountain Aerial Tramway, we decided it was way too foggy to take the tramway so we headed to the next stop.

Unfortunately, I had pre purchased our tickets online prior to leaving for our trip and they don’t offer refunds due to inclement weather unless they shut down for the day.

So, we ended up losing $56. So, I do not recommend you pre purchase your tickets…just buy them the day you go!

Tip: You can ski here during the winter months

Our next stop was Profile Lake.

The lake is located 10 mins from the Basin.

Profile Lake is a 13-acre lake that is located in Franconia Notch at the foot of Cannon Mountain.

The lake was given its name due to its location directly beneath the Old Man of the Mountain, a famous rock formation which collapsed in 2003.

Even though it was rainy and foggy, it was still beautiful!

The fall colors were really vibrant in this area!

This is the only lake that is designated for fly fishing (trout).

After taking way too many pictures, we headed to our next stop.

We made a quick detour when we saw a sign for Boise Rock.

The rock was name after Thomas Boise, a noted teamster of this region.

During the 1800’s, he was sledding through the Notch in mid-winter, soon after the first road was built. Overtaken by a fierce snowstorm, he was unable to continue on. Realizing he must take drastic action to survive, he killed and skinned his horse.

He then crawled into the overhang of this rock, wrapped himself in the hide and spent the night.

Men sent out the next day to search for him found Tom still alive but encased in the frozen hide that had to be cut away with axes in order to release him.

After a quick pic, we headed to our next stop, Echo Lake Beach.

This lake is a 39-acre lake with excellent views where the Franconia and Kinsman Range meet, creating the notch.

You can rent boats here but you will need to make reservations online.

The views here are beautiful but it was really windy when we visited!

We walked out on the pier to take a few pictures before heading to our next stop.

After leaving the lake, we spotted a sign for a viewpoint so decided to make a quick stop.

It was called the Hugh J. Gallen scenic overlook bridge.

Mr. Gallen was Governor of New Hampshire from January 4, 1979 through December 29, 1982.

On the right-hand side of the bridge you can see Mount Lafayette.

The views were worth the quick stop.

After this stop, we decided to head back to the Echo Lake Beach parking lot and hike the Artists Bluff Trail. 

I had this down on my itinerary for today but almost marked it off the list because it had been raining but decided last minute to go ahead and hike it.

This trail is one of the most popular hikes in Franconia Notch State Park.

To access this trail, you will park at the Echo Lake Beach parking lot and then walk across the street.

This is a 1.5 mile loop trail however, shortly after you start the trail, the trail splits….take the trail to the right and the hike to Artist Bluff will be about 1/2 mile.

If you take the loop trail to the left, you will come to Bald Mountain first.

Tip: If you download the AllTrails app, you can follow the trail instructions from the app

We took the shorter trail to the right.

The trail starts off with a little incline and a whole lot of exposed roots.

The trail quickly becomes very challenging as it is mostly straight up and you are having to climb over rocks and roots!

I had to stop and catch my breath a few times on this trail!

But the views at the top were worth every rock that I had to climb over!!

For such a short hike, you are rewarded with incredible views in every direction!

You will have views of Echo Lake and the surrounding mountains.

The fall colors were so vivid! There were beautiful shades of reds, oranges, yellows, and browns.

Even though it was cloudy, I felt like it added to the spectacular views!

Of course, I couldn’t stop taking pictures of the breathtaking scenery!

There were several other people at the top but it wasn’t overly crowded however, one week after we hiked this trail, it was on the news for having “hoards of people” on the trail!

So glad we didn’t experience that!!

We had a couple offer to take our picture so, of course, we took them up on their offer!

I think we took pictures from every rock on the bluff!

After taking 659 pictures of the views, we headed back down the trail.

Once we were back at the start of the trail, we walked a short distance back to our car.

We then headed to our next stop, the Omni Mt Washington Resort.

The resort is located 25 mins from the Artist Bluff Trail.

We passed this beautiful church on the way!

Arriving to the entrance of the hotel

Tip: Click here to see things to do in/around this area

If you are not staying at the hotel, you will have to pay $10 to park.

After getting parked, we made our way inside the hotel.

The Omni Resort was completed in 1902 by 250 Italian craftsmen who were housed on the grounds.

The hotel opened its doors to the public on  July 28, 1902 with a staff of 350.

It was the most luxurious hotel of its day and catered to wealthy guests such as Thomas Edison, three U.S. presidents, Babe Ruth, Joseph P Kennedy, Princess Margaret, Joan Crawford, Alfred Hitchcock and John D Rockefeller.

