Impromptu Trip to the Capital

Last weekend we went to the school to help the drama department build sets and paint for the big production coming up in the next few weeks. The teachers ask for donations of supplies and a helping hand in the construction of things, and we are more than happy to help. However, last year we went and ran into the problem of too many helping hands. What we ended up doing was standing around with nothing to do.

The kids have fun, however, and you can’t just drop them off and leave. R had some work related stuff to do, so I took the kids over and as predicted, stood around with nothing to do. It was okay because the kids had fun, but at some point I just went over and played basketball with N. I also had a chance to chat with SG, and we talked about kids and school. He’s a great guy, though I still feel a bit awkward when it comes to his old house, which we now own.

After about two hours, I decided that it was time to go. We had also planned on doing something later in the day, so we had to have lunch and get ready to leave. Our spontaneous idea was to head up to Montpelier for the day and check our state’s capital. We had never been there, and I’d heard it was a funky and artsy town, much like many of the towns up here. Plus, we should get to know our capital, don’t you think.

The drive takes about an hour, and the town really reminds you of Burlington, though smaller and a little less pristine. There is a nice main street with lots of cool and funky shops and restaurants, as well as a book store on every corner. We walked around and checked out the shops, and eventually picked out a place to eat supper. One thing nice was that it wasn’t so big that you are overwhelmed with choices.

We picked out a soup restaurant, of all places, because it sounded nice. It was some sort of gourmet soup/sandwich eatery that uses local ingredients called That’s Life Soup. The local thing is huge up there. The place was nice and cozy, albeit a little tight, and the soups and sandwiches were good, but it struck me as a little pricey. After all, if you’ve ever spent time in the kitchen you know that soup isn’t rocket science, nor are sandwiches, and to charge an arm and a leg for them is a bit over the top. The soup portions were big, but again, it was soup. We make soup all the time.

I’m not knocking it, the food was good, I just thought we could have had steak or salmon at Jesse’s for the same price. Next time I think we’ll try the Thai Food. It was nice visiting the big city, however, and since the drive wasn’t so bad, we’ll most definitely be doing it again, soon. It’s much more manageable and accessible than Burlington, though maybe not as much of an adventure.

Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to rendo79 and gulizars for the pics.