Maple Syrup, Trapp Family Lodge, Coffee, Jazz and Lake Champlain...Lovin' Vermont!

Brandon, Vermont  (June 5-13 2017)

I've always heard how beautiful the state of Vermont is, so we were excited to stay for a week in the town of Brandon (just a coincidence), a population of approx. 4,000.  Driving into town for our traditional travel pizza, we noticed a local gas station advertising "today-gas sale".  I can remember decades ago, gas stations competing for business but we found this to be unusual in today's times.   Gas prices along the trip have all been significantly lower than California's prices.  We couldn't wait to explore the nearby area;  find Vermont maple syrup, visit the Von Trapp Family Lodge and go to the Jazz Festival in Burlington!

With dogs in tow, we ventured out towards the highly recommended area of Quechee Falls about an hour away.  We were surrounded by pure Vermont beauty of maple trees, quaint small towns, ski areas and plenty of signs pointing to homemade Vermont maple syrup.  Quechee Falls had a viewing area from a bridge looking over or you could see the falls from the bottom.  We decided to make the trek down  to the bottom.  The view was amazing, but what I loved the most was the elderly couple sitting on a bench enjoying the view of the falls.  All I could think of was if this sweet elderly couple could hike back up the steep incline, so could we!  Our next stop brought us to a small "out of the way" maple syrup farm where we learned about maple trees and the process of making syrup.  Hundreds of maple trees (most are over 40 years old) have tubes inserted in various spots of the trunks where syrup is collected.  It's then boiled down to a concentrate that has to measure 66% sugar in order for it to be bottled and sold. It takes 50 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of syrup.  The maple syrup farm (Baird Farm), offered a variety of maple syrups to taste  while purchasing some of our favorites for gifts and some for us (pancakes were in our future)!

On the Quetchee Gorge Hike

Looking Down on the falls

They were unaware we were there!

BURLINGTON

The Burlington Jazz Festival was over the weekend and we decided to board the dogs at a spacious, clean and caring facility (where they trained and groomed dogs), for one night.

Finding a parking spot in Burlington proved to be as challenging as any other city especially for a truck our size.  We walked to the city walk where local student bands performed on every corner.   We were entertained by the youthful talent for a couple of hours before purchasing tickets to the professional Jazz Festival that evening on Lake Champlain to see Trombone Shorty. (Lake Champlain is a beautiful lake in Vermont between the Adirondack and Green Mountains).  We got to the outdoor venue early enough to find a good spot to enjoy the view of the lake and soon were joined by two couples.  One of the men called "Coach",  was the boys basketball coach at the University of Vermont for decades and had worked for ESPN.  He was well known in the area and more people stopped to talk to him.  The six of us enjoyed each others company so much, we became unaware of any bands playing at the time and before long four hours had flown by, unaware if Trombone Shorty had performed or not!  We said our "good-byes" working our way towards the truck while stopping and admiring the beauty of downtown Burlington. 

Burlington Citywalk

A typist artiste?

Jazz musicians

Beautiful Lake Champlain

Night time citywalk

GREEN MOUNTAIN COFFEE, VON TRAPPS, BEN AND JERRY'S!

The dogs were to be picked up by 5pm the next day, giving us time to venture towards the Green Mountain coffee visitors center in the town of Waterbury.  This is where they make the k-cups for Keurig coffee pots which is owned by Green Mountain.  We did our sampling of various types of coffee which was perfect on a cool, drizzly Vermont day.  After our tour, we made the drive towards The Von Trapp Family Lodge and Ben and Jerry's Factory while passing a "moose crossing" sign.  I kept a look out for moose but didn't see any along our scenic drive. 

I was a very small girl when Mom dressed us up to see the "Sound of Music" when it first came out.  I remember how much I loved the singing and rolling green hills, and throughout my life this movie was a favorite of mine.  After World War II, the Von Trapp family made their way to America (finding Vermont to be most like Austria) and this is where they continued to raise their family opening up a lodge and years later, a brewery.  It was a worthwhile side trip as was the Ben and Jerry's factory.  Here, we ran into quite a few people and decided to treat ourselves to a delicious, creamy Ben and Jerry's ice cream without taking the tour.  We hated to see this fun-filled day end, but Daisy and Gracie had to be picked up.  They were very happy to see us!

