Time Off for Good Behavior

We decided to take break for our birthdays and go away, though like all things in life, you can run away from your responsibilities, but you can’t hide. Life goes on without you, and at some point you have to jump back into the fray. I don’t mean to sound so negative, but I’ve always had an issue with the standard way of life where we work like dogs for a few weeks of vacation. Time off for good behavior, as the saying goes. Not to be naive and overly idealistic, but why not enjoy every day (or at least most days) of your life.

The reason I bring this up is because we’ve been staying at these nice hotels that have resorts attached to them, and the big thing they seem to sell is escape. Escape from the toil and turbulence of our regular lives in the form of saunas and massage and spas and all that good stuff. Like that makes a crummy life okay, but enough of my cynicism.

We had quite the birthday getaway, with the requisite amount of drama and intrigue that seems to make every trip an adventure. We had decided not to go too far on this trip, and instead spend a couple of days in Stowe, which is a major destination in Vermont. It is located about half an hour south of Burlington, near the venerable Ben and Jerry’s ice cream plant. We couldn’t go without a stop there.

B&J wasn’t like I remember it. It seems to have grown, which makes sense, because the brand has gone corporate. The place was like Disneyland, crowded and incredibly touristy, not that this was a problem. We enjoyed our visit, though as we watched people putting away gallons of ice cream, you begin to realize why there’s an obesity problem in this country. I’m not one to talk about abstaining from ice cream, but it’s pretty striking. There was a wood fired pizza stand there, so we were able to grab some lunch before dessert. I decided that for my birthday, I was going to have a hot fudge sundae, which I of course shared with everyone. We skipped the tour because they now charge for it, which I thought was a little lame.

From there, Stowe was not too far away, and on the drive into town, we saw a bear crossing the road. My first bear sighting since moving to Vermont. Stowe is a nice town, reminiscent of Woodstock, but bigger with more to do and a bit more tourist oriented. A fun place for families and a destination for city folks looking for a mountain getaway, though there seemed to be a preponderance of New Jersey license plates. We stayed at the Green Mountain Inn, which was located right in town, and the location was just right. The Inn was nice, and it reminded me a bit of the Franconia Inn, a bit rustic with touches of elegance. The only initial downside was that the annex, which was where we were staying, was built around the pool and had a bit of a motel feel. Otherwise, I really liked it.

Since it was a bit warm, we had ample opportunity to swim, and we ended up in the pool for a lot of our stay. The kids had a blast, and there were other kids so the atmosphere was fun. The town is filled with ice cream and souvenir shops, not to mention several restaurants, so there was plenty to do in town, all within walking distance. In this respect, the GM Inn was just right, because we could walk everywhere. I’m guessing it’s a popular place in Winter because it’s famous for skiing.

There is a really nice bike path that we wanted to try, and had brought the kid’s bikes just for that purpose. We took our blades along since we can’t fit four bikes on the rack. The path is beautiful and very manageable, though the few hills can present a problem on blades, and at one point I lost control and fell flat on my face. R tried to stop to see if I was okay and fell herself, hurting her arm. It turns out that she actually fractured a bone in her elbow, which was a total bummer, and kind of put a damper on the rest of our stay. She was a trooper, however, and didn’t let it ruin the trip, we just had to be more creative. For the record, the doctors said she didn’t need a cast, and moving the arm is an important part of rehabilitation.

A family that was staying at the Inn was leaving on our last day and the father gave us two free passes to the miniature golf place down the road. They earned them by getting a hole during their game, twice! Pretty impressive. We stopped and played, and it was fun, though the grouch in me will say that I’m not that into miniature golf. I play it all the time with the kids, so I suffer through it and never complain, but for the record, I’d rather take a nap.

From the golf course, we headed to the ski resort to ride what they promote as the Alpine slide, which something all the ski hills around here seem to offer in lieu of snow. They send you up on the chair lift and then you ride this cart down a concrete path, which was pretty steep. A went solo and N wanted me to ride with him, though I think he regretted this decision because my weight really slowed him down.

I thought the ride was a sham, $20 a pop, and it lasts about 5 minutes. In my opinion a total rip off, but the kids wanted to go for it, and they enjoyed it. They wanted to go again but we had to be Scrooges and say no. One interesting note is that before we rode a guy asked R if she wanted to buy his tickets, and R called me over. The guy looked familiar, and he asked me if I worked at ADARC in NYC. Sure enough, it was DW, a guy who worked down the hall when R and I were there. He had moved to San Francisco and then Colorado, then landed in Stowe, VT, of all places, raising goats for their milk. How cool is that? We will KIT.

I’d like to try skiing Stowe one day, though the place looked huge, and might be big for our tastes. We’re small hill skiers, but never say never, right? Cost is an issue, of course.

We headed home, and the ride was short and pleasant. Stowe is a nice destination, not too far away but different enough to give it a vacation feel. Plus, it wasn’t exorbitantly expensive, and we had good vibes (except for broken bones) from our trip. I think we’ll return again soon, though we’ll leave the Rollerblades behind.

Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to Sigurd Decroos, Becco Eliacik, and Jacque Stengel for the pics.