Despite an ominous forecast, we made it through our first two days in Vermont with relatively little rain. We weren’t as lucky on Monday, but the weather gave us the opportunity to check out a couple of local shops we wanted to visit before we moved on to the Maine leg of our trip.
The morning started with a round trip to Rutland, where I picked up the laundry we’d dropped off a day prior. We’ve found that paying for laundry service on vacation is a worthwhile investment, especially for trips with busy itineraries or limited access to laundry facilities.
We spent a few dollars to buy a laundry bag, which we expect to be useful as our trip continues.
For lunch, we went to Zoey’s Deli, the restaurant I’d earmarked for our time in Manchester. The sandwiches were big and generally good, but the homemade chips were underwhelming. It was clearly a hot spot for locals and tourists, but we’d try a different spot if we returned to the city.
While we were able to dine at an outside table for lunch, our exploration of the city’s downtown district was interrupted by rain. Instead of walking several blocks back to our van, the kids and I fully explored the Northshore Bookstore, with Eilidh getting the best haul from the stop. She added a few paperback books to her collection along with a princess sticker book that kept her entertained on the car ride back to our Vermont home.
We stopped at a small gift shop to purchase a Vermont-made rolling pin before wrapping up our time in Manchester with a visit to Mother Myrick’s Confectionery. Emmie and I went inside to peruse the goods and figure out our purchase. We walked away with a few packages of their famous buttercrunch toffee and three mini lemon bundt cakes.
We made a final stop at Taylor Farm to feed the horses again then returned home for our final evening in Vermont. Dinner consisted of cheese, salami, and pizza leftovers, while the rest of our time was spent packing for our drive to Maine.
We say goodbye to our Vermont home tomorrow at 8:30 a.m.