Green Mountains Majesty

We headed for Vermont about 10 minutes after I finished this morning's entry. We loved our trip to the Mary Meyer Big Black Bear Shop and the Vermont Country Store last year so much, we decided to repeat it. It was a perfect day for a drive into the country, too, 85, dry, and sunny. Vermont was beautiful, with its babbling brooks, rolling emerald hills, and endless miles of fields, farms, and Inns.

Our first stop was the Big Black Bear Shop in Townsend, Vermont. The store is an outlet and museum for Lauren's favorite stuffed animal company, Mary Meyer. In addition to selling Mary Meyer stuffed animals, they also have toys and children's books.

We found something interesting the moment we walked in the door. One of the first shelves held a display of "Quarter Bears" that were on sale. They represented each state and the quarter released for that state between 1999 and 2009. Lauren bought the Massachusetts bear; I, of course, bought the New Jersey bear. I don't have the room (in my apartment or my luggage) to buy large stuffed animals, but Lauren picked up a big red lobster, a cute teddy bear made from recycled bottles, and a soft, floppy giraffe in addition to the MassBear.

Our next stop was a little diner about a mile or so back from the shop. The Townsend Dam Diner is about as typical of a small-town diner as you can get. Mismatched thrift shop tables and a big Formica counter-top dominated the room. A dry-erase board with colorful writing announced the specials of the day. The small kitchen was perfectly visible from the dining area, allowing everyone to see the waitresses hard at work pouring salad dressing and chocolate syrup from huge jugs.

Lauren had the chicken fajita. I had the salmon burger. Both were excellent. The salmon burger was real salmon, not a patty like I figured it would be, and it was on a huge bun with fresh lettuce, tomatoes, and onion. My fries were home-made with their skins still on. Lauren's fajita was filled with real chicken, cheese, and vegetables, and for once, she ate the whole thing.

We hit the road again after lunch and made our way up the mountain to the Vermont Country Store. Alas, once again, we didn't have as much time there as we hoped we would. The store was not only incredibly busy, it was closing an hour and a half early for a funeral across the street honoring the adjacent Bryant House Restaurant's late manager.

Despite the crowd, Lauren and I found what we wanted in record time anyway. Lauren bought a bottle of orange soap her dad really liked and some magnetic rocks to use in her room. I bought a small bottle of real Vermont Maple Syrup, a box of tasty Vermont "Buttons" small cookies (maple flavor), and a bear-shaped glass jar that's supposed to be used for cinnamon. I love that bear jar. I've almost bought it online a hundred times. I also bought a bottle of water. I'd forgotten to bring some from home and was feeling a bit dry.

Since we left the store earlier than we thought we would, we made a few short stops on the way home. Lauren stopped by another country-style store called The Apple Barn Country Store. This one was attached to a pick-your-own farm and specialized in toys, gift items, real farm-fresh fruit, and things made from said fruit, like jams and jellies, fudge, pancake mix, and syrups. Lauren bought fudge for her dad. I just bought a small maple sugar candy. I have a fondness for flavored sugar.

We drove into Berrington next, stopping at a small Stewart's Shops. Stewart's in New Jersey is a novelty brand of very sweet soda in glass bottles. In New England, its the equivalent of the Tri-State area's WaWa. The Stewart's was actually pretty cool. WaWa needs to start putting tables in. Their stores are big enough.

By this point, it was after 6. Most of the small, local stores we wanted to explore would be shutting down, so we just drove down the mountains and back to Pittsfield. Our last stop was Lauren's favorite sub shop right next door to the bank where she works, Angelina's Subs. It's a local chain specializing in what New Englanders call "grinders" and what we in Southern New Jersey refer to as the hoagie. Lauren had her favorite Taco Wrap. I opted for a simple turkey sandwich.

We're back at Lauren's house now, chatting, blogging, and watching Good Eats episodes. Tomorrow, we hit Jiminy Peak, a small family amusement park in the Greylock Mountains.

Into the Green Mountain State

We made our trip into Vermont today. There couldn't have been a more lovely day to do it, either. sunny and in the upper 60s-lower 70s. We started out in the late morning and arrived at the Manchester Outlets around 11:30. Turns out the outlets weren't really either of our speeds. Lauren got a full set of lotions and shampoo from Crabtree & Evelyn and I bought a travel-sized shampoo (the one I brought with me is almost empty). Most of the other stores were factory stores for major upscale clothing brands like Brooks Brothers that were way beyond our price ranges, even at outlet prices. We didn't get anything else there.

