Stowe, Waterbury & Woodstock – 2 Chicks, 50 States

Vermont: our final state in New England. And what better way to start our sightseeing than with a bit of Hollywood history. After leaving Austria, the von Trapp family portrayed in The Sound of Music settled in Stowe, opening their home to friends from all over the world who they met while traveling as the Trapp Family Singers. Now a sprawling lodge with a bierhaus and bakery to visit and the family cemetery, the story of Maria and Georg von Trapp and their children lives on in the hills of Vermont. After growing up with the movie and the songs it was quite special to pay homage to the real von Trapp family.

The Trapp Family Lodge. When the original home burned down in 1980, the only remaining piece was the bell that now sits atop lodge above the entrance.

Today the Lodge continues to be owned and managed by the von Trapp family

The resting place of Georg and Maria von Trapp

The cast of the movie remained close to the real von Trapp children. Werner von Trapp was portrayed as Kurt in the movie.

A drive around the outskirts of Stowe led us to a couple of the remaining New England covered bridges that are still in use today. Stowe even has a covered footbridge in the town centre.

Gold Brook Bridge, also known as Emily’s Bridge, built 1844

Known as Emily’s Bridge, the story goes that Emily was jilted by her intended on their wedding day and, in despair, she took her life at the bridge

As Vermont’s largest town, Stowe seems to seamlessly blend together its farming community, pretty scenery and status as a ski resort. Farmhouses are nestled into the hills surrounding the town and town center is filled with locals and tourists alike.

The Stowe Community Church became one of the first non-denominational churches in America when Stowe’s individual religious groups decided to band together for a more cooperative effort. It was built in 1863 and has the tallest steeple in Vermont.

The Akeley Soldiers Memorial Building pays homage to those who fought in the Civil War and is also home to the local theatre.

Vermont has two waterfalls that share the same name, the Moss Glen Falls. One required a scramble up a hill to the viewpoint and the other was a walk down the highway in the pouring rain but both were beautiful to stand in front of.

On the way out of Stowe we visited the Ben & Jerry ice cream factory in Waterbury. Well it only seemed fitting seeing as Ben & Jerry’s ice cream was born in Vermont, the creation borne of a $5 correspondence course in ice cream making, a $12,000 investment and a renovated gas station to house the first shop. Ben & Jerry’s ice cream is now sold the world over.

The milk, cream, sugar and eggs that are used in Ben & Jerry’s base ice cream are all locally sourced in Vermont

The Flavor Lab where new flavours are created and where Ben & Jerry’s famous Cookie Dough and Chunky Monkey were born

Because it was Halloween we were treated to a new flavor of ice cream especially created for the occasion and not available in stores

Also on the Ben & Jerry property is the Flavor Graveyard where respects can be paid to flavors past created and now no longer to be found. Of the 400 discontinued flavours, 42 can be found in this graveyard.

Our final stop in Vermont was a family-run working maple farm. As the leading producer of maple syrup in the country, Vermont annually produces about 2 million gallons. At Sugarbush Farm in Woodstock we checked out how the farm runs, how maple syrup is made and very definitely how it tastes 😂

The evaporator used to turn sap into syrup

Forty gallons of sap, ie the blue barrel, is needed to make one gallon of syrup (the bottle sitting beside it)

Spud and Ben, the farm’s Belgian draught horses

Our New England chapter is now complete and it has been fantastic. The leaves have been amazing and the lobster delicious. On to New York now as we start to head south down the east coast.

S&P