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!