Thursday, November 7, 2019

Late Season Leaf Peeping Vacation

When my friend's wedding got canceled the first time, I had to make plans fast to be able to book places in the areas we wanted to go to.  Going south in the Fall is not my idea of fun or Fall, so off to the Berkshires in Massachusetts and southern Vermont to see if there was anything left or if we were there just in time for stick season.

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First, we made a pit stop on the way to a town outside of Albany, NY.  There was this adorable store full of gifts and fun stuff to peruse. 


We went to Lake George, and this dude wasn't phased by us at all and even "talked" to us.


We watched the boats go by and enjoyed watching the water for a bit.

Our first stop in the Berkshires was the Norman Rockwell Museum, which is one of my favorite squishy inducing artists.


That bottom right pic is a painting he did of Stockbridge a few miles up, and I couldn't wait to see it in person.

You could also see his studio, and I loved thinking of all of the works of art he did in there.


Then it was time to explore the town in the picture that I drooled over in the museum.


It was a little drizzly but perfect for poking around shops.  I loved it and only wish it were a little bigger, but that's how most of the towns in the Berkshires are set up...a few city blocks and you're back in the country.

We made a trip down to Sleepy Hollow, NY, to go to the Great Jack o' Lantern Blaze that I wanted to see for a few years.


It was truly beautiful, and so much talent goes into the art they do there.  These are some of the awesome scenes we saw.

Not too far from where we were staying was the cute little town of Salisbury, CT.


You know damn well I bought that advent calendar.

On our way to Sleepy Hollow, I made a note of a little tea place on the way and that it wasn't far from us.  They didn't serve a full afternoon tea, but we made do with a cream tea, which was heavenly.


One of our favorite nights in MA was sitting in the parlor of our 1700's home with some hot tea and listening to vinyl in front of the fire.


It was our first listen to Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings "Funky Little Drummer Boy," which is bitchin' on its own but my Lord on vinyl???   HEAVEN!!  Forgot how good it sounds as we listened to several albums.

On our way to the other house, I wanted to stop in Chester, VT, and I sniffed out another cream tea place.  Yeah, all over that.


The black currant scones were divine, and the spice plum tea was delicious. 

We were close enough to Maine to warrant a day trip.  We loaded up Andrew Ridgeley's audiobook, and it made the trip go quickly.  Before we knew it, we were on the beach with a pumpkin donut and on the way back, stopped by Fezziwigs for a take out order for dinner.


The next day, we wandered the town and shopped.


We stopped in the town of Dorset, VT, which was basically a street, but so full of Fall goodness, I could barely stand it.


We couldn't help but go back to our Christmas home of Stowe.  It was pretty foggy in the morning, but we walked the rec path then headed to McCarthy's before they closed the Stowe institution on Halloween.


Obviously, we had to go to Trapp Lodge to enjoy the view, go to the gift shop, and of course, have a slice of Linzertorte.  When in faux Austria.  Then a trip to Bragg Farm in Montpelier before heading back.

The next day was going to be the better of the two following days, so we drove up to Woodstock, VT, where we started this year.


It was obviously bursting with Fall goodness.


We loved lollygagging around town and then a trip to Billings Farm to pet the sweet cows out front.


It wouldn't be a Fall pic without a stop by Sleepy Hollow Farm currently for sale by Aerosmith guitarist, Joe Perry.


It might've not had full color going on in the background but still gorgeous.

The next day we took a loop to see some covered bridges because Vermont.


On the way back to reality, we had to stop by Beekman 1802, and they were ready for the holidays.


It was a wonderful trip if not a little drive heavy for the Mr.  Lots of great color to be had if you're patient and around a corner.  We could've used a few more days, but the last two days, I caught a horrid sinus cold that I'm still in the throes of.  What a souvenir.  But I'm very grateful for the days I got that I was well because the only thing I can count on for October is that I WILL get sick.  Pffft. 

Hope you enjoyed virtually tagging along! 

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4 comments:

  1. I had a great time in spite of a lot of driving. It was so nice to get a chance to enjoy fall without work stress and to have it all be on our own time. I am also glad we got to the coast that one day. I love walking the beach no matter what time of year it is.

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  2. Thanks for taking us along, looks gorgeous!

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  3. Great pictures! Thank you for sharing your vacation with us. I would love to visit New England in the fall, but that won't happen until I retire. I'm sorry you brought back a crummy souvineir.

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  4. What gorgeous pictures! I hope the locals know just how special it is to be able to count on views like that every single year without fail. It's like something out of a book. So glad you had such a lovely time and there was no rush to be anywhere. Wherever you felt like being and felt like doing, you did. Spectacular pics -- thanks for sharing these!

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