In continuing our exploration of these great United States, Andriy and I decided to travel through some of New England and then to Niagara Falls for a one week road trip. I’m writing this almost 2 months after the trip, so I hope this will still be a vivid recount of the things we saw, ate and did. Allow me to elaborate.
We departed early AM on Saturday, May 25 in a rental 2013 Dodge Avenger. First off, let me advise you to never buy a 2013 Dodge Avenger. If you already own one, you make bad car decisions. That car is poorly designed. The blind spots are big and it doesn’t have “oh shit” handles, to name a couple of flaws. However, it did have comfortable seats, a decent stereo and was spacious enough to carry our gear, so it served its purpose.
We headed east, through Indiana and Ohio and into Pennsylvania, which we were surprised to find quite beautiful with green Appalachian Mountains. Of course we came with a couple of “road games” to occupy the passenger. Jeremy Doughty might remember the license plate game and the road trip scavenger hunt. Also, we made a rule that if the BeeGees were on the radio, we had to talk/sing like Barry Gibbs until the song was over. With all of this fun, the drive went quickly. Our first stop was at a simple Super 8 in Clearfield, not really a destination but more of place to rest between drives. We spent our first evening with a picnic on the bed, having brought Andriy’s favorite Ukrainian salad, olivie, and some beers to commemorate the start of our vacation.
We headed out early again the next morning, continuing east through the hills, through New York State for a second, through Connecticut and into Massachusetts. Our first destination on our trip was to the greater Boston area. We had booked a Kamping Kabin (which is nothing fancy – basically, just a bed & a table) for two nights south of the city at the Boston/Cape Cod KOA. We arrived to find the kampground packed (everything starts with a “K” at a KOA.) It was, after all, Memorial Day weekend.
After checking in and unloading our stuff, we decided to drive 20 miles to historic Plymouth, MA for dinner. That was a great decision. Plymouth is very charming. We walked around the waterfront area for a bit before heading to Woods for dinner. We got the seafood platter for 2 & a cup of lobster bisque. It was deliciously fresh. The scallops were amaaazing. Then we strolled around a little more, checked out Plymouth Rock and then headed back to the cabin to relax. We were very pleased with our first glimpses of New England.
The next morning, we arose with a plan. We were going to drive to the nearest T stop (this is Boston’s rapid transit system), leave our car and take the T into town. This also turned out to be a great decision. The T was fast, cheap and it took us right to Boston Commons, to the start of the Freedom Trail.
The Freedom Trail, for those of you not in the know, is a red (mostly brick) path that leads you through downtown Boston, with 17 significant historic sites along the way. The walk is only 2.5 miles, pretty easy for us. We decided to not start at the Commons, which is the official starting point, but at the USS Constitution, which is the last site on the Freedom Trail. That way we would end at the Commons T stop and easily hop on and head back to our cabin.
It was a beautiful day in Boston, the sites were very interesting and we really enjoyed ourselves. Boston is a very cool, laid back city – it exceeded our expectations – and the Freedom Trail really is a good way to see the city in a day.
One adventure was finding a place for lunch. We found ourselves in the North End around lunch time. This is a great place to be if you’re hungry in Boston. The North End is inhabited by a large Italian American population and it is packed with fantastic Italian restaurants and bakeries. We found ourselves overwhelmed by choice (and underwhelmed by my Yelp! app’s assistance) so, stomachs growling, we ducked into a little hole in the wall restaurant with an Italian woman outside shouting “tasty food, good specials.” The place was practically empty and looked a little run down. It was definitely family run and very authentically North End Boston. We ordered a small pizza, which was huge, and we devoured it. While we were dining, the owners were bustling around us, having conversations in that loud, practically yelling (stereotypically Italian) tone that I remember so well from working at Leo’s Pizza. It was entertaining and we enjoyed our meal. The place was called Spagnuolo’s Restaurant. Go for the experience.
Just down the road, even though we were stuffed, we simply had to stop in at Mike’s Pastry to get some cannoli. This place has a huge variety of bakery items and they’re known for their cannoli selections. I got the traditional cannolo with pistachios and Andriy chose one with chocolate filling & chocolate chips. They were fantastic.
We continued our way along the Freedom Trail, walking in wonder among the historical sites and beauty of Boston. We ended the Trail at the beginning, at the Commons. We decided to end our day in Boston as proper tourists do, at the Cheers bar with a couple of pints of Sam Adams. While we were there, we met up with Cassie Grey (now Sautelet), a friend originally from Winchester (and the cousin of my cousins.) She was instrumental in helping us plan our trip to Boston. Thanks Cassie!