A great stop on a chilly day!

Von Trapp Family Lodge

"The Hills Are Alive"!

One of several pictures inside the lodge

Didn't see any

Not good at selfies but the ice cream was worth it!

Add caption

TICONDEROGA

Back to our RV park in Brandon, the following Sunday I went to an old, brick church in town having a nice conversation with the young, happy, friendly priest from Nigeria.  It was difficult to understand what he was saying, but he would laugh and so would I.  Afterwards, Perry and I took a ferry across Lake Champlain to Fort Ticonderoga, New York.  Following the gps isn't always the best decision and on this day it took us down a five mile unpaved road to where we were to take the ferry.   We arrived at the small port (if that's what it was)  noticing a sign that read "pull to call ferry".  It was a long pole with a string attached that rang a bell.  It looked to me this sign hadn't changed in decades.  We waited as well as the two cars behind us, and soon a small ferry arrived run by a woman in her 60's and her daughter-in-law.  A short fifteen minute ride across the lake took us to Ticonderoga, N.Y. where we drove to the battle site of the 1700's (the first American victory in the Revolutionary war), but also known as an access point during the French and Indian war.  I love nature's beauty and our history in this part of the country and found myself loving Vermont. 

The Brandon Church

Pull to call the ferry

Returning to Vermont from New York

The big ferry on Lake Champlain

The Battlefield of Ticonderoga

Beautiful Vermont!

One day I mailed a package at the small post office in Brandon when the postmaster noticed my return address of California .  He had grown up not far from where we lived, surprising to me considering Brandon, Vt.  is a small hidden (not well known) town, 3,000 miles away.

I wasn't ready to leave the beautiful state of Vermont that I fell in love with, but at the same time I couldn't wait to see my sister in our long awaited trip to Massachusetts.   Here we would be joined by our youngest, Brandon for a week, camp with family and visit my Mom's hometown of Gloucester.   I was so excited to be with more family, especially Brandon (our youngest) that we hadn't seen in six months.  Massachusetts, here we come!

New Jersey Family, Keuka Lake, Watkins Glen hiking, racing, the family connection and FLX Wienery!

Pt. Pleasant Beach, N.J. and Family!

Growing up, my siblings and I loved when Uncle John  (Dad's youngest brother), came to visit us in California.  As a thirteen year old my parents let me visit our cousins in New Jersey and all of us kept in touch over the years.   Three thousand miles is quite a distance, but there were always vacations, marriages and sometimes family losses that kept the family connection going along with annual Christmas cards.   My Uncle is now 86 years old and it was important to me to spend time in New Jersey to see family.   

We stayed at a Navy Base about twenty-five minutes from my Aunt and Uncle's house and as we drove towards their neighborhood, I thought about childhood  memories of going to the beach/ boardwalk with our cousins and the fun we all had. 

My dear Aunt and Uncle took us to lunch along the beautiful Pt. Pleasant Beach harbor with much to catch up on.  After lunch,  Aunt Mary Anne pulled out old photo albums and shared pictures of my parents in their twenties (including a few wedding pictures), then brought out a stack of letters my Dad had written to Uncle John and their Dad while in the Navy.  The letters are a real treasure and I am so grateful to have them. 

There were other family "get togethers" sharing more good times with cousins I haven't seen in years, along with their children and grandchildren.  My Aunt and Uncle have lived here for decades and also owned a home on the boardwalk where a family barbecue took place.  Perry and I walked the mile and a half trip from their home in town to the boardwalk along the Atlantic ocean.  We were amazed by  the devastation that hurricane Sandy caused in 2012!  Homes in this area are now required to be raised up in certain zones but thankfully, neither one of my Aunt and Uncles' homes had serious damage. 

So happy to have had this special time with our east coast family and now it's time to head to a town outside Penn Yann, New York where we'll spend a few days at the Finger Lakes and Watkins Glen. 

Lunch on the N.J. Harbor

A pic of my beautiful parents!

