Have you ever experienced a B&B that picks you up, provides meals, libations and all amenities including a washer & dryer, engages in stimulating conversation with you and then says, “Please, take my car”?

Here’s the quick (really!) back story: March 2012 went to Nippers on Guana Cay, Abacos to see the Barefoot Man for the first time. Click HERE to read about it. Met a few couples, friends who’d come a few times before and really got into “Foot”. Kept in touch via Facebook. Neither of us returning to a concert when the others did. Then last December Jeff and … are you ready?…. Laurie (#2) moved from Iowa to S. Burlington when Jeff was headhunted for Cabot/AgriMark.

Wow, and! they lived less than 30 minutes away from Point Bay Marina. We gave Benj and Lily the day off that Saturday but they missed us so much they stopped by anyway and brought lunch. More like they were headed up to see friends in Burlington and stopped by with lunch and stayed to meet Jeff and Laurie. Either way, we loved seeing them!

 

 

 

Sunday morning Laurie whipped up a batch of yummy blueberry pancakes; Russ was smitten. I was more smitten by getting that laundry done and being able to choose which bedroom we wanted! The upstairs suite suited us perfectly.

Alrighty then, two days with a car, what do to do, where to go!!?? First off, how about Middlebury? 🙂  Sure, let’s check out the apartment- more vinyl and cute cats.

Stonecutter Spirits (located in the Marbleworks) called to us. They may only bottle two spirits but their cocktail menu is impressive.

 

A walking short tour through Middlebury College (very la di da you know) with a stop for Cremees (our first). Cremees are so Vermont and so not like Dairy Queen. Real ingredients but limited flavors; usually chocolate and vanilla, with maple if you are lucky. Dinner outside at Two Brothers ended the evening and we did well at finding our way back to the marina. Benj and Lily opted to walk home; they are lucky to live so close to downtown.

Off we went Monday, timing our drive to arrive at Lake Champlain Chocolates for the hourly “tour”. It’s really a sit down affair with a knowledgeable guide. You watch a short video, then hear about where chocolate comes from all while sitting next to the production floor behind a huge window. The talk was very informative and interesting. All the jars below got passed around so we each had an up close look. Chocolate samples got handed out as we sat down and also after the “tour”.

 

Next stop Shelburne Vineyard not too far south from Lake Champlain Chocolates, on Rte 7.

 

 

Since today was the big eclipse day (though not so much for up here), we wanted to be outside around “the time”. The Vineyard and Folinos across the street for pizza lunch fit the bill nicely.

 

Day two, Tuesday. Had wanted to head south but couldn’t find anything of interest within acceptable distance, so north won again. Waterbury, then continue north to Cabot with a stop in between for apple cider donuts. You might know the famous place in Waterbury created by those two groovy ice cream guys.

 

A few miles north of Ben & Jerry’s is Cider Mill Hollow. How sweet of Russ to find me a donut place along the way.

 

 

The bad part of Tuesday was the wind, which picked up during the day and drove the waves into the mooring field from the worst possible direction, southwest. We raced to shop at Hannaford before dark rain clouds arrived at Charlotte. We did well, beat the rain but dinghied out in the highest wind- 21 mph, somehow keeping dry and climbing aboard safely.

Not so fast missy; Mother Nature wasn’t finished yet. At 6pm we got clobbered by a squall that caused a problem for one boat. Yikes.

The wind whipped up suddenly, topping out at 32! I leaned forward to take a photo of the weather station display and my eyes widened as I watched a sailboat go walkabout. Russ hailed the marina with the bad news. The guy Russ spoke to assured us we’d be fine on our “new” mooring.

An hour later the guys were able to come out in the work boat, disentangle s/v Sunset Breeze and get her secure on another mooring. Believe it or not, none of the boats had more than very minimal damage. Lucky.

Wednesday morning we returned our ride and once again became car-less.