VT Day 6 - Hard Cider, Horse Camp, and Hills That May or May Not Have Been Alive with the Sound of Music
Today started with more just happening to be in the city of Burlington while cool events were going on. This weekend was the annual Art Hop, where local artists, food trucks, and all sorts of activities converge along the waterfront.
I got coffee at the August First Bakery, which was quite good, and then decided to hop on some art. There was a sprawling gallery called the S.P.A.C.E Gallery. The space was essentially a giant warehouse partitioned to highlight multiple artists whom I found pretty cool.
Another cool thing that I unfortunately didn't photograph was that a thrift store had created a mini-golf course for little kids on the Art Hop out of all recycled or repurposed items.
Hopped out, I bid Burlington a fond farewell and decided to head on down to the Woodchuck Cider House. I've been to breweries, wineries, and distilleries, but I believe this is my first cidery.
Along the way, I got distracted by a building called the Love Shack, and decided I had to see what that was about. Apparently they're a cookie and ice cream place, so not wanting to get in the way of love, I got a coconut cookie and a coffee/maple soft-serve swirl (I'm sorry Vermont, but I refuse to say creemee). It was a delightful diversion.
At the Woodchuck Cider House, I had a flight of four ciders samples: the semi-dry, the winter chill, the bourbon barrel aged special reserve, and Vermont Cider Company Semi-Dry. I liked the special reserve and winter chill best, but all in all Woodchuck is one of my favorite brands of hard cider.
A friend of mine and fellow comic, Nina, ended up being at her old horse camp in Chesterfield, NH and she offered me a place to stay for the night, so I decided to do some last minute sight-seeing in Vermont if I techncally wasn't spending the night there.
I took Vermont's Rt. 17 which might be the windiest state highway I've ever been on. Along this route, i drove through the hills where the von Trapps from the Sound of Music lived. Their name is also a brand of craft beer which is pretty good.
I went to see the Rock of Ages Quarry in Barre, which was famous for trying to make granite bowling lanes a thing. Unfortunately they never caught on, but thankfully this endeavor gave the world this sign.
Also in Barre was the Espresso Bueno coffee shop, which sometimes hosts comedy events and has some of the best coffee for the value in Vermont. Definitely worth checking out.
After the quarry, I decided to check out a famous floating bridge, because I never saw such a thing before. It's apparently an engineering marvel, that interconnected floating logs of wood are able to support the weight of cars, and it's also pretty easy on the eyes.
Over the bridge and through some woods, I made it to Road's End Farm to see my friend. I'll be honest when she said she went to a horse camp, i was picturing maybe six or seven horse. Turns out they have over 70 horses on a huge beautiful estate. It's so funny how you can know somebody for three years and only just learn that they spent all of their summers with 70 horses.
I don't have zero experience with horses, because the camp that I worked at that was for children and young adults with special needs had a hippotherapy component. The barn at my camp had it's own staff though, so I mostly watched little kids with autism have one on one interactions with horses without having too many myself. That changed after today. It was great walking around the pasture with Nina and her friend, Grace, and hearing about each horse's distinct personality. Some of them are good, and some are kinda jerks, just like people. I always thought it was cool how some of the kids at my camp would be really high strung all day but then calm down when they were around horses, and there really is something oddly soothing.
We spent our night catching up, telling jokes, drinking twisted teas, and playing horse trivia board games. The questions were very much geared towards children, but I still didn't really stand a chance.
Favorite Random Sightings: Big Dog Hill; Local Folks Smokehouse; "Aged Cheddar Ahead!"; A sign for "Gray Flannel Farms Alpacas" basically summing up 90% of the things in Vermont; "Baby Sale: Everything but the Baby!"
Regional Observation: Vermonters actually use two lane highways correctly, something people in MA just can't seem to do.
Winner of Vermont's Funniest (I missed the final because I was horsing around): Tim Bridge
Albums Listened To: The Blue Guerilla by Kain (MF Doom loves this album and a ton of his early samples come from it, fun fact!); Blue Valentine by Tom Waits (Maybe lyrically one of the greatest albums of all time, though a bit of a mixed bag musically. It's got my favorite Tom Waits song, Kentucky Avenue); Blues Like Sandpaper | Rocksteady Like Dirt by Irie Idea; The Bob's Burgers Music Album (disc 1 and 2); The Bobby Fuller Four ( I Fought the Law Single) by the Bobby Fuller Four; Bone Machine by Tom Waits
People's Favorite Jokes:
A pregnant woman was walking down the street and a crazy person came up and shot her three times. The doctor said she'd be okay her babies (triplets) would be okay, and the bullets would pass naturally. The doctor was right and the babies, two girls and a boy were all born healthy. A few years later, one of the daughters comes up to her and says, "Mommy, the craziest thing happened. I was peeing and a bullet came out." The mom said it was fine and explained the story. After a while the other daughter came up to her and said, "Mom the craziest thing happened! I was peeing and a bullet came out" The mom told her she was fine and explained the story. A little while later the boy came up to her and said, "Mom, you'll never believe this. The craziest thing happened" "Let me guess," she said. "You were peeing and a bullet came out." "No," he said, "I was jacking off and I shot the dog."
What did one tree say to the other? You're knotty. The other tree responded, "You're barking up the wrong tree"
My mom was making blue berry and currant pie, and I went up to her and said "What's in this bowl currantly?
My dog has no nose. How does he smell? Awful
An evil guy kidnaps a bunch of people and says he'll shoot them unless they stick certain fruits up their butt. If they laugh at all or can't do it, he says he'll shoot them. One guy goes, and they give him 3 apples. He can't do it, and he gets shot. The next guy is given four orange. He can't do it and he gets shot. The third guy is given five blueberries. The third guy gets to heaven, and the first two say, "What are you doing here? Blueberries should have been easy." "Yeah," the third guy says. "but I saw them preparing pineapples for the next guy and I couldn't help but laugh"
What's a pirate's favorite letter? You might think it's R but it's really the C
Two muffins are in a stove. One says "it's getting hot in here" The other says, "Ahh a talking muffin" (that's three votes thanks to Nina, now this is currently America's favorite joke)
Whenever I hook up with a guy, I ask him do you want to peg now or later?
How do you make antifreeze? Take away her nightie!