Cousins and Aunt

My delightful Aunt and Uncle

One of several houses being raised near the Jersey Shore

The heavy rains accompanied us through the scenic Pocono mountains which thankfully let up at our once again rural destination of Country Charm RV Park.  Country…it definitely was…..as well as charming!  We pulled the fifth-wheel in between two large trees, an area overlooking a large pond.  This was plenty of space to let the dogs roam off their leashes and we were the only ones there.  Once again, we were in Amish and Mennonite territory but not as populated as the town in Pennsylvania.  Beautiful countryside and rolling hills took us to the quaint old town of Penn-Yan.  We found a friendly place to enjoy a bite of dinner after a long day of travel and to plan the next couple of days.

THE FINGER LAKES, NEW YORK

Our first day took us to one of the 11 Finger lakes, Keuka Lake.  The drive along the lake was scenic with its' tall trees and summer homes.  We stopped at wineries (wine region of New York) enjoying a little wine tasting meeting many nice people including a fun bridal party. Our last winery was at Dr. Konstantin Frank.  I thought this was an interesting name for a winery (the founders name) with their wines being one of our favorites. He introduced European grape vines along Keuka Lake.  Our Finger Lakes travels also brought us to a flea market and a Mennonite Farm and store.  The store was run by a friendly and helpful Mennonite woman who talked about her religion (she said she "had been in a house with a television once") and explained some differences between Mennonites and Amish.  Mennonites are allowed to drive cars if given permission by the area church leader while others are permitted only to travel by horse and buggy.   In the Amish culture, they are not permitted to drive or use any source of electricity.   We bought homemade spaghetti sauce and pasta before thanking her for her warm welcome! The next day was Watkins Glen, N.Y.

A winery in front of Keuka Lake

Some of the better N.Y. wines

Amish quilts displayed in the store

Off the beaten path Amish store where we were the only ones there

Perry, wine and Keuka Lake

Another view of a beautiful Finger Lake 

     

       WATKINS GLEN

When I was a young girl, our family took a cross-country trip to visit east coast relatives.  In New York, Dad wanted to visit his Uncle Ben (a descendant from Poland) who lived on acres of rolling hills in Watkins Glen where he raised his family.  This forgotten memory had resurfaced as we toured the area. We took a day with the dogs to hike Watkins Glen State Park a couple miles towards the falls.  It was a perfect day to make the uphill hike passing an old cemetery along the way.  Of course being in the area, I was thinking of my Dad and our genealogy efforts, wondering if my ancestors could be buried there.  As we hiked we heard a "whirring" sound but  I continued to research my ancestors on my phone.  I learned they were buried in a Catholic cemetery in Watkins Glen while a passerby told us the "whirring" sound was coming from the neighboring Watkins Glen racetrack.  We had to check it out!

The Watkins Glen International Raceway was a short distance from the falls and we were fortunate that the security guard allowed us to visit the raceway to take pictures.  The "whirring" we heard earlier was a practice day  (a Sunday with no official race) for Porsche GT racing series.  We took pictures from the empty stands watching 6 Porsche GT exceed 150mph, a stop worthwhile seeing.  It was late afternoon and we were hungry.  Driving back we decided to stop at the highly recommended "Wienery" for lunch which was well known in the area for their homemade hot dogs, sausages and "wienery" antics.  Their food was amazing and lived up to their well deserved reputation.  Continuing our drive back ( I was driving), I noticed a Catholic cemetery and flipped a u-turn on the not so busy highway.   Perry and I split up to search for my great-uncle Ben Ziarno and within a few minutes there it was!  We found his gravestone alongside his wife's and daughters.  This gave me  comfort knowing my Dad would have been pleased to have one more think to add to our genealogy find.

Watkins Glen State Park and Falls

A genealogy find

The "whirring" Watkins Glen Racetrack

The highly recommended "Wienery"

The view outside our RV site

A beautiful sky at our RV site

We will miss our beautiful, quiet spot in the small Mennonite area called Potter as we work our way towards Vermont.  

NEXT- BRANDON (town in Vermont), BURLINGTON JAZZ FESTIVAL, "THE HILLS ARE ALIVE" AND COFFEE!

My Southern Perspective Y'All!

