Last weekend, I left the city for the first time since I arrived on August 12th. I rented a car and drove myself up to Vermont to visit my friend Melinda. We went to middle and high school together, and I hadn’t seen her since her wedding reception about 15 years ago. Melinda and her husband run an inn located in Warren, VT near the Sugarbush ski area .  It was great to see her again. I was a little nervous that it would be awkward, since we haven’t seen each other for so long, but Melinda and her family made me feel very welcome and comfortable.

Thanks to Melinda’s husband, Michael, who stayed home and took care of the kids (and the inn), Melinda and I spent the day at the Shelburne Museum in Shelburne, VT. Actually, Melinda’s four kids are so intelligent, engaging, and well-behaved that I don’t think it would have imposed much of a burden to take them along with us to the museum. It was nice for us to have some time alone together to catch up, though, and it allowed us to explore the museum in an adult-centric way, which was a first for Melinda.  The museum was exactly the sort of attraction I love. It was founded by a wealthy woman in the 1950s who was interested in preserving houses and other historic structures, as well as displaying collections of fine art and Americana. She purchased and moved a whole bunch of structures (including a steamboat) to a large piece of land in NW Vermont.  Some of the buildings are preserved as representative examples of period architecture and interior decoration, and some of the buildings have been converted to gallery space to display collections, which include some works by impressionist masters like Mary Cassatt, Degas, and Monet, and somewhat eclectic collections of American arts and crafts, including quilts and other handmade textiles, dolls, glassware, china and pottery, and hunting decoys. They also have special exhibits, including one right now featuring works by Tiffany & Co., which I loