Surviving Winter in Northern New England

We decided it was necessary to get away, even if it was just for one night. The cold and snow were wearing on our psyches and we were determined to find a New England winter adventure to help make this longest season of the year more bearable.

The requirements were simple...cheap, new, and fun, (and if I was lucky, a blazing fireplace would be involved). We kibitzed over a few possibilities before settling on Burlington, VT. I was recently inspired by an article in Yankee Magazine, 17 Ways to Winter Fun, which highlighted some creative ways to help us enjoy the beautiful outdoors. Some events we held high on our "to do list" were Sugar on Snow, which in essence is pouring pure, hot maple syrup over fresh, clean snow, and snowshoeing. After researching doings around the area, Burlington and its vicinity offered such opportunities, and also being a college town, we knew we could find cheap beers.

We loaded up the family truckster and dropped Brody off at Gran's. Mark geared up the Ipod with bands who got their starts in Burlington (think Phish, Strangefolk, and KT Tunstall) and old college hits and the three hour drive flew by. The trek across New Hampshire and through Vermont's Green Mountains was gorgeous covered in feet of snow.

Among stops on our hit list was Dakin Farms, a specialty food store which includes smoked Hams, pure Vermont maple syrup, and cheeses. Their website boasted maple syrup canning, state of the art smokehouse tours, and cheese tastings all year round. It was a delicious place to check out, but no tours or demonstrations were happening. A bit disappointed, we continued up the road to Shelburne's village center. A quintessential Vermont town center entertained us for an hour: the country store, a shabby-chic antique store, and a coffee/wine house with gritty live entertainment.

We had evening reservations for a sleigh ride through the hills of a working farm followed by a bonfire, but were mislead by the website and learned too late that the farm was three hours from Burlington. Darn it!

So, it was off to the charming Church Street where bars and restaurants were plentiful. We enjoyed the live music of Justin Levinson, www.justinlevinson.com, at the Red Square, met a friendly couple at the RiRa Irish Pub, had some nachos and locally made pops at the third oldest brewpub on the East Coast, Vermont Brewery.

After a fantastic night out, we were hungry for some breakfast and headed to the recommended vintage Henry's Diner, which was delicious and hearty. We then set off to Waterbury where we had reservations for a snowshoeing and factory tour at Ben and Jerry's Corporate Headquarters. Our first time snowshoeing was excellent; a great way to get some fresh winter air and enjoy nature - we're hooked. The actual factory tour was just ok, free ice cream was great. Ben and Jerry seem to be hip guys, their business model and programs ahead of the curve, socially and environmentally.

Just 28 hours later we're feeling much better about ourselves and getting through winter. Skiing next weekend anyone?
http://picasaweb.google.com/tammy.svenson/Vermont09?feat=directlink - for more pictures of trip click here.

A BLOG is born: Some things we CAN change.

There are some things I've come to accept. Some major, some minor, and yes, some I am still working on. One concept I've learned is the idea that no matter how hard I try, no matter how much I pray, no matter how much I’d like to make some things different, there are things I just can’t change and I don't have any control over.

For example, I’ll never be a size two, I’ll never have big brown eyes, and I’ll never like Alfredo sauce. But there are things I do have control over and things I can change, I just need to put in the effort to make it happen. Using my camera and taking more pictures is such a thing I have control over.

If you’ve ever had the lucky opportunity to travel with Mark and me or to have us visit in any capacity, you may recall that we are chronic camera forgetters. Even if we do remember to throw it in, we don’t pull it out or tend to take any pics.

We’ve discussed reasons why the camera seems to challenge us. Considered excuses include: hate stopping the group to take a photo, find it’s kind of annoying to ask others to take pictures of you, or we don’t want to lose or have to be responsible for carrying it. After examining these terrible excuses and the benefits of capturing the once in a lifetime moments digitally, we've decided to change our ways.

After making this monumental decision to use the camera liberally, we realized a great way to share our trips, excursions, moments captured would be to create a BLOG. And that, our friends and family, is how ThriftyTravelers BLOG is born.