This space is reserved for a cute photo......check back later
We didn’t fly to the east coast just for the race, nooooo, we planned to fill our time before and after the race with sightseeing and adventure. If I am planning a trip, don’t expect a rigid itinerary. Most of the time, the best parts of my vacations are the spontaneous activities. For example, after Grad school I went to Italy. All I had was a plane ticket, the rest was off the cuff, and I had a blast.
When looking for flights, Tina and I decided to fly into Hartford, CT and fly out of Burlington, VT. We knew that we wanted to spend time in Burlington and this way we could check out more of Vermont.....and Mass.....and CT. I admit, I blew it on the car rental, by the time I went to confirm the reservation the price had more than doubled. But we would have never found great and cheap Sushi if I would have made the reservation more than 1 day in advance! What I learned is that it is easy to make a car rental reservation without consequence, not like hotels....no credit card needed and no last minute cancellation penalty. I don’t rent cars much so probably most of you are saying “DUH”, but now I know. Thanks to the internet and my MacBook, we got a good deal on a car for following morning. Tina worked the hotel in Hartford and learned that if you claim “distressed traveller” you can also get a last minute discount on a hotel.
Our hotel near the Hartford Airport wasn’t bad. We were warned not to get a hotel in downtown Hartford because of high crime. We set out to find a place for dinner, the front desk gal recommended a few places, but just a half block from the hotel we spotted a Japanese Sushi Bar. What a goldmine. This place gave you maguro nigiri (that’s the raw tuna on rice) so big I could hardly negotiate the piece into my mouth . Great specialty rolls too.
Thursday we picked up our rental car and headed north thru western Massachusetts via I 91. Somewhere along the way I spotted a AAA store, being a member we were able to get free maps and books on the area. Tina’s mom had told her about Deerfield, MA. This is a historic town that was settled by European colonists in 1673. We enjoyed the well cared for homes and huge trees, and were amused by a tour group of teenagers who did not seem impressed by their fieldtrip.
Just a block from downtown are the glacial potholes. Above the potholes is a dam holding back a large amount of water. Near the dam is a big sign that says something like “When you hear the alarm clear the area immediately for a sudden release of water”....kinda freaky. We had fun swimming in the pools and it was fun climbing on the slippery rocks too.
Photo of Tina the brave
Here is Sophie below the wicked waterfall. Some local teens knew the line to take and body surfed down the waterfall.
We continued on Highway 2 to Williamstown and then turned north on Route 7 into
Vermont.
Our first stop in Vermont was Bennington. We initially stopped because there was this policeman statue and I just had to take a photo with the cop. Our guidebook reported that Robert Frost was buried here. Given the fact that I have always loved his Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening poem..... and the verse of "miles to go before I sleep" seemed appropriate for my Grand Slam quest, we set out to see his grave (FYI I have a fascination with old graveyards and they are super cool on the east coast). We drove past the Battle Monument, which was dedicated to a famous battle in Bennington during the Revolutionary was in 1777. Frost’s grave is in the cemetery surrounding the Old First Church. Frost's buriel site was simple, one large horizontal headstone for his whole family including several children who died young and one daughter who lived into her 80's. The church was super cool. It is the oldest church in Vermont, built
1805. The pulpit reminds me of the Salem Witch trials. Families sat in the boxes (was this how arena box seating originated?). The older single boys sat in the left balcony and fair maidens were on the right balcony. The bored guys made carvings in the pews.
Photos of carving on the pew and the pulpit with the family boxes.
We then tood a scenic route up to Rutland, past Killington and Woodstock, and then southeast to Claremont, NH.
Somewhere along the way we saw this horse jumping competition and stopped to check it out.
We stayed at the Goddard Mansion B&B. The Sugar River flows thru Claremont and empties into the Connecticut river, so this was an industrial town. A shoe baron built the mansion but we didn’t get a super interesting story about the history. My favorite part was the front balcony were we enjoyed coffee Friday morning.
Friday we practiced driving to the course. Here is where Tina’s challenge started. From a runners perspective the course had lots of roads and access points. From a crews perspective, the access points were challenging to find, beginning with the start. Silver Hill Meadow is a big open field. The horse endurance ride started here as well, so lots was going on. Many people choose to camp at the start. With the weather, frequent thunderstorms, potential bugs, I was personally happy that we had the B&B. I checked in, got my baseline medical check, and we headed to Woodstock for a snack. We came back for the pre-race meeting, long but informative. On the way back to the B&B, Tina and Sophie spotted a pond for swimming.
Sunday we got a couple hours rest at the mansion and headed out for the awards ceremony. As soon as I got my plaque we skipped the post race meal and l and opted for this cute bistro in Woodstock. Saint Tina drove us to Burlington while Sophie and I passed out. We stayed at a very nice Marriott that overlooked Lake Champlain, we had great views of a marina, a lighthouse, and sailboats on the lake.....aaahhhh.. We were exhausted and I need to ice and elevate my leg so we ordered out Thai (yummy) and watched Design Star.... what a treat!
Monday morning Tina went for a walk along the shore of Lake Champlain. We packed up and headed for a boat cruise. What a fun thing to do, a scenic ride along a fresh water lake - I definately prefer fresh water to the oceans. We saw these kids taking sailing lessons, and an indian chief's face in the rock (left rock), and evidence of some geologic event (???plates moving like the Tetons????).
Certified Ice Cream Testers
We then headed southeast near Stowe to the Ben and Jerry’s factory. Sophie tie-dyed a shirt, we did spin art, and ate ice cream. Sophie found the cutest lunch box for next school year.
Just down the road from Ben and Jerry’s we found yet another pond for swimming, ooh the cool water felt great on my legs. Funny thing was that I had a hard time swimming, I think my legs were weighing me down.
The Burlington airport is nice and small, free internet. Oddly enough the only 2 major airports they feed into are JFK and Atlanta. Our flight was delayed and this is when our happy trip took a major dive. When we finally arrived at JFK our connecting plane was still there.....visible....connected to the walkway....... but they would not let us and several other travellers on the plane. Delta’s reason: no delay for that plane. For the next 4 hours we stood in some sort of line, rebook for the n
ext day, get our luggage, hotel and shuttle bus. We made it to the hotel where Delta puts up their travellers. Apparently our problem wasn’t Deltas problem, it was air traffic control, so we were expected to pay.......... to stay in the ghetto Ramada. Although we had a bit of Karma come back....when we were standing in line a woman with 2 young children was frazzled. We played with her children so she could talk to her husband on the phone. Delta gave her free accomodations, but her husband refused to let her stay in a hotel with barbed wire around it. We amazingly ran into the woman later on in the airport and she gave us her free voucher......so we ended up with a free room in the ghetto, however we were starving, there was no place else to eat but in the hotel.....which was bad and expensive.
Tuesday we woke up, brushed our teeth and got out of there. The place looked worse in daylight. We checked our bags in this locker room at JFK and took the subway into the city. We barely survived ordering coffee and a croissant among the busy New Yorkers. It was like how a New Yorker would feel on the high traverse at Alta. We found the MoMA museum, fun. The weather was hot and humid and the streets were hot, so we strolled around 5th avenue
and Park avenue and browsed in the stores for the comfort of air conditioning. Here is a photo of Tina and Sophie on Park Avenue. The return subway trip was quick and the rest of our return went smoothly. Ironically our departure was delayed to wait for other passengers. Tina and I scored the bulk head seats and we could really stretch out.
It was so nice to get back to dry Utah. Each laundry load required 2 cycles to get the wet stink out. We will send Delta an opinionated letter.
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