We started out the day admiring the great view from our hotel. This hotel, the Bromley View Inn, caters to skiers and you could see the slopes from the deck.
Our first stop of the day was the Equinox Mountain Skyline. This is a private mountain that has a 5 mile drive to the top of the highest peak in the Taconic Range. The road was very winding and on the way down we were told to not ride our brakes and pull over a few times. We still could smell our brakes on the way down. They also have road races on this mountain.
This mountain was bought with a plan to make a ski resort, but the permits were not given. Then there was a restaurant built at the top. Now it is a scenic viewing center dedicated to Saint Bruno. It has a chapel inside. There is also a monastery that you can see from the mountain road.
But the best part of the mountain were the great views!
We also took a short hike through the woods. Very cool trees that we got to walk through.
After we saw the great views we were ready for lunch. We found an Amish grocery store and yummy deli called the Market Wagon and got sandwiches. They even had a nice area to eat outside.
Another stop we made today was at the Sugar Shack store. We bought maple syrup and candies and saw the Norman Rockwell exhibit. He lived in the area and used many Vermont natives for his models.
Then we had the best stop of our Vermont trip...Glastenview Maple Farm. It is a small maple syrup farm that specializes in flavor infused maple syrup in addition to regular syrup. The couple that runs the farm did a great job in explaining how the sap is harvested and the syrup is made. We also did a syrup tasting. We were very full of sugar by the end of the tasting and were able to buy lots of maple syrup! I got ginger, bourbon and cinnamon infused syrup. I plan to make lots of maple flavored salmon! And have waffles for dinner!
The owner explaining how they tap the trees and the sap flows through the connected blue tubes to a container.
The white cube with black bars makes 5 gallons of syrup from all sap that it can contain. The building where they make the syrup is called the sugar shack.
The oven where they cook down the sap to make the syrup.
Learning about the different grades and colors of maple syrup.
Maple syrup tasting was super fun!
Even though we were full of sugar, we had to stop for apple cider donuts. We found some that were fresh and good, however, not as good as the hot donuts at Sky Top Orchard in NC.
After our adventures, we headed back to Manchester, VT. We stopped at the flagship Orvis store. There was lots of fishing equipment and clothing. Dave got a t-shirt even though I saw some expensive fly rods I'm sure he would have liked.
These rods were over $3000 and $4000!
We found a tree that had changed colors
There was a pond they use to teach fly fishing (there is a school across the street). We bought food to feed the fish and they were jumping out of the water to get it.
The rest of our time in Manchester was spent shopping and eating pizza. Our favorite shop was a wood working shop that had great pieces and good prices. It was called Manchester Woodcraft.
9/11 Memorial
Pizza is my go to dinner before a race, but not everyplace I go has great pizza. This place did!
After dinner, since it was still early and our hotel wasn't the kind that made you want to hang out there, we drove north of Manchester to see the sites. Lots more cute villages and cool buildings.
It was a full and very fun day in VT! So glad I got to experience it with my mom and sister!
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