Hildene: Lincoln Family Summer Home
We visited the Hildene house, which was the private family house of the Abraham Lincoln’s only child that lived to adulthood, and became quiet wealthy.
Hildene House from the front.
Rear of the house from the formal gardens.
Hildene House formal gardens.
Hildene House dining room.
Afternoon ice cream at Cold Cow Creamery. Tyler opted for a Blondie bar from a coffee shop instead. The Maple Shake was tremendous.
A Mile of the Appalachian Trail
I have had a growing interest in the Appalachian Trail ever since I read Bill Bryson’s A Walk in the Woods. So it was a special treat when we were driving back down Bromley Mountain and there was a parking area that connected directly to the Appalachian Trail.
We decided to hike a mile up the trail and then come back. It was fun to pass some through-hikers on the trail, and to taste a little bit of the AT.
Trail head from parking lot.
Trail head map and information. Walking sticks and water available.
Bridge crossing Bromley Brook.
Densely wooded trails with white trail blaze for AT.
Board walk to make it through muddier sections.
Alpine Slide at Bromley
In my head Alpine Slides look dangerous. There is no good reason for that. Visually they look like a luge track and it makes me think of people on bobsleds going at insane speeds. Now having done it, this analogy seems utterly ridiculous, but that is what was in my head. When Tammy put the Alpine Slides at Bromley Mountain on our plan for the day I was anxious.
Mazie, Tyler and I were all first timers on the Alpine Slide. Shortly after getting going I realized this was all just a bunch of fun. The slide was very long and had a ton of fun turns. As a bonus, the chair lift ride up was gorgeous as well. Mazie had a blast and would have gone a dozen more times. Tyler got into the groove of it after a while too.
Vermont Road Trip Log: Day 6, Thursday
Weather: Perfect!
- Hung out at schoolhouse and made breakfast using eggs from the farm.
- Walked the farm and checked out Studio Hill.
- Left for Saratoga Springs.
- Lunch at Kaleidoscope Cafe and met Bruce the owner.
- Went to Saratoga Springs race track and watched and bet on three races.
- Drove to Walloomsac
- Dinner at Taproom at Browns Brewing
- Battlefield memorial
- Movie at Hathaway’s Drive-in.
Jump to day 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 of Vermont Road Trip.
We saw the Jungle Cruise at Hathaway’s Drive-in! It has become a bit of a tradition to go to a drive-in movie on trips.
Saratoga Racetrack
We went to the horse track today! 💸
We’ve been to Canterbury Park with the kids and have had fun. Saratoga however is much, much bigger. It took us a while to just figure out where to go and sit. Then it took us a while to figure out how to read everything and understand how it all worked. But, after a bit we mostly got the hang of it. By the end I felt confident to go up to the betting stands and say stuff like “$10 on 5 to place”. Careful reading of the program was a big help.
Our bets for the day. We only had two winners. I made an epic bad on on Race 6 after getting enamored with the idea of an “Across the Board” bet, which is actually three bets in one: one to win, one to place, and one to show. I thought the bet divided amongst them but it actually multiplies, so I ended up betting three times what I thought. Ooops. And that horse was absolutely terrible in that race, coming in last by several lengths.
We had a super fun time and it was cool to be at such a historic race track.
Race 5
Tyler bet on Swinging sticks to place.
Mazie bet on Magnificent Chrome to place.
Race 6
Mazie bet on 9 to show.
Tyler bet on 5 to show. Winner!
Jamie made a terrible bet on 1 “across the board”.
Race 7
Tyler bet on Mystery Bank to show.
Mazie bet on Land Biscuit to show.
Mazie bet on Mister Kringle to show. Winner!
Tammy bet on Life on Top to win.
Jamie bet on Landbiscuit 7 to place.
Beer flight at Brown’s Brewery.
Great sign for a brewery.
Kaleidoscope Cafe
On our drive to Saratoga we spotted Kaleidoscope Cafe and decided the mix of BBQ and homemade Ice Cream was the perfect combination we wanted for lunch. We stopped in and Bruce, the gregarious owner, welcomed us and gave us a rundown of the menu. Everything here is made by him personally, except the hot dogs. He gave me a sample of all four of his BBQ sauces. I wanted to buy a couple of bottles to take home but he’s not selling that, yet. We had brisket and pulled pork and all of it was great. The mac-n-cheese goes perfect with the brisket.
We of course had ice cream as well. The Peanut Butter Infusion was amazing, but equally great was the Sweet Blue-Nilla which we tried in both scoop and shake options. Easily the best blueberry ice cream I have ever had.
We had a great time and heard some of Bruce’s story, and how he opened Kaleidoscope just last year in the middle of the pandemic. He’s powered through and pivoted a bit but is continuing to build out a great place for BBQ and Ice Cream. If you are in the area, you need to make a stop and say Hi! 👋
We took a walk around Studio Hill Farm this morning and checked out the Studio on the Hill. We saw people out working the fields, chickens doing what they do, and these sheep that had just gotten moved to a new pasture and were greatly enjoying all the fresh grass.
Vermont Road Trip Log: Day 5, Wednesday
Weather: Great weather. Cool morning. Clear for our entire drive. Couple drops of rain on the sail. Cool in evening.
- 7:00a: Clean up Modern Accord Depot and get car loaded
- 8:07a: Depart for Woodstock, NY.
- Light breakfast at Bread Alone Bakery in Woodstock.
- Short hike in Overlook Mountain Wild Forest.
- Visited Karma Triyana Dharmachakra Buddhist Monastery.
- Walked around downtown Woodstock and checked out shops.
- Delicious lunch at Shindig.
- Left for Kingston.
- 2:00p: Sailing in Hudson River.
- 5:15p: Depart for Greenbush, NY.
- 6:21p: Dinner at Nic’s Trattoria.
- 7:30p: Depart for Shaftesbury, VT.
- 8:14p: Enter Vermont.
- 8:30p: Arrived at Vermont Schoolhouse Farm Cottage.
Jump to day 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 of Vermont Road Trip.
We took an afternoon sail with Hudson Sailing. We had a great, relaxing time sailing up the Hudson River. The wind was really calm but Dan, the owner and captain, was able to grab what was there and have a good time on the water. ⛵️
We visited the Karma Triyana Dharmachakra Buddhist Monastery outside of Woodstock, NY today. Unfortunately the buildings were closed due to COVID-19, but we saw the grounds, outside of the Shrine building, and the Eight Stupas.
Sign in a storefront in Woodstock, NY.
I’m eager to read Michael Pollan’s newest book, This Is Your Mind on Plants. We listened to Pollan on Tim Ferriss’ podcast and found it interesting. We got the book at Mirabai in Woodstock, NY.
Blue and yellow sailboats on Rondout Creek connecting to the Hudson River in Kingston, NY.
We had some extra time this morning and saw a trailhead for Overlook Mountain Wild Forest. We stopped and had a nice little hike to start the day.
Great way to spend the afternoon. Sailing on the Hudson River. ⛵️
