We had an early alarm for our first morning in Vermont, as we had an appointment at the Middlebury Studio School for an introductory course on using the pottery wheel. We arrived a few minutes before our 10:00 am course and were greeted by our instructor Karen. She was excited to teach our family!
We began with a quick tour of the facility followed by a demo and instructions for making a bowl using the pottery wheel. All of us had the opportunity to create our own pottery and restart with new clay as often as necessary. I was good after one failed attempt, but everyone else tried their hands at 2 or 3 bowls, and we saved each family member’s favorite creation to be fired and eventually shipped to Iowa.
Lunch was just up the road at an old-fashioned A&W with carhop service and a cash-only policy. The root beer wasn’t up to what we’d had recently at Dog n’ Suds or Frostie, but it was a good enough meal at a convenient location.
On my list for Vermont was to try a “creamy,” their term for soft-serve ice cream. The place we stopped only had one flavor – maple – so Amanda and Noah opted out while Emmie, Eilidh, and I each enjoyed our first creamies in Adirondack chairs that overlooked the highway.
We wanted to take advantage of the warm and dry weather, so we shifted our visit to the Bromley Mountain alpine slide to our Saturday afternoon itinerary. It meant a bunch more driving, but we were parked by 3:30 and had two full hours to enjoy unlimited activities at the outdoor center, including the aforementioned slide.
Eilidh was a fan, Emmie was not. Amanda and I took turns riding the lift with Eilidh in order to ride the slide back down. In total, Eilidh rode the slide 4 times, Noah and I rode 3 times, Amanda rode it twice, and Emmie was done after a single trip. Eilidh and I managed to get completely soaked on the water slide, the parents beat the kids in a basketball challenge, and Emmie rounded out our time with some time on the trampoline.
On our way back toward our Vermont home, we stopped at Taylor Farm, which proved to be a fun, laid-back, and very worthwhile stop. Amanda and I snagged a few snacks at the modest store but the kids got the most entertainment from viewing and feeding the farm’s collection of animals, from goats to ducks to chickens to horses. There was even a turkey!
Everyone was hungry by the time we got to Goodman’s American Pie, where we ordered a Caesar salad, cheese pizza, and BBQ chicken pizza. We’d originally planned to sit outside the front of the restaurant on a series of stools but later found a charming and private spot to sit in the back. We took in the sounds of nature while enjoying some really good, thin-crust pizza.
