"Stars Hollow" Trip
Ok so Stars Hollow isn't actually a real place. And we weren't even in Connecticut. But, the little town we stayed at in Vermont looked like Stars Hollow! There was even a little park center with a gazebo in the middle! And with all the little shops lining the quaint streets and the tall trees with changing leaves, you would expect to see Lorelai coming out of the diner on the corner.
For Greg's birthday we took a little road trip to Vermont for the weekend! We left right after work on Friday and headed out. We stopped for dinner at this New England chain diner that's been around since the 30's, Friendly's. The food was delicious! Super juicy and terrible for you but incredibly delicious hamburgers and fries and the Sundaes... Their fall special is the cokie butter Sunday and oh man... It was delicious. Vanilla ice cream with speculoos running through it and Biscoff cookie crumbles in every bite... We were big fans. We kept driving and unfortunately at this point it was dark. We knew the drive would be incredible because of the changing leaves and there are trees EVERYWHERE here, but most of the drive there was spent in the dark. We stayed at this huge ski resort in Ludlow, VT where we got a great deal on a condo just up in the hills behind "Stars Hollow." On Saturday morning we got up early and went to check out the view from our balcony first thing. It was beautiful! The grey clouds made all the colours look so vibrant and the cool fall air on our faces made us fall even more in love with fall here in the North East.
After enjoying the views for a while, we checked out and headed to Springfield, VT to go to an orchard. We drove through the little town again and in the daylight it looked even more like Stars Hollow. I was loving it! We drove through the little roads all lined with trees so thickly you could barely see behind the first row of trees. The orchard was only about half an hour away but we loved every minute of the drive. We went in to the little country store when we first got there and the smell of freshly made donuts hit us before we even got into the building. At Wellwood Orchards they make apple cider donuts fresh every Saturday and Sunday during the season. You could watch them being made right there! We of course bought some and they did not disappoint. Delicious apple cider cake donuts covered in cinnamon sugar... I would make the trek just for the donuts. We sampled some Vermont cheddar which was delicious, and also bought some cider cinnamon syrup. 50% fresh apple cider, 50% real maple syrup, and a couple cinnamon sticks thrown in. It's so good! Then we bought our bag to go pick our apples. We got a 1/2 bushel bag and filled it to the top with Cortland, McIntosh, Honeycrisp (there were only a few good ones left sadly), and Empire apples. It ended up being just under 20 pounds of apples! I can't wait to make applesauce and pies and crisps! It was beautiful out there and we had so much fun. We also were super tired and sore afterwards, picking apples and hauling them around is no joke!
We headed back home and enjoyed the drive home almost as much as the trip itself. We listened to Harry Potter and enjoyed the scenery. We really missed out on the drive up.
We went out to dinner that night after we got home. There is a little Spanish restaurant about half a mile up the road from our apartment so we decided to try it out. We loved it as soon as we walked in. There was Spanish artwork on the walls, the tables and chairs all looked old and Spanish, there was a Don Quixote statue, and it was perfect! Their tapas menu looked amazing and we wanted to try everything. We got 5 tapas and decided we'll just have to keep going back until we've tried everything. We got lobster croquettes with a saffron remoulade and crisp slaw (bits of lobster and cheese and batter that are deep fried), Escargot Spanish style, Jamon Serrano with bread and tomato spread (Greg's favourite "deli meat," it's cured ham sliced very thinly served with warm bread and a yummy tomato spread on top), Spanish tortilla (delicious egg and potato and onion thing that is Greg's favourite), and my favourite ended up being a grilled pork loin with a sweet chili jam on top of white beans. The pork was smoky and charred but was so tender and juicy, it fell apart when you touched it. The jam on top was so good and the beans were the perfect complement! We are big fans. We love that we can walk to it too!
On Sunday we went to church and Greg got to meet Clay Christensen. He's our bishop's dad so we have seen him in our ward a couple of times and Greg had been wanting to meet him but it hadn't worked out. But he got to meet him on Sunday! In the bathroom. Haha! Clay Christensen was in there and introduced himself to Greg when he came in. Kind of awkward but hilarious! After church we got home and broke our fast with donut waffles. We had a couple of donuts left from the Orchard so we threw them in the waffle iron and had our incredible cider cinnamon syrup on them and it was amazing. We also made whole wheat pancakes because that much sugar on an empty stomach is not a good idea. Greg got to watch the Patriots game and since it was his birthday (basically), I kept my comments about the stupid Patriots to a minimum. We went for a walk in the pouring rain which was awesome! I bought rain boots and a water proof jacket for the first time since about 3rd grade and I loved it! I made Greg's birthday pie and dinner and we watched Risen. We highly recommend it! They were respectful and it had some very powerful parts.
