Today had us laying about "Stowe Haus" for a while, then Laura joined us and we headed into Stowe proper. We took a back way that avoided all the traffic on Route 100, and as a bonus, featured a covered bridge! The road that passed through the bridge was a dirt road, and I noticed that the road was actually better maintained than the asphalt streets back home.
The "back way" also had the advantage of coming out right by the place where we usually park. Ellen and Laura took the kids into the post office to mail a postcard to our neighbor. The kids were excited to see this, as they have never been in a post office before (or so they claim). Still, the card was hand-cancelled, so they got to see that which is kind of cool.
We went to our regular stops at the Stowe Mercantile, which has all kinds of Vermont-related items, from food to beer to t-shirts to games and toys. Ellen found some jelly made with Heady Topper beer, and picked that up. The sample that was out was made with a porter and that was pretty tasty, so I'm going to have to make some Bready Topper when we get home and see how the Heady Jelly tastes on it. (If it's good, we - and you - can order it from Potlicker Kitchen.)
I get tired of shopping easily, so while everyone was still in the mercantile (and the shops in the same building), I went outside to enjoy the sunshine and the view of downtown Stowe from a bench. Found a friend, too:
As I was sitting there, I started to smell something good. I looked up the street and could see what looked like some people setting up a large grilling device on the side of the road. Smoke poured out of it, and the smell was delicious. As I looked more closely, something wasn't right. It almost looked like that smoke was coming out of a car. In fact, that car almost looked like an old-style Volkswagen Beetle. I had to investigate.
I was right. Behold the Carbecue:
Apparently, they are in Maryland and Vermont. Ellen, Laura, and the kids found me there and Ellen lamented the fate of the Bug. I thought it was brilliant!
We wandered around Stowe for a while longer, finally ending up back at the Carbecue. It was there for a small craft fair that was just getting under way, so we browsed through that on our way back to the car. We did come across a great booth for Green Village Soap Co. [Etsy / Facebook], whose producst are similar to Lush's - natural products, goat's milk soaps, etc. We got some charcoal-based soap to try when we get home, and Ellen got some deodorant that smells really nice.
One last shot from Stowe, presented without commentary:
The "back way" also had the advantage of coming out right by the place where we usually park. Ellen and Laura took the kids into the post office to mail a postcard to our neighbor. The kids were excited to see this, as they have never been in a post office before (or so they claim). Still, the card was hand-cancelled, so they got to see that which is kind of cool.
We went to our regular stops at the Stowe Mercantile, which has all kinds of Vermont-related items, from food to beer to t-shirts to games and toys. Ellen found some jelly made with Heady Topper beer, and picked that up. The sample that was out was made with a porter and that was pretty tasty, so I'm going to have to make some Bready Topper when we get home and see how the Heady Jelly tastes on it. (If it's good, we - and you - can order it from Potlicker Kitchen.)
I get tired of shopping easily, so while everyone was still in the mercantile (and the shops in the same building), I went outside to enjoy the sunshine and the view of downtown Stowe from a bench. Found a friend, too:
As I was sitting there, I started to smell something good. I looked up the street and could see what looked like some people setting up a large grilling device on the side of the road. Smoke poured out of it, and the smell was delicious. As I looked more closely, something wasn't right. It almost looked like that smoke was coming out of a car. In fact, that car almost looked like an old-style Volkswagen Beetle. I had to investigate.
I was right. Behold the Carbecue:
Apparently, they are in Maryland and Vermont. Ellen, Laura, and the kids found me there and Ellen lamented the fate of the Bug. I thought it was brilliant!
We wandered around Stowe for a while longer, finally ending up back at the Carbecue. It was there for a small craft fair that was just getting under way, so we browsed through that on our way back to the car. We did come across a great booth for Green Village Soap Co. [Etsy / Facebook], whose producst are similar to Lush's - natural products, goat's milk soaps, etc. We got some charcoal-based soap to try when we get home, and Ellen got some deodorant that smells really nice.
One last shot from Stowe, presented without commentary:
