On Dec 1, Anne, Donna, Wendy and me went to Quechee, Vermont to celebrate my 35 birthday. We got the idea of going to Quechee from Jen on blog the she posted right on this very web site. Jen told us about the Farmer's Diner in Quechee which only serves local food so we had to check it out.
Wendy and I were late getting to Donna's house. Anne was there before us. It was my fault, I forgot to pack my glasses and contact things. Wendy arrived to pick me up on time, but one of my other six housemates was in the bathroom so I had to wait to get my things. Inexplicably, everyone in the house was up at 8:00 on a Saturday morning. That never happens. We finally hit the road around 9:00. Ironically, our first stop was McDonald's (somewhere in New Hampshire) which is not really known for it's local food. But we just got coffee. I wanted to get hash browns but Wendy talked me out of it. I got a yogurt fruit parfait instead. I recommend it because the fruit they use is in a heavy, sweet syrup so it really is like a sundae. We drove some more and stopped at a grocery store somewhere in New Hampshire to use the bathroom. Anne also bought some gloves. We noticed some differences about suburban grocery stores. Anne almost lost her mind waiting in line because people were paying with checks! Also, people also seemed to want more personal space and gave us a wide berth even when we weren't in their way.
At this point I would like to mention how cold it was. I think it was about 14 degrees when we arrived in Quechee and that was the high for the day. It was also very windy. But at least it was sunny.
We arrived at the Farmer's Diner about noon. We sat in the dining room, not the diner itself because the booths were too small for the four of us. The decor was country chic - you know, hay bales, toy tractors, very yellow. Lots of yellow. For appetizers, we ordered hush puppies and cheesy fries. I was partial to the hush puppies, but Donna likes the fries. For an entree, I got a bacon cheeseburger which was very good. I know Donna got a portabella burger because later in the day she said something like " all I had for lunch was a mushroom". I'm not positive, but I think Anne got the corned beef hash breakfast. At any rate, she definelity got breakfast food. I can't remember what Wendy had. After the hush puppies, it was all a blur to me. When it came time for dessert, we were all really, really full, but we ordered apple crisp and somehow managed to find space for it. A couple of teeneagers sitting near us performed a dine and dash, but we missed the action becasue we were full up to our eyeballs in local cuisine. Overall, I enjoyed it, the food was good, but it didn't taste radically different from non-local food to me. I think I will have to go back in the summer.
Immediately after lunch we decided to talk a walk to the Quechee Gorge. The manager of the Farmer's Diner was worried that we were going to freeze to death walking the 1/4 mile to the gorge. We stopped in the vistors center to warm up before our treacherous decent into the gorge. We signed in the guest book just in case we got lost and we talked a bit a nice older gentleman volunteering at the visitor's center. I can't remember his name but he was wearing a rugby shirt. He didn't seem to be impressed that we were visiting from Boston. Wendy left the center wondering about his life. Was he from Vermont? Did he retire there? Where did he live? What did he do in his free time? My opinion was that he was a retired professor, but we never did go back in to find out. He was wearing a wedding ring though.
Okay, I'm tired, I can't type anymore. Bed time.
Coming up in Part II - the gorge, antiquing, eggnog, and our crazy, wild night at the Vermont Inn.