That ended our day in Boston and we headed back to our KOA via the T. (By the way, Massachusetts law has liquor stores closed on Memorial Day. We learned that the hard way.)
Day 4 saw us driving to Vermont through New Hampshire on the shortest leg of our journey. I’d been to Vermont once before, on a family vacation many years ago, and I had very fond memories of that trip. I just knew that Andriy would love Vermont as much as I did. I was right.
If you’ve never been to Vermont, just imagine a state covered in green mountains. In fact, “Vermont” quite literally translates from French for “the green mountains” (les Verts Monts.) So, you have the natural unspoiled beauty of the land. And this is a state proud of that unspoiled beauty. Throughout the state, you will not see billboards by the sides of the road. There is actually a state law prohibiting roadside advertising so the beauty of the land can shine. Besides that, you have a state which is the leading producer of maple syrup (yum) and whose main agricultural income source is from dairy farming. So, they’re proud of their dairy products. And I love dairy products (who doesn’t?) Not to mention the fact that Vermont is very quaint. It is the 2nd least populous state in our country. And its state capital, Montpelier, is the least populous state capital in the country, with a population of only around 7,868 (in 2011.) Vermont is charming. And it’s classy without being pretentious.
Ok, so I obviously love Vermont. We stayed at the Quechee/Pine Valley KOA, right near the eastern border with New Hampshire. This was a beautiful and very well kept KOA and we had reserved a nice deluxe cabin.
It was still early when we arrived, so we had a little lunch and then decided to drive to the nearby Quechee Gorge, known as “Vermont’s Little Grand Canyon.”
This is a beautiful spot and there’s a nice trail that takes you down along the bluffs on the Ottauquechee River, where it ends at the tumbling rapids, which is a lovely spot to take a little swim if you choose. We just chose to take some photos and hike around a little.
On our hike back up to our car, we looped around through the forest and found ourselves in a field of cool green ferns. It was, unexpectedly, one of the most serenely beautiful places I’ve ever seen. I felt like I might encounter an elf from Middle Earth at any moment.
So, after this lovely hike, we decided to drive along Hwy 4 to see some of the small towns that boasted covered bridges. We came upon the small town of Woodstock, parked near the covered bridge and took a walk around. Woodstock is so charming that we were convinced it was a stage town. There was no way it could be real. We walked around in wonder, giggling at the cuteness. (Ok, I did most of the giggling.)
We stopped in a cheese shop and got a couple of mix ‘n’ match six packs of some local Vermont beers and checked out the little oddities shop and the flannel store (i’m not kidding…they have a store that just sells flannels.) Then we headed back to the campground for a campfire and some beers.
We awoke the next morning to rain, but we didn’t let it change our plans to explore a bit more of Vermont. So, we got in the car and drove northwest through the misty green hills toward Stowe. The light rain actually made for a beautiful drive. The low clouds made the mountains look so dramatic. 
Stowe was pretty as I remembered it…full of Vermont charm. My family had enjoyed a vacation at a lovely chalet in Stowe when I was younger. We weren’t really sure where we should go or what we should do in Stowe, so we stopped in at a place called Mountain Cheese & Wine. The place was pretty much empty, as it was early in the work day for most, so we had a chance to speak with the owner. He was a friendly guy and willing to answer our questions about what we should do while in Stowe. We ended up having a little conversation with him and we learned a little about his life as a small business owner in Stowe. We talked a little about Vermont’s economy, taxes, government and cheese. He gave us some cheese samples and we bought a couple of things to enjoy later at the cabin. We decided to drive up Mount Mansfield, which is the highest peak in Vermont and it’s right there in Stowe. Stowe boasts the Stowe Mountain Resort & Lodge and it attracts a lot of tourists, especially in winter. Since it was the off season for skiing, the resort was quiet. But the lodge is still absolutely stunning. The drive up the mountain was awesome and kind of eerie in the misty rain. We enjoyed the mountain stream that was cascading down, next to the road.
Starting to feel hungry, we headed back down the mountain, did a little more shopping in Stowe, and made the short drive to Waterbury, home of Ben & Jerry’s. We just had to take the Factory Tour, which is brief but informative. Plus, you get to try samples at the end of the tour. We sampled a flavor that hasn’t been released yet. It was really good, tasted like a cinnamon roll. Lunch for each of us was a huge waffle cone with our selected flavors. I chose Late Night Snack, while Andriy chose something uber chocolaty, of course. It was a delicious splurge. YUM!
Tummy’s full of ice cream, we picked up a few minor supplies at the local grocery store, got in the car and headed back to our campground to relax.
