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Thursday, September 24, 2009

Mt. Philo

Jenn and Sean drove up from MA for the weekend – time to meet with friends on Saturday and to see the Decemberists at the Flynn on Sunday.

After Mass at the CC on Sunday, Sean treated Jenn, Geo, Grandmother and me to a very leisurely lunch outdoors at Halverson’s. It was a relaxing afternoon before Jenn and Sean left for the concert.

It was great fun just getting together again, but for me the high point (figuratively and literally) was our Monday morning trek up Mt. Philo. Jenn and I had this event on our We-Need-To-Do-This list, and there was no time like the present. It turned out to be a spectacular day. Wilderness leader Sean and adventurous Geo decided to come along.

It’s been a long time since I’ve trekked the trails. Now this novice trailperson is ready to invest in new hiking boots.

I’m so impressed with Geo going the distance. At the top we took in the view, snapped a few pix, and feasted on grapes and freshly baked cookies.

Jenn says the big debate about hiking up a mountain is: Why do we do this? Is it the experience of the hike itself? Or is it the accomplishment of reaching the top?

I guess for me it’s the hike. I love the winding footpaths and finding my way in the midst of nature. For Geo, I think, it was reaching the top (and the comfy Adirondack chairs conveniently placed at a look-out point).

Geo promises we will do this again. Camel’s Hump, before long we’ll be on our way.

Remember, “We’ll always have Mt Philo.”

Thank you, Jenn and Sean for a super visit. Come again soon.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

The Place(s) To Be

Sunday Geo, Mom and I headed up to Hardwick. We arrived in time for brunch at Claire’s. I had read about Claire’s in Eating Well magazine. Geo read glowing reviews about Claire’s in none other than the NY Times. Claire’s is a destination gourmet eatery that features local products, and it’s amazingly located on Main Street of a small rural Vermont town. Breakfast was superb!

Next we traveled to nearby Wolcott (that’s “Wool-kitt” for all us flatlanders) to High Mowing Seed Company’s late season festival, hosted by owner Tom Stearns and his staff. High Mowing grows about 800 varieties of plants and veggies to package the seeds. Being there for this event felt like a true Vermont experience. The weather was perfect – cloudy, rainy, sunny, typical. There were farm families, growers, neighbors and others who came from near and far. We toured the fields, sampled the veggies, and witnessed a demonstration of a new machine extracting seeds from melons. Sometime during the afternoon students showed up from NECI (New England Culinary Institute) to prepare dinner. They worked outside under tents. What a feast! Three kegs of Magic Hat were tapped, along with apple cider. Two young women with a banjo and a fiddle entertained. Of course, there were not enough chairs to go around, so people sat on row covers to enjoy the picnic. It was so neat to be part of this experience – this flatlander began to feel a bit like a real Vermonter. To top it off, the crew from Emeril Lagasse was on site taping for a future episode. We'll be watching for this to air.