Our next stop was far more interesting. On our way to the outlets, we passed a bookstore. We decided to give it a go, and I'm very glad we did! The Northshire Book Store turned out to be a massive, 2-story independent book-and-media shop not unlike Barnes & Noble. It was a really gorgeous store, housed in a former inn. Lauren bought a Gene Autry CD for her dad. I got the original cast of the 1971 Broadway musical Follies. We had lunch in the book store's restaurant, appropriately named the Spiral Press Cafe. She had a ham pannini called the Anthem. Mine was called the Johnny Appleseed and had turkey, apples, cheddar cheese, and cranberry mayo (which was actually quite good). Our sandwiches came with chips and gigantic pickle quarters! Lauren doesn't like pickles and traded hers to me for my chips, since I'm not a big chips fan. I like pickles, but those babies were so big, I ate the first and one bite of the second and couldn't finish!

Here's the Northshire's website:

Northshire Book Store

While browsing around in the Outlets, we found a rack of pamphlets for other local attractions in the lobby area. In addition to fliers for the Northshire Book Store and Vermont Country Store, we found one for another intriguing store in the area. We both love stuffed animals, and The Big Black Bear Shop, a store for Lauren's favorite stuffed animal company Mary Meyer, was right up both our alleys. As it turned out, it was on our way to the Vermont Country Store, so we made it our next stop.

The Big Black Bear Shop is a toy store that, yes, mostly sells Mary Meyer stuffed toys. It also sells other playthings and a few kids' books. There's even a small museum devoted to the Mary Meyer company and making stuffed animals. The bright, colorful store was filled with so many wonderful animals, it was hard to choose! I finally found an adorable tan puppy, Buster, on sale for $3.00. Buster was the name of the Pound Puppy I had as a child, and I miss him. Lauren picked up a sea-green octopus named Ollie, a floppy cheetah named Speedy, and a fluffy white Christmas bear in a red and yellow striped stocking cap and scarf.

Here's the Big Black Bear Shop's site:

The Big Black Bear Shop

After a few wrong turns, we finally made it to the Vermont Country store an hour before closing. We took pictures of each other in front of the store, then browsed. The huge, rambling old farmhouse is filled from top to bottom with unusual, often old-fashioned items, ranging from flannel shirts to milled soap to local Vermont maple syrup, old-time candy brands that can only be found in catalogs, fancy cake and pancake mixes, tin toys, and some Vermont merchandise like sweaters and pewter keychains. We only had so much money and so much time by then. I just bought a tin container of real Vermont maple syrup. I switched to using real maple syrup on pancakes instead of cheap "pancake syrup"; it tastes so much better.

Lauren made better finds. She bought a box of little tablets that add flavored fizz to regular water (she's a big soda fan), orange marmalade for her mother, and wart remover for a small one on her foot. She discovered her best find, of all places, in the bathroom. She told me she smelled something citrusy in the women's bathroom and wondered what it was. It turned out to be the orange soap used at the sinks. She looked around the store and finally found a bottle for her dad, who apparently loves oranges.

Here's the Vermont Country Store's (apparently well-known, as my mother and friend Linda Young both order from them) site and online catalog:

Vermont Country Store

We stopped at a Friendly's in Barrington, Vermont for a small dinner. We shared their Munchies Mania plate (Lauren wanted the mozzarella sticks; I had the quesadilas), and we both had ice cream. Lauren had her favorite, Black Raspberry with Peanut Butter topping (which she says isn't as bad as it sounds); I had the Hunka Chunka PB Fudge.

It was worth the trip just for the gorgeous scenery. Now I know why they call Vermont "The Green Mountain State"; it's a well-earned moniker. The emerald mountains seemed to touch the fat, white clouds and dwarfed the almost-turning-colors trees and lovely old rustic farmhouses, hotels, inns, and restaurants. We passed over rushing rivers as clear as glass and passed by massive mountainsides of pure marble. We saw cows and horses (including one cute golden foal) grazing by big barns and fields filled with soy beans, hay, and corn. We passed by orchards laden with apples and farm markets overflowing with pumpkins and squash. I haven't seen such lovely farms since I left Cape May County (and there aren't too many like these left there).