In 1978, the Mount Washington Hotel was listed in the National Register of Historic Places and 6,400 acres of beautiful woodlands were sold to the United States government for inclusion in the White Mountain National Forest.

In December of 2015, Omni Hotels & Resorts purchased the resort after managing the property since 2009, adding to the growing Omni family of over fifty unique, world-class properties around North America.

There are approximately 600 year-round employees, which grows to over 1,000 in winter.

In July 1944, the hotel was the site of the famous Bretton Woods Conference.

Once inside, I was surprised that it wasn’t more ornate and elaborate than it was.

I thought it was very plain looking on the inside.

However, the outdoor deck made up for the lack of character on the inside.

The views from the back deck were spectacular!

I could definitely have spent more time on the deck but our time was limited.

We were here to eat lunch since we hadn’t eaten anything but a muffin all day and it was already after 2 pm when we arrived!

So, we headed back inside to the Rosebrook Bar.

The hotel offers several different dining options.

The Rosebrook Bar is first come, first serve so no reservations are required.

After finding a table, we took a few minutes to look over the menu.

The views from the restaurant were spectacular!

We both decided on the club sandwich and fries.

However, we were so hungry, we decided to order a hot pretzel with cheese.

It was so good!

When they finally brought out our food, they only brought one club sandwich. The waiter thought we had only ordered one …so, my hubby and I split the sandwich and fries until our other sandwich came out.

We could have sat here all day!

After eating only part of our pretzel and one of the sandwiches and fries, we decided to have the other sandwich boxed up so we would have something for dinner that evening!

This place is not cheap but it is definitely worth it for the views and experience!

After we ate, we walked around the hotel for few minutes.

We headed downstairs to use the restroom and found a coffee shop so we decided to order a cup of coffee before we left.

A beautiful painting of the hotel was hanging on the wall downstairs.

After purchasing our coffee, we headed back upstairs and walked around for a while.

A few pictures of the hotel

There were pictures of the Stickney’s hanging on the wall

Joseph Stickney was a Pennsylvania Railroad tycoon and a native of Concord, New Hampshire. In 1881 he purchased the Mount Pleasant House and 10,000 acres of land with views of Mount Washington. In 1902, he completed the construction of the Mt Washington Hotel.

Tip: While in this area, you can ride the scenic Bretton Woods Gondola

After taking our pictures, we headed back to our car to head to our next stop.

Not long after leaving the hotel, we spotted this cool old train trestle bridge.

After this very quick stop, we made another stop about 5 mins down the road in Bethlehem. 

The stop was at the Ivie Memorial Chapel. 

The chapel was built in 1931 by Alvin Ivie as a memorial for his daughter who died at the age of 27.

The cornerstone of the church contains memorabilia of her life.

The church was so incredible!

I took pictures from every angle….of course! 😉

After leaving this church, we made a quick stop at another church 5 mins down the road from the Ivie.

This beautiful stone church is called Christ the King and was built in 1928.

I couldn’t resist taking a picture of this beautiful maple tree that was sitting across the road from the church!

After leaving Christ the King Church, we continued our drive and passed this church...  I snapped a picture while we were driving.

The Durrell Memorial Methodist Church in Bethlehem, New Hampshire was built on June 20, 1869 for a cost of $5,964.00.

We then passed these two gorgeous homes in Bethlehem!

There are so many historic homes all throughout New Hampshire and Vermont!

We made another quick stop after we spotted a body of water that offered a perfect reflection of the trees!

And a nearby bridge

Continuing our drive

Little did we know, we would come up on another body of water that would offer the most incredible reflection shots I’ve ever taken!

This body of water was called Moore Reservoir and it was located in Waterford, VT.

This would be our first stop in the state of Vermont!

And was it a beauty!

You could turn these pictures upside down and they would look exactly the same!

After this stop, we continued our drive to our hotel in Vermont where we would be staying the next 3 nights.

We drove through the town of St Johnsbury.

Read about the history of the town here & click here to see the top attractions in this area

The town was really pretty. It had lots of historical buildings and houses.

St Johnsbury has a population of around 6,000 people.

The trees in this area had a lot of color!

Our next stop was another church in the small town of Danville. 

This church is the Danville United Methodist Church.

This church was completed in 1885 and survived the Great Fire of 1889, that burned most of the buildings in Danville Village.

The first church that was built here was built in 1822 but burned down in 1884.

After this stop, our next stop was the historic Hastings Store in Danville.

Hastings has been owned by the same family since 1913, when it was purchased by Gilbert and Jenny Hastings. Their great-granddaughter Jenny Rafuse runs the store today.

In 2005 Hastings was recognized officially by the Vermont Secretary of State for having been in operation continually for 100 years or more.

We went inside to check it out.

The store also houses the post office.

My hubby found his twin!

The store was closing about 10 mins before we arrived so we took a few pictures of the inside and left.

Right across the road from the store was a statue and a small bridge so we walked over to check it out.

The statue is presumed to be an unfinished memorial statue of a Civil War soldier that was carved in the early 1900’s.

The footbridge, near the statue, is a memorial bridge. The wood that was used to build the bridge was the wood from the stone carver’s shed that had carved the statue.

Views from the footbridge

After leaving here, we continued our drive towards Stowe, VT.

We passed this church in West Danville. 

This was the West Danville United Methodist Church.

We made another quick stop at Joe’s Pond.

Read about the history of the pond here & Read here about the historic Joe’s Pond Ice Out game that anyone can play!

The pond offered some beautiful reflection shots!

There were beautiful orange maple trees sitting along the banks of the pond.

After taking our pictures, we continued our drive.

We passed the public library in West Danville!

The Charles D. Brainard Library is the smallest library (11′ x 17′) in the state of Vermont. Originally built as a gas station in the 1930’s, the building was moved around the corner to its current location and served the town as a library during the summers for about 50 years.

In 2017, the building was restored, shelves were updated with donated books and the library was reopened.

Continuing our drive to Stowe

We passed through Hardwick on the way to Stowe.

We passed lots of cool houses and buildings in Hardwick.

We then drove through Cabot and passed the Cabot Creamery.

This is the same Cabot that you see in your local grocery store….you know, Cabot cheese?!

Cabot Creamery, owned & operated by real farmers, has been making award-winning cheese & other dairy products since 1919!

Our next and final stop was our hotel in Stowe called Field Guide Lodge.

Read reviews here 

The hotel was very cool and modern looking on the inside!

Our room was on the 3rd floor and they had no elevators!

The room was plenty spacious …it had a king size bed and a nice size bathroom.

We were even provided bathrobes, freshly baked chocolate chip cookies and two bottles of water.

After getting settled into our room, we decided to have our sandwich and leftover pretzel, that we had ordered from the Omni hotel.

We were glad we had it as we were too tired to go find something to eat!

Read reviews for the hotel here

After we ate and watched television for a while, we called it a night!

Thanks for reading!

Stay tuned for Day 4!

Read Day 1 here & Day 2 here and click here to find links to all of my blog posts

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hey Guys!

This post continues our time in New Hampshire and Vermont. 

Read Day 1 here, Day 3 here and Day 4 here

Our travel dates were Oct 5th – 12th.

We stayed in New Hampshire for 2 nights, then Stowe, Vermont for 3 nights and Woodstock, VT the last 2 nights.

I will start this post out by saying that we drove A LOT on this trip!

We are not the kind of travelers that pick a place to go and then stay in that place for a week. We like to move around so we can see and do as much as possible because the likelihood of us ever returning to a place we have already visited, is rare.

There is a lot to see and do in both states so you have to pick and choose…..I will say, if I did visit again, I wouldn’t be running around quite as much as we did but again, we probably won’t go back because we have a very long bucket list!

So, let’s get started!

I had my hubby up every morning around 7 am! He was ready to choke me by the end of our vacation because the only time he manages to sleep, is when we are on vacation ….the only time I can’t sleep, is when we are on vacation because I want to see and do it all!

This was the view from the back door of our hotel room.

This is what their “river view” room looked like….does this look like a river? I noticed they have since changed the description of the room to “brooke view” which is more like it!

Our first stop of the day was the Kancamagus Highway aka the Kanc. This is  a very popular scenic drive during the fall!

During my research, I had read where lots of people said to start this drive early or you could find yourself sitting in bumper to bumper traffic for hours.

Tip: For a less crowded option with gorgeous views, waterfalls and lakes, check out Dixville Notch.  Click here for even more information about this small, but amazing state park

That is not how I want to spend my vacation so, we were up before 7 am and heading out for the day by 7:30 am.

The popular highway was only a 7 min drive from our hotel.

Tip: Don’t expect to have cell service during most of the drive. It’s a good idea to download offline Google maps ahead of time.

There are lots of pullovers along the highway so you will need to pick and choose the ones you want to stop at if you don’t want this to be an all day event.

I had made a list of the most popular stops before we left for our trip and we only did those stops and it still took us 3 hours.

The Kancamagus Hwy is approx. 35 miles long. There are no gas stations or restaurants along the drive. So, be prepared and have plenty of gas, snacks and water.

The road opened in 1959 and is recognized as a National Scenic Byway. It is open year-round and home to an abundance of hiking trails, walking paths, picturesque ponds, natural wonders, and many other must-see stops.

There are many animals in this area as well so drive slow and be on the lookout for a possible moose sighting!

Heading to the Kanc

The Kancamagus Hwy is located in the White Mountain National Forest.

The fall colors in the trees were beautiful however, it was hard to get good pictures because of the lighting.

Our first stop on the drive was the Lincoln Woods stop.

On this stop is where you will find a cool suspension bridge and a pedestrian bridge that spans the Pemigewasset river.

Tip: You will have to pay a $5 day pass to park anywhere along the highway however, if you already have an America the Beautiful pass or any other federal interagency pass, this will cover the fee. You just need to display it in your windshield.

We first headed to the pedestrian bridge to check out the views.

The views were beautiful with all of the fall colors but the river was really low.

This area of the forest was heavily logged back in the late 1800’s but today, it has been completely reforested.

You can see the swinging bridge from the pedestrian bridge so after taking a few pictures, we headed to the swinging bridge.

There is a small ranger’s station located here where you can pay for parking or you can pay at a kiosk.

Walking to the suspension bridge

Informational plaques near the bridge

The very cool suspension bridge

Views from the bridge

You can see the pedestrian bridge from the suspension bridge.

After spending a few minutes at the bridge, we continued our drive.

Our next stop was Hancock Overlook.

The views here were beautiful but there was still a lot of green in the higher elevations.

I would skip this stop if your time is limited. However, the views are seen right from the parking lot so, it’s a quick and easy stop.

There’s a small covered pavilion located here as well as a couple of informational plaques.

After this stop, we continued to the next stop, Pemigewasset Overlook.

This is another quick stop that has a covered pavilion and informational plaques.

I wasn’t overly impressed with the views so we snapped a few pictures and continued our drive.

We made another quick stop at the CL Graham Wangan overlook.

This overlook had lots of color but I still wasn’t overly impressed with the views.

Continuing our drive

Our next stop was the Sugar Hill Scenic Vista...

There are four major overlooks along the Kanc and this one was my favorite.. It offered the nicest views and the fall colors were really popping!

However, our next stop was by far the best stop on the Kanc….it’s the Sabbaday Falls!

It’s also the most popular stop on this scenic highway. The hike, or should I say walk, to the falls is only 0.6 miles round trip and it’s a very easy trail.

The trail was popping with colors!

I loved all of the leaves that had fallen on the trail….it made for some pretty pictures!

There was a creek that ran alongside the trail.

Arriving to the beautiful falls

The falls are a picturesque series of cascades in a narrow flume.

The falls has a 45′ total drop with wooden rails and stairways surrounding one side of the falls.

You can also walk down to the bottom of the falls.

At the bottom, you will find a small pool of water that would be refreshing on a hot day…however, there is no swimming allowed here.

We took a ton of pictures…it was hard not to!

The wooden boardwalks along the falls offer lots of different views so make sure to walk the entire boardwalk!

Here’s an informational plaque that shows a map of the falls area.

After this stop, we headed to our next stop on the scenic highway.

As it got later in the morning, you could definitely tell there were more and more cars on the road.

We ended up missing our next stop because there were a ton of sports cars on the road that were driving very reckless and almost caused a few accidents!

We decided not to turn around and go back but the stop was called the Rocky Gorge Scenic Area.

So, we headed to our next stop called Lower Falls

This is one of the most popular stops on the Kanc, especially during hot summer weather as many people swim here.

The views were nice….it kind of reminded of me of the Smoky mountains.

To see the cascading falls, you will need to walk to the right from the parking lot and cross a small wooden bridge. It’s a very short walk.

The sun wasn’t cooperating so my pictures aren’t the best.

After this stop, we headed to our last stop on the Kancamagus Hwy….the Albany Covered Bridge.

This is another very popular stop.

Albany Covered Bridge was built in 1858 but destroyed by a storm which flooded the Swift River and swept away the new bridge.

The bridge was quickly rebuilt and remained usable for over 100 years before needing to be renovated in 1970.

You can walk and drive across the bridge.

This is one of the prettiest covered bridges we saw on our trip so, I highly recommend a stop here if you are driving the Kanc!

It’s amazing that these bridges were built so long ago….the architecture is really amazing!

You can walk under the bridge for some really nice pictures.

After taking way too many pictures of the bridge, we continued our drive.

At the end of the Kancamagus Hwy is the small town of Conway.

A lot of people will stay here or in Lincoln as the two towns are separated by the Kanc.

Tip: If you start the Kanc from Conway, stop at Cheese Louise for a grab and go lunch or a yummy grilled cheese sandwich!

Another option for lodging that is close to the Kanc, is North Conway.…it’s 15 mins from Conway.

Tip: One of the most popular things to do in this area is the Conway Scenic Railway.

Our next stop for the day was Echo Lake – Cathedral Ledge State Park.

Read reviews for this park here

There is a $5 parking pass required for this park. You can either pay for it online or pay when you arrive. I purchased our pass before we left for our trip. However, make sure you reserve the right Echo Lake as there are two different ones.

A map of the area

The park is small and only encompasses a 15 acre lake and two rock ledges that you can walk or drive to for scenic views.

You can swim, kayak, canoe, picnic and rock climb at this park.

The lake is small but beautiful…..there’s a one mile trail that you can do around the lake.

There wasn’t a whole lot of color in the trees here but it was still very scenic.

We spotted a bunch of geese on the lake so we walked along the trail to get a better picture of them.

After spending a few minutes at the lake, we got back into our car and drove 1 mile up to cathedral ledge.

After getting parked, we walked a short distance to the ledge where we were greeted with spectacular views of the surrounding area!

From a different vantage point, you had views of Echo Lake from below.

A couple more shots of the views

After admiring the views, we headed to our next stop, Diana’s Baths.

Diana’s Bath is located 5 mins from Echo Lake.

This is a very popular stop and the parking is very limited. We had to wait for a parking spot after we arrived.

Once we were parked, we walked the short 0.6 mile trail to the baths. (1.2 mi r/t)

The trail is very flat so most anyone will be able to walk it.

There were a few informational plaques that told about the history of this area.

A gentleman by the name of George Lucy, built a house and barn on the banks of the brook back in 1860. In the 1890’s, he built a 12 room boarding house for tourists to visit this site. Then, in the 1930’s, Chester Lucy built a concrete dam with a water feed and turbine system that replaced the water wheel used to power the sawmill.

Both the rooming house and sawmill were eventually sold to the US Government and have become part of the national Forrest land. Due to the deterioration, the buildings were eventually removed from the site in the 1960’s. Remnants of the site can still be seen today.

The cascading falls were really pretty as well as the fall colors that were on display!

The water levels here vary greatly depending on the season and rainfall. If you’re visiting during the spring, be cautious of walking around on the rocks.

The area is beautiful but the water was very low

After spending a few minutes here, we continued our drive.

We spotted this covered bridge in Bartlett that was a gift shop, so we decided to stop and check it out.

The historic Bartlett Covered Bridge, which spans the Saco River, is one of only 53 covered bridges left in New Hampshire. Built in 1850, the bridge is 183 feet long.

This bridge carried traffic over the Saco River for more than 80 years until it was replaced by the steel bridge in 1939. In 1965, the bridge and the land around it were sold to Mrs. Isabelle Casinelli who lived in this inn when it was a private residence. She had the 12′ x 80′ gift shop built inside the bridge.

Unfortunately, there was no way to get a good picture of the bridge from the outside.

After this stop, we decided to find something to eat as it was already 1:30 pm and we hadn’t eaten all day!

About 5 mins from the bridge, we spotted a place called the Sunrise Shack.

We pulled into the parking lot and debated if we should eat here because it definitely looked like a shack from the outside!

We decided to.give it a try because we were so hungry!

We walked up to the window and the guy working told us it would be about a 15 min wait and that he would need to take our ID in order to give us one of his pagers.

I almost walked off at that point because there was no one else waiting besides us and why would you need our ID in order to give us one of your pagers….like what in the world would we want your pager for?!

We reluctantly agreed and ended up waiting about 5 mins.

We were seated at the bar where we were given a menu to look over.

I decided on the BTB burger and the hubby ordered the beef and bleu burger. The cost was $15 for the burgers and $3 each to add fries instead of the house kettle chips.

Ok, here’s where I forgave the man for asking me for my ID because ya’ll, these burgers were out of this world!!

My husband and I both thought they were some of the best we have ever eaten and if you know my hubby, that says a lot because he is the burger connoisseur!

Read reviews here

A shot of the inside of the restaurant.

Unbeknownst to us, we arrived just in time to eat here because they were closing at 2!

With our bellies full, we continued our drive.

We spotted another covered bridge along the way in Jackson called, the Honeymoon Bridge.

The bridge was built in 1876 by Charles Austin Broughton and his son Frank.

We didn’t stop so I just snapped a picture as we were driving!

Views along the way to our next stop

The colors in this area looked like they were at peak!

As we were driving, we spotted a sign for the Mt Washington Auto toll road.

I actually had this on my itinerary for day 3 but since it was calling for rain tomorrow, we decided to do it today instead.

Views of the area

Arriving to the entrance

Tip: Places we had to mark off of our itinerary because of doing the Mt Washington Rd: Crawford Notch State Park, Bear Notch, Bretton Woods (gondola you can ride here), The Rocks – a Christmas tree farm that you can walk through, Littleton (has the longest candy counter in the world at Chutters), Dixville Notch and Franconia.

There were signs warning you that the road is a very steep, winding road without guardrails.

The cost to drive this road is very expensive!! It costs $65 for two people!!

If you don’t want to drive the road, you can book a tour online here.

After paying, we were given a bumper sticker that read, This car climbed Mt Washington.

The drive started out nice and peaceful.

But then, we started the climb!

The road is 7.6 miles to the summit ….you will drive 4k ft in elevation. It is the highest summit in the Northeast!

This road first opened in 1861 and is America’s oldest man-made tourist attraction.

Note: Please be aware that there are vehicle restrictions on this drive.

Read all about driving yourself to the summit here

It will take approximately 30-45 mins to reach the top. It really depends on how many vehicles are on the road.

Tip: The most popular way to reach the top is to take the historic Cog Railway….it takes an hour to reach the top and you are given around 45 mins at the top and then an hour back down. Read reviews here . I think it’s like $52 pp.

The views are breathtaking but I would never do this drive again! It was terrifying!

There are sheer drop offs and no guardrails at all! One wrong move and you’re history!

I DO NOT recommend driving yourself if you are afraid of heights….take the tour or the cog railway!

Views along the way

A shot of the observatory

A shot of one of the cog trains

Once you reach the top, you are directed on where to park.

Depending on where you park, you may have to climb a ton of stairs to get to the observatory.

If you have mobility issues or have a handicap placard, you can park very close to the observatory.

Inside the observatory, you will find a restaurant, snack bar, gift shop, restrooms and more.

We just went inside to use the restroom and then walked back outside.

Mount Washington State Park, a 60.3-acre parcel perched on the summit of the Northeast’s highest peak, is surrounded by the extensive 750,000-acre White Mountain National Forest.

On a clear day, views from the 6,288-foot summit extend beyond New Hampshire as far as 130 miles to Vermont, New York, Massachusetts, Maine, Quebec, and the Atlantic Ocean.

A shot of the historic Tip Top house.

In 1853, the Tip Top House was the second stone house built on the summit. All materials were hauled nine miles on horses over rough trails from Randolph, N.H.

Originally it was built as a competing hotel, but eventually was combined with the other as a dining room, barroom and parlor.

The Appalachian Trail runs through Mt Washington!

A picture of the cog trains

A few more shots at the summit

After spending a few minutes at the summit, we began the drive back down.

Tip: It can be several degrees colder at the summit so dress accordingly

There are several signs that tell you to use low gear going down and to pull over frequently to cool off your brakes.

The drive down was so much more frightening as you could now see how far up you were!

We pulled over a couple of times to take pictures.

The views were incredible but I would never do this drive again!

More views going down

After about 40 mins, we had made it to the bottom of the mountain and I was so thankful!

We then headed to our next stop

Our drive took us through the small town of Littleton. 

We had a few things on our itinerary to do in Littleton but ended up not having time to fit them in….one of the things on our list was visiting the candy store, Chutters. They have the longest candy counter in the world but they were closed when we drove through.

I was able to take a picture of Chutters as we were driving through.

We also passed the statue of Pollyanna

The bronze sculpture pays tribute to the  hometown author, Eleanor H. Porter (1868 – 1920) who was the creator of the world’s most optimistic character, Pollyanna, 1913.

Eleanor Hodgman Porter’s early residence was in Littleton, and not so far from the Library front lawn where it stands today.

We passed this old carriage house that had recently been placed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was built in 1884.

Our next stop would be a church in Sugar Hill....it’s one of the most photographed churches in New Hampshire.

On. the way, we passed the very popular restaurant called Polly’s Pancakes.…we had wanted to eat here but sadly, it didn’t work out.

The church is located 2 mins from Polly’s Pancakes.

It’s called St. Matthew’s Chapel.

St. Matthew’s is an Episcopal Chapel that was built in 1894.

When we arrived, there were several people at the church photographing it.

The church and the surrounding landscape is amazing!

With the fall colors and the yellow door of the church, you will want to take a picture from every angel…and that’s what I did!

Even my hubby was taking tons of pictures…it was hard not to!

It was so picturesque!

After taking hundreds of pictures of the church, we headed to our last stop of the day, the Bath Covered Bridge.

It was a 20 min drive from the church.

It was getting late and the sun was starting to set so I was really hoping we would get there before it was too dark to photograph the bridge.

We passed this church on the way.

We finally arrived to the covered bridge at 6:30 pm and had just enough light left to photograph the bridge.

This is one bridge you don’t want to miss…it is so cool as it has a “waterfall” that flows beneath it!

The Bath Covered Bridge is in the center of Bath Village.

This bridge is the fifth bridge to stand on this site. The first was constructed in 1794 at a cost of $366.66. That bridge was demolished by a flood and replaced in 1806 at a cost of $1,000.

The second and third bridges were also destroyed by floods but immediately replaced in 1820 and again in 1824.

The fourth bridge was destroyed by fire in late 1830. Rebuilding efforts began in March 1831 when $1,400 was allotted to cover the construction of two stone abutments and piers along with the purchase of other materials.

In March 1832, an additional $1,500 was allotted to complete the construction. It appears that the fifth bridge was completed by early 1832.

At one time, there was a sign posted at the bridge which prohibited riding horses across the bridge at a trot. It was believed that the impact of trotting horses could cause the structure to fall apart.

The Bath Bridge is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

You can drive across the bridge as with most of the bridges that still exist in New Hampshire and  Vermont.

The water was so still that it made for some beautiful reflection shots!

After taking way too many pictures, we headed back to Lincoln to find somewhere to eat.

We ended up deciding on the Common Man.

We had this place on our list of restaurants because it had such great reviews.

We arrived to the restaurant at approximately 7:20 pm and wasn’t seated until 8:00.

After being seated, we took a few minutes to look over the menu.

I decided on the apple walnut chicken with a side of creamed potatoes and squash.

The hubby ordered the meatloaf with the same sides.

The food was average and the service was terrible! Some of the worst service we’ve had at a restaurant! The food took forever and our server was awful!!

After dinner, we headed back to our hotel and called it a night!

Thanks for reading!

Stay tuned for Day 3!

Read Day 1 here & Click here to see links to all of my blog posts

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hey Guys!

We recently returned from a week long trip to New Hampshire and Vermont.

We had been wanting to visit Vermont in the fall for a few years now and we finally made it happen!

I had initially booked our flight out of Nashville to Boston because it’s cheaper but later decided to change our flights to Manchester, NH because it’s a much smaller airport and easier to navigate.

I’ve been to Boston a couple of times and believe me,  it’s not a place you want to drive as the traffic is horrible!

Once again, we used our Southwest reward points to pay for our flights! I love Southwest since you don’t have to pay for checked luggage and you can change your flights anytime you want …however, with that being said, we now only travel with carry on luggage and it’s been the best decision we’ve ever made when it comes to flying!

Tip: Southwest will soon change to assigned seating 

This year, we decided to apply for the TSA pre check since it speeds up the process of going through security.

We showed up at our nearest Staples store and were in and out in about 10 mins. We received an email the next day telling us we had been approved! I’ve read where some people have said it’s taken them months to get approved!

Tip: Make sure to go online and fill out the application for each person applying for TSA pre check…it just speeds up the process when you arrive to the  TSA pre check location to complete the process. You will need two forms of ID as well. They will take your fingerprints, scan your IDs and take your picture the day you apply.

Since we had already purchased our plane tickets before applying for the TSA pre check, all I had to do, after being approved, was go into the Southwest app and add our TSA pre check numbers.

You will need to have the TSA number on your boarding pass prior to flying as you won’t be allowed to enter the TSA pre check line if you don’t.

Once again, we decided to stay at the new Hilton hotel inside the Nashville airport.

We just love the convenience of being at the airport the morning of our flight instead of getting up super early and driving almost an hour to the airport!

Since I’m a Hilton honors member, I was able to go to the hotel’s website and book a room for a discounted price and pick my own room.

More perks of being a Hilton member is, you get to check in on the app and they send you a digital key to your room so, when you show up to the hotel, you can go straight to your room…you can also check out on the app.

Tip: You can sign up to be a Hilton member for free

Our travel dates were Oct 5th – 12th.

So, we stayed at the hotel on Oct. 4th.

Our room had two beds and a very large bathroom.

After getting settled into our room, we headed to the rooftop to check out the views.

The rooftop also has a restaurant, a pool and a huge seating area.

We had first stayed here back in June of this year when we traveled to South Dakota.

The hotel just opened this year so it’s very nice and clean!

Read reviews here

After spending about an hour on the rooftop, we called it a night!

The next morning, we were up early for our 8 am flight.

After getting packed up, I checked us out on the Hilton app and headed inside the airport.

All we had to do is walk across a bridge-way and we were inside the airport.

