On our second day in Vermont, we spent the morning at the Bromley Adventure Park, and then we decided to take Skyline Drive to the summit of Mount Equinox. The toll road up the mountain is a 5.2 mile drive. It is owned by a cloistered order of monks known as the Carthusian Monks.
We stopped at the toll house right on historic Hwy. 7A in Sunderland, Vermont to buy our token to pay the toll,
This photo courtesy of Trip Advisor
we checked that our car was in good working order, and then I started to get a little squeamish.
I have driven up mountain roads in Colorado with my head between my knees because I couldn't breathe.
I road across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge on our last sabbatical with my chair leaned all the way back and my eyes closed.
I have started up mountain roads in Tennessee only to have Ken turn around part way up because I was about to hyperventilate.
One might ask why going to the summit of Mount Equinox was on my list of things to do!
I had read that it was one of the safest mountain toll roads with guard rails most of the way up, and they were right.
I didn't even panic (once I convinced Ken that if I was going to enjoy the trip, he would need to proceed with caution).
There were pull-offs along the way to enjoy the view, but the best part was when we got to the St. Bruno Scenic Viewing Center at the top.
This photo courtesy of Trip Advisor
You could see the only Carthusian Monastery in America down below and the 7,000 acres owned by the order.
Standing at the Summit, we had views not only of the Green Mountains of Vermont, but we could see the White Mountains of New Hampshire to the east, the Adirondack Mountains of New York to the west, and the Taconic and Berkshire Mountains of Massachusetts to the south.
No matter where you looked, you had amazing views!
When we came down off the mountain after letting our brakes rest for a bit, we headed south on historic Hwy. 7A to Arlington where we stopped at the Sugar Shack on the banks of the Roaring Branch River.
While we were there, we got to see the evaporator that turns 40 gallons of sap into one gallon of maple syrup.
We also met Kim who explained about the different grades of Vermont Maple Syrup made right there at the Sugar Shack. We tasted the Golden, the Amber and the Dark grades. We all decided the Dark was the best, so we grabbed a half-gallon jug to take with us.
We also tried a maple creemee. If you don't know what a creemee is, think soft-serve ice cream. That's what they call it in Vermont. It was yummy! And if you are at the Sugar Shack on the right day, you can pick up a cider doughnut covered in cinnamon-sugar. Yum!
One of the reasons I wanted to go to this Sugar house was because they have a Norman Rockwell exhibit. It focuses on the works he created during the fourteen years he lived in Arlington. Norman Rockwell used many of his friends and neighbors in his paintings, and the exhibit features many of those friends and neighbors as well as the paintings in which they were featured.
We couldn't leave Arlington without going to see the house where Rockwell lived. We just followed historic Hwy. 7A a few miles south of the Sugar Shack to Hwy. 313 and headed west to Covered Bridge Road.
We drove through the beautiful old bridge across the famous Battenkill River.
From the road you get the first glimpse of the Chapel on the Green (West Arlington Unites Methodist Church) built in 1804.
As you pull through the bridge, straight ahead is the beautiful Inn on Covered Bridge Green, the former home of America's favorite Illustrator, Norman Rockwell. I can see why he chose this tranquil spot on a quiet country lane overlooking the river to call home.
After a very full day, we headed back into Manchester to stop by the farmer's market for some nibbles. We hadn't been there ten minutes when I saw my boys holding bags of this yummy bread.
We ended the night with some great pizza and pasta at Christos' in downtown Manchester. It was a great ending to a great day!
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