We had a great weekend celebrating and I look forward to all the birthdays we'll get to celebrate together. Greg is just my favourite!
For Greg's birthday we took a little road trip to Vermont for the weekend! We left right after work on Friday and headed out. We stopped for dinner at this New England chain diner that's been around since the 30's, Friendly's. The food was delicious! Super juicy and terrible for you but incredibly delicious hamburgers and fries and the Sundaes... Their fall special is the cokie butter Sunday and oh man... It was delicious. Vanilla ice cream with speculoos running through it and Biscoff cookie crumbles in every bite... We were big fans. We kept driving and unfortunately at this point it was dark. We knew the drive would be incredible because of the changing leaves and there are trees EVERYWHERE here, but most of the drive there was spent in the dark. We stayed at this huge ski resort in Ludlow, VT where we got a great deal on a condo just up in the hills behind "Stars Hollow." On Saturday morning we got up early and went to check out the view from our balcony first thing. It was beautiful! The grey clouds made all the colours look so vibrant and the cool fall air on our faces made us fall even more in love with fall here in the North East.
After enjoying the views for a while, we checked out and headed to Springfield, VT to go to an orchard. We drove through the little town again and in the daylight it looked even more like Stars Hollow. I was loving it! We drove through the little roads all lined with trees so thickly you could barely see behind the first row of trees. The orchard was only about half an hour away but we loved every minute of the drive. We went in to the little country store when we first got there and the smell of freshly made donuts hit us before we even got into the building. At Wellwood Orchards they make apple cider donuts fresh every Saturday and Sunday during the season. You could watch them being made right there! We of course bought some and they did not disappoint. Delicious apple cider cake donuts covered in cinnamon sugar... I would make the trek just for the donuts. We sampled some Vermont cheddar which was delicious, and also bought some cider cinnamon syrup. 50% fresh apple cider, 50% real maple syrup, and a couple cinnamon sticks thrown in. It's so good! Then we bought our bag to go pick our apples. We got a 1/2 bushel bag and filled it to the top with Cortland, McIntosh, Honeycrisp (there were only a few good ones left sadly), and Empire apples. It ended up being just under 20 pounds of apples! I can't wait to make applesauce and pies and crisps! It was beautiful out there and we had so much fun. We also were super tired and sore afterwards, picking apples and hauling them around is no joke!
We headed back home and enjoyed the drive home almost as much as the trip itself. We listened to Harry Potter and enjoyed the scenery. We really missed out on the drive up.
We went out to dinner that night after we got home. There is a little Spanish restaurant about half a mile up the road from our apartment so we decided to try it out. We loved it as soon as we walked in. There was Spanish artwork on the walls, the tables and chairs all looked old and Spanish, there was a Don Quixote statue, and it was perfect! Their tapas menu looked amazing and we wanted to try everything. We got 5 tapas and decided we'll just have to keep going back until we've tried everything. We got lobster croquettes with a saffron remoulade and crisp slaw (bits of lobster and cheese and batter that are deep fried), Escargot Spanish style, Jamon Serrano with bread and tomato spread (Greg's favourite "deli meat," it's cured ham sliced very thinly served with warm bread and a yummy tomato spread on top), Spanish tortilla (delicious egg and potato and onion thing that is Greg's favourite), and my favourite ended up being a grilled pork loin with a sweet chili jam on top of white beans. The pork was smoky and charred but was so tender and juicy, it fell apart when you touched it. The jam on top was so good and the beans were the perfect complement! We are big fans. We love that we can walk to it too!
On Sunday we went to church and Greg got to meet Clay Christensen. He's our bishop's dad so we have seen him in our ward a couple of times and Greg had been wanting to meet him but it hadn't worked out. But he got to meet him on Sunday! In the bathroom. Haha! Clay Christensen was in there and introduced himself to Greg when he came in. Kind of awkward but hilarious! After church we got home and broke our fast with donut waffles. We had a couple of donuts left from the Orchard so we threw them in the waffle iron and had our incredible cider cinnamon syrup on them and it was amazing. We also made whole wheat pancakes because that much sugar on an empty stomach is not a good idea. Greg got to watch the Patriots game and since it was his birthday (basically), I kept my comments about the stupid Patriots to a minimum. We went for a walk in the pouring rain which was awesome! I bought rain boots and a water proof jacket for the first time since about 3rd grade and I loved it! I made Greg's birthday pie and dinner and we watched Risen. We highly recommend it! They were respectful and it had some very powerful parts.
We had a great weekend celebrating and I look forward to all the birthdays we'll get to celebrate together. Greg is just my favourite!
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