Memorial Day Weekend in Vermont

Last Memorial Day Weekend, Kevin and I headed up to Vermont to visit his family.  There were no set plans all weekend, which lent itself nicely for adventure!

On Saturday, we hopped in the car with his mom and Ron and hit the road down to Middlebury and the Woodchuck Factory!  I've been itching to get here for the last 6 years and finally it was time!  We toured the factory a bit and then settled in the tasting room for some woodchuck samples.

 

Of course we had to have some fun at the photo booth.

Our next stop was a surprise.  Whenever we take a road trip, I love to pull up Roadside America and see what fun and unique things we can stop by to see.
This stop was Middlebury College and their outdoor sculpture garden where we found Robert Indiana's LOVE statue.

Next was lunch.  We stopped in at Two Brothers Tavern for a delicious meal before going to Drop-In Brewing Company for a sample of their brews.

I wasn't finished with the Roadside America fun, so our next stop was Dankin Farms for a picture with the largest bottle of maple syrup and some shopping.  We all got maple creemees.

The last stop was for a jack made of fire hydrants!

That evening we went bowling with Kevin's cousins Brian, Danielle and Brittany.  It was a fun night!

On Sunday we went into downtown Burlington to walk around.  They were having a marathon, so there were lots of people and it was really hot out.  We walked down to see Champ at the Vermont Lake Monster's office.

We walked around the mall looking for Lake Monster's gear and up on Church Street.

Monday we had brunch with friends from NC at Waterworks and then went shopping at some of the Winooski shops.

We walked down to see the falls at the Winooski River near the old Woolen Mills.

It was a fun weekend!  The best weekends are spent exploring...even in a familiar place.

Hatteras and Nags Head

Last May we ventured down to the beach for a week.  We headed down on Friday night and stopped at Tale of the Whale in Nags Head for dinner before continuing south on Route 12 towards Hatteras.

We stopped for the night at the Avon Motel.  Do yourself a favor and just don't ever stay there!  No one was around when we checked in except for Stimey (the local drunk) that approached us with a beer in his hand and said he'd get us our room.  He couldn't pronounce our name right.  He did us the favor of putting us in the room "beside his friends".  It was a run-down room with the light in the bathroom hanging from the ceiling just so it could burn us EVERY TIME we walked in.  Yeah, they had a fire that burnt down part of the Motel awhile back...I can't image why!

After a sketchy night's sleep, we woke up early and continued on to Buxton for breakfast at Orange Blossom Bakery & Cafe where we shared an Apple Uglie with our breakfast sandwiches.

Then it was time for the lighthouse.  I haven't seen Hatteras since she was moved in 1999.  In years past, we would park at the beach access and walk to the beach to see the lighthouse that was slowly going to be washed away.

Well, we were the first people there, so we got the first tickets to the top.  After the climb up, we walked around the grounds and then headed for the sand and the sea.

We walked a bit on the beach and then decided to head into the town of Hatteras to visit the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum.

We spent a bit of time touring the museum before we realized our breakfast was gone and we needed more fuel.  Then it was off to lunch at Harbor Deli.

We learned the location of a few shipwrecks at the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum, so our afternoon was spent driving around to find those.

Finally dinner was at Ketch 55 Seafood Grill, our choice because it was the Kentucky Derby and their facebook page promised Mint Juleps and the race.  Well, they lied on the Mint Juleps, but the food was good.

Sunset was coming and I wanted to see Hatteras Light in the fading daylight, so we headed there again, where we camped out on the dunes until the sun finally set.

We just had to survive one more night at the Avon Motel and we'd be home free!

Sunday morning we woke early and pack our belongings.  We headed north on Highway 12 to Waves where we had breakfast at the Atlantic Coast Cafe.  We stopped by the Nights in Rodanthe house on the way out of town and stopped at the Pea Island Lifesaving Station to locate another shipwreck.

Then it was another 30 miles north to our beach house Shorenuff in Nags Head.  We settled in just as the LaVigne's were pulling up.

The next six days were filled with baby snuggles, trips to the beach, toddler meltdowns, delicious dinners out, outlet shopping, Duck Donuts and lots of treasure hunting for me.  It was truly the best week ever!

 

 

 

 

 

I can't wait until Summer 2018 to do it again!
We only have one more NC Lighthouse left and it's coming this July!