Quechee Part II

I was talking with my sister Christine today and her birthday is coming up. She had just sent out evites to all her friends to meet at a bar next Sunday so they can watch the Patriots game. She then said "There's no way I'm driving up to Vermont to go antiquing, that would be so boring." She's wrong! Plus, let her try to deal with a late November birthday. It's not easy. Anyway, our conversation reminded me that I needed to write Part II of the birthday trip blog.

When we last left our intrepid birthday travelers, they were about to cross a busy street to get a good look at the Quechee Gorge. Thanks to a cross walk and flashing lights, we made it across safely. (Reminder -it's about 10 degrees outside, windy and there is snow on the ground). The Gorge is beautiful - I could not make myself type gorgeous. We stood out on the bridge and tried to smile while Wendy took pictures of us bundled up and huddled together. My teeth hurt when I opened my mouth to smile. After the photo shoot, we walked down the icy path to get a better look at the gorge. Wendy sent me her photos, but I am having severe computer problems and I can't post them.

We walked back to Quechee center and went to the antique mall. It was huge! Within the first five minutes, I found what I was searching for but didn't know I needed - a real bowling pin that said happy birthday on it. I LOVE it. IT was $7 on sale! I just need nine more and you can all come over and bowl at my house. I also wanted to get a duck decoy but I had no idea they would be so expensive. They start out at $300. Apparently, some really good decoys sell for six figures in fancy auction houses. After about an hour, we moved on to the Cabot Cheese store. Donna and I tried all the free samples. It was just like the Big E! I forgot what our favorite cheese was. Wendy and Anne were off tasting the Vermont fruit wines. Weird. Next went we to the glass blowing studio. I walked in with Anne and told her that I hated blown glass. I thought it was tacky. But then as we walked through, I changed my mind and came to realize that I did like some of the glass. I proceeded to point out every item in the store and tell Anne if I liked it or not. I'm not sure why she didn't tell me to just shut up already.

Next we drove to Woodstock. We were looking in the window of a restaurant and some said "Oh, they have dancing at 10:00!" Then someone (Donna?) did a Liz Lemon impression and said "10 at night?" Woodstock is small, but they have two bookstores. Of course went in both. We stopped in a cafe and I had the best eggnog ever - McNamara's. It has a hint of mint in it. Also, there must be a law that every retail store in Woodstock has to have a cat or a dog in it to add to the charm. We were getting a bit tired because it was 4:00 and almost time nap time so we headed off to Killington to the Vermont Inn. I though it was really nice, (but then again, the last hotel I stayed in was a Motel Six on the edge of Baltimore) Let's just say, the Vermont Inn had enought towels for the four of us and there were no cigarette burns in the bedcovers. Only one other couple was staying at the Inn, so we pretty much had it to ourselves. Our room was really big, it had a fireplace. I lied down nex to it for awhile, but I was worried I was going to fall asleep and burst into flames so I moved. Donna entertained us with the story of the Day She Straightened Her Hair. You should have her tell it to you. And we might have talked about Blue Angel a little bit too. Since it was cold and we were tired, we decided to go easy on the town of Killington and stay at the Inn to eat dinner. At this point I can't really remember what everyone got, but I do know I tasted everyone else's dinner and liked them better than my own. Donna had mussels, Anne had a complicatd chicken entree and Wendy had salmon, I think. I had crab cakes and a salad. Ehh.

After dinner we went to our ginormous room and played Trivia Pursuit - the Silver Screen edition. The questions were hard! One of the cards lead us to Gerald McBoing Boing. You should check out Gerald on youtube if you don't know who he is. I thought Wendy was crazy for bringing her laptop, but I was happy she did. At about 10, everyone got into bed and I continued to read more movie Trivia Questions, but this time from Entertainment Weekly. They were easier because they were multiple choice. I knew Wendy had fallen asleep when she stopped shouting out answers. One minute she was awake, then boom - she was asleep. Pretty soon Donna and Anne turned out their lights but I was not sleepy. I thought about checking out all the other rooms, but I was too scared because I thought the old inn might be haunted by a child ghost. So I just read for awhile and feel asleep. I guess everyone forgot that they promised to play midnight basketball with me. Oh well.

You know, in retrospect, I'm not sure if one bathroom is enough for four women. Anyway, the next morning we had breakfast at the Inn and then headed down south to Boston. Anne had to work later in the day and a winter storm was about to start. Wendy humored me and we stopped at the cafe in Woodstock again so I could get more eggnog. I was just as good the second time. We did make one more stop at the New Hampshire Liquor Store at the border.

Since Vermont was a success, I've decided for my 40th birthday we are all going to London for three weeks. I need to start saving now.

Beth