My Southern Perspective

I have always loved the south and I'm not sure if that stems from loving "Gone with the Wind" or living there for two years.  In our travels this past year, we've been fortunate to spend quite a bit of time in many southern states.  This is my perspective-

I will start and end my perspective with southern hospitality.  Our experiences have led us into many conversations with southerners that we barely knew to people we got to know. The generosity, humility and kindness of the people we encountered were unmatched in any other states. They bend over backwards to make you feel welcome and  depending on what part of the south you're in, the dialects can differ.  "Hey, y'all" is a catchy phrase and with the laid back tongue, we would catch ourselves talking like the rest of them.  In a conversation with some nice southern folk, it took us a little while to figure out "diddy" was really "daddy".  Okay, that's not too bad but a conversation at a local produce stand in North Carolina went like this with two middle-aged gentlemen, friendly, bearded and in bib overalls- "Ahhsee yo dawgs are dravin yo car"-translation "I see your dogs are driving your car".  Daisy and Gracie like to sit in the front of the car while they wait for us.  "Ahhsee y'all from Calfonia-we hear thall lobral".  "I'm sorry, I didn't catch that". One of the men Perry referred to as "junior" repeated so we could try to decipher what he said and this is what we gathered "I see you're all from California. We hear they are all liberal".  We had fun with that one and kindly explained that not all the people in California are liberals.  We gladly ate the kindly offered sample of cantaloupe and purchased our boiled peanuts and ramps.

At the market stand-They eagerly await! Oh-but that face!

Southern Food

We have tried biscuits and gravy, catfish and waffles, gumbo, crawfish, fried bologna sandwiches, southern style fried chicken, cracklins (like a pork rind) and we were told to try ramps.  Ramps are a type of onion found along a river bank during a certain time of the year. They are pungent so a small amount goes a long way and they can be used in sauces, eggs, etc. like a regular onion.  We bought ramps at the local produce stand and what we didn’t use, we froze.  Another southerner suggested we try livermush. It's disgusting what the ingredients are, but Perry fried it in with eggs and I tolerated it…..not a fan!

Years ago living in Georgia, we were brave enough to try boiled peanuts.  They can be served warm or cold but Perry prefers to eat them warm.  I have to admit, I'm not much of a fan of this either because of how salty they are.  The peanuts are soft and swollen, not your typical peanut! Southerners can really cook great food and besides the delicious fried foods, many love their fish!

Because of the beautiful lakes and the gulf in the south, you can buy fresh fish almost anywhere.  From grouper to sturgeon to catfish to crappie.  In Florida, we found the best smoked fish spread (also prevalent in the south).  

Louisiana's shrimp and grits

Southern style strawberry shortcake

King Cake popular at Easter

Georgia's catfish and waffles

A southern favorite-Key Lime pie

                                                                    

                                                                                          Can't forget the southern meal at Piskah Ranch

Fishing southern style

Spending time in Lake Wateree, I learned about some fishing techniques used by local fishermen.  The more serious fishermen launch their boats before sunrise and some have what's called a "honey hole". A  broken off pine tree is tied to a cement block then sunk to the bottom of the lake.  The tree protrudes enabling the fishermen to decipher their cordoned off ideal fishing spot.  

The Southern Drives

Why "18"?

The road trips here in the south are undoubtedly some of the most beautiful!  The thick trees are everywhere with beautiful lakes down many side roads in larger and rural towns alike.  The mountain ranges aren't as grand and tall as  on the west coast but in the Appalachian and Poconos, the waterfalls, trees and wildlife are magnificent!  Some of the road signs are different such as the 18mph and the multiple directional road signs that take five minutes to decipher.  Driving through many small towns ( we love this part of our journey) , there are century old tall-steepled white churches on every street with large, old cemeteries.  We joked how there are more dead people then living in these small towns.  We also noticed in the small towns, large conservative signs in peoples yards and public places.  Many rural towns (especially in the Appalachians) have old crumbling homes.  In California, these homes might be torn down and rebuilt but here we observed many are deserted and some, sadly, people actually live in them. We've seen poverty and we've seen homes of wealth.

How confusing?

We saw a few of these in the south

Our drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway    

From the road in The Appalachians

 A southern church steeple in S.

Reaching up to southern Sky!

With some of our observations of the south noted, I will always have a special fondness for this part of the U.S.   The simplicity and kindness of the people and it's overall beauty,  is one of a kind!