Once inside, we couldn’t believe the crowds of people in line for security!

I honestly don’t remember ever seeing lines this long!! I guess everyone was trying to get in one last trip during fall. break!!

This is where that TSA pre check came in handy!!

It saved us quite a bit of time but the line for TSA was long too!

I will say this, even though TSA saved us some time, it wasn’t all that I thought it would be.

The only thing I saw that was different than the regular line, was not having to take off your shoes. Please don’t tell me I just paid $80 pp in order to keep my shoes on!

Read more here about the benefits of having TSA pre check

I’m not sure if it was worth it considering how much of my information the government required from me just to let me keep my shoes on!

Read here about the cons of TSA pre check

After a short layover in Baltimore, we boarded the second leg of our flight to Manchester.

As we were nearing Manchester, we started seeing pops of color in the trees!

Our plane landed around 2 pm in Manchester and we headed to pick up our rental car at Hertz.

Tip: I booked our rental car months in advance and would periodically check to see if I could find something cheaper… I ended up saving hundreds of dollars by doing this! We paid $465 for a SUV for 7 days! I booked through Travelocity.  I did this with our hotels too!

After picking up our rental car, my hubby decided he wanted to see the ocean while we were in New Hampshire…so, that’s where we headed!

We drove approximately one hour to Portsmouth, NH to have dinner….we were determined we were going to eat lobster rolls while we were here!

I googled best lobster rolls in Portsmouth and found a place called the River House restaurant so that’s where we headed.

We found a public parking lot right across from the restaurant….we just about passed out when we went to pay for parking at the kiosk …..$32 for two hours!!! We couldn’t believe it but we decided to go ahead and pay it since it was so close to the restaurant!

We then crossed the street and headed to the restaurant.

After arriving, we were seated at a table outside by the water.

After looking over the menu, we decided on the lobster rolls….of course!

But first, a cup of the seafood chowder! Yum!

My hubby ordered the traditional lobster roll which is lobster meat mixed with mayo, celery, salt, pepper and lemon juice and I ordered the warm lobster meat poached in butter.

It was delicious but cost $38 each!! Yikes!

But look at the views we had!

Oh well, it was fresh Maine lobster and it was so good!

Read reviews here

Speaking of Maine, it was located 5 mins from the restaurant! You just had to cross a bridge that you can see in this picture and you’re there!

Tip – If you ever visit Portsmouth, make sure to cross the bridge and check out Ogunquit, ME...so cool!

After dinner, we headed to a nearby store to find us a t-shirt and coffee cup…..we never leave without a t-shirt and coffee cup….we probably have hundreds of coffee cups!

After purchasing our souvenirs, we spent a few minutes walking around the cute town of Portsmouth.

It was really cool and I highly recommend this place if you are ever in New Hampshire!

Tip: If you have the time, you could do Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont all in one trip ..and even add in Massachusetts.

After walking around for a bit, we decided to drive to a nearby beach called Rye Beach.

The town of Portsmouth is so cool and colorful! I could definitely come back here and spend more time!

We passed this beautiful church on the way!

Arriving to Rye Beach….it’s only 15 mins from Portsmouth.

After getting parked, we spent some time walking on the beach.

The water was so cold!

We then decided to drive down the coast and check out the scenery.

The houses along the coast were gorgeous!!

We pulled over and took a few pictures along the way.

We then decided that we would head to Salem, MA. My husband had never been and he wanted to see it….I had already been and wasn’t overly impressed but it’s supposed to be cool during October.

After driving for a while, my hubby changed his mind about going because it was getting late and our hotel was 2 1/2 hrs from Salem.

So, we headed to our hotel instead.

We passed this gorgeous tree on the way!

And this beautiful old church!

We finally arrived to our hotel in Lincoln, NH around 8 pm.

We stayed at the Woodward White Mountain Resort.

After getting checked in, we headed to our room.

Our room was a fairly good size with two beds and a nice size bathroom.

Read reviews here

You won’t find many chain hotels in this area and the prices during the “leaf peeping season” is not cheap so book as early as possible!

After getting settled into our room, we called it a night!

Thanks for reading!

Stay tuned for Day 2!!

UPDATE: Read Day 2 here, Day 3 here, Day 4 here, Day 5 here, Day 6 here, Day 7 here & Day 8 here

Click here to see links to all of my blog posts

Click here for the Ultimate New Hampshire Fall Foliage Road Trip Guide

Click here for hotels in Lincoln

Click here for hotels in Conway...another popular area to stay.

Click here for the best things to do in and around Lincoln, NH

Don’t miss the Alien Abduction Gas Station when in Lincoln! 😉