The next morning, we packed up (again) and headed west. We were sad to leave Vermont behind. There was a visible difference when we crossed into upstate New York. First, the billboards were back. Second, things started looking a little less tidy and well-kept. Sorry NY, but you paled in comparison to beautiful Vermont. But, still, this area of New York had some pretty views. We were driving just south of the lovely Adirondacks on the New York State Thruway, and unfortunately, there wasn’t a lot to see through most of it and we got to pay a nice hefty toll at the end. Oh well.
We made it to the border crossing on the Rainbow Bridge, crossed with only minimal questioning from the intimidating border crossing guard and entered Canada.
Now, there is something that I love about Canada. Maybe it’s the fact that our neighbors to the north are so quiet and unassuming, maybe it’s the Canadian’s stereotypical politeness or perhaps their quirky Canadian sense of humor. Regardless, I was excited to be there and glad we made the decision to stay on the Ontario side. We stayed in the KOA on Lundy’s Lane, which is a big commercial road running through the outskirts Niagara Falls. Our surroundings weren’t quite as serene as our stay in Vermont, but the KOA seemed clean & well equipped and the young employees at the front desk were friendly.
It was a hot day and we arrived thirsty. So, we drove down Lundy’s to The Beer Store (that was literally the name of the store) and picked up a variety of Canadian brews – Moosehead, Molson Canadian & Carling. We enjoyed our beers over some dinner and card games and that was the end of that day.
Next morning, we dressed for a day at Niagara Falls. We parked in the extremely touristy and flashy area of Clifton Hill. If you like the feel of Vegas, check out Clifton Hill. I don’t mind places like this, honestly, but compared to the rest of our vacation, this was exhausting. We pushed through the tourists and found ourselves overlooking Niagara River and gazing at the beautiful American Falls. This is what we came for.
We were at the entrance gates of the Maid of the Mist, not really thinking about buying tickets, but kind of just looking around, when a couple of guys walked up to us. They said they were part of a large group and were going to buy discounted “group rate” tickets, but they were two people short of having enough people to get that group rate. They asked if we wanted to join them. Andriy and I were skeptical, thinking they were trying to scam us somehow. We declined, but then watched them asking a few more people and decided they were legit. So, we walked up and agreed to join them. We found out they were also from Illinois and they were there with their kids who were on a baseball team, and had played a tournament near Cooperstown. Cool, right?
The Maid of the Mist, if you don’t know, takes you just down Niagara River on a boat, putting you at the foot of both sets of falls. It is awesome and intense! They give you ponchos to wear because you totally get wet. It was a great way to see the falls from a different angle and to cool off on a hot day.
Refreshed, we headed back up and strolled around, taking photos and looking at souvenirs. Lunch time hit and I was on a mission to find poutine. If you’ve never heard of poutine, it is a common Canadian dish, which consists of French fries, topped with cheese curds and smothered in brown gravy. I’d been kind of entranced by the thought of it, ever since I’d heard of it from Ladd & the Moneen boys. So, we set out to find a restaurant that served poutine. It took some searching (most of the places were the same restaurants you find in the US, like Perkins & Ruby Tuesday), but then we finally found a place that served it.
It was pretty much as I expected – cheesy, gooey, yummy. Satisfied, we examined our plans for the rest of the day, and decided to take a drive north along Niagara Pkwy to beautiful Niagara-on-the-Lake. If you’re ever in the Niagara Falls area, do not miss the opportunity to visit this town. It is so nice and a refreshing change of pace, much classier compared to Niagara Falls. We parked near the shore of Lake Ontario and took in the view of the immense calm.
We decided this was the way to end the day, so we headed back to our KOA in Niagara Falls and relaxed the rest of the evening.
The two days of vacation weren’t anything too eventful. We drove through Ontario and crossed back into the US at Sarnia, catching a glimpse of Lake Huron along the way. Our final night’s stay was at a quiet KOA near Coloma, MI. There was a rowdy group of frat boys staying in the cabins near our reserved spot, so the people at the front desk were nice enough to place us in a cabin further from the group. This KOA was by far the dumpiest we’d stayed at, but we had a bed and place for a fire and that was enough for us. We drove to nearby St. Joseph to take in a view of Lake Michigan and to buy some adult beverages so we could toast to our last night of vacation. We got back to the cabin, just in time for the rain to start. So, we made some dinner and cozied up on the front porch of the cabin, drinking and chatting.
The next day took us home, tired but happy. It was a good trip and we covered a lot of ground. This is the kind of vacation we enjoy. It’s just as much about the journey as it is the destinations.
Go Eat Listen See 