There is something about New England that I just love. The stone walls, the Cape Cod style homes, the rustic gray/blue and red, and white colors that are displayed frequently on dwellings all appeal to me. The history is rich and abundant, particularly in Concord where my friend lives and where we began and ended our weekend journey. I would like to someday go and visit again, and take a peak around Walden pond or many of the historical sites that surround the area. I also love the landscape. The natural surrounding appeals to my heart, and whenever I am there I feel as if I am truly home.
The mountains are amazing. Just breathtaking, and although M informed me that these are just hills compared with the mountains out West I still consider their peaks to be incredibly high, especially coming from Northeast Ohio where so much of our landscape (ok all of it) is pretty flat.
It was a 4 hour(ish) journey from Concord to Burlington. The ride was therapy in and of itself as each of us girls got to share parts of our lives that are so hard to do over the phone. We laughed, and almost got bamboozled at a gas station in New Hampshire when a man asked us for gas money (he had Texas plates and was parked at a pump that did not work. We had a suspicion that the man was full of beans, but we started to feel guilty about denying him any money when we went inside to use the restroom. We needn't have felt too guilty because when we arrived back at the car the man and his vehicle were gone. Apparently, money appeared to him out of thin air and he no longer needed ours.
Burlington is an amazing town. Nestled in the mountains of Vermont it is a vibrant and quaint college town full of unique shops and eclectic people. I fell in love with the place almost immediately. The town makes very good use of its lake access (unlike the Cleveland area). Our campsite had direct access to Lake Champlain and was a 2 minute walk from our site to the sandy beach. There was a path that followed the lake into town as well which provided a scenic route for us as we explored as much of the area as we could in the time provided. The water of Lake Champlain was clear and I could still see my toes when I was chest high in water. It was cool and crisp and just the right thing needed after sitting in the sun all day on Saturday.
I ate ice cream for the first time in almost a year at Tom & Jerry's flagship store, and it was amazing! I got a single scoop of ice cream in a huge waffle cone drizzled in chocolate. It was the best darn ice cream I have ever had in my whole life.
The campsite was quaint, and our site backed up into the woods so we had some privacy. The only trouble we encountered was that we could not, for the life of us, start a fire. M came pretty prepared though, and we had both flashlights and 2 lanterns to use as a light source. We were both pretty tuckered on Friday and Saturday evening to begin with that I am not sure that a fire was really all that necessary.
My flight home was a blessing that started out as a curse. After I had boarded my plane on American Airlines the pilot informed all of the passengers that our flight was cancelled. I was freaking out inside a bit, but remained calm on the exterior because I knew that the airline had to get me home one way or another. The man sitting in front of me on the plane was having such a tantrum that I realized that some children never do grow out of those - he was a perfect example of a mantrum. He was making us all uncomfortable. So, instead of having a layover in NYC I actually was booked a direct flight from Boston to Cleveland via United airlines. I had to hang out in the Boston airport for a couple of extra hours, but I no longer had to worry about a layover. It was a blessing in disguise. (Plus the booking agents from American Airlines loved me because I was polite to them when they were trying to find me another flight and wasn't acting like a jacka!@. That doesn't mean I am going to fly American Airlines anytime soon. In fact, just the opposite - they will be the last carrier I choose.)
Overall, it was really a wonderful, wonderful experience. I look forward to the day when we both can escape again. We are very glad that we have husbands that see the importance of us getting away to sharpen the saw, and we are even more grateful that we are married to great daddies who can hold the fort down for the weekend.
My pictures turned out not so hot. I didn't take all that many because I was enjoying myself too much. There was a haze over the mountains in the distance both Friday night and all day Saturday, so my photos do not do the place any justice. Plus, M, is in a good portion of them (she is a total photo hog - gotcha M!!!) so I am not going to post too many of them out of respect that I did not ask her permission (nor am I) to post her photo on my blog. Because my blog is public I am almost positive that she would not like her face plastered all of the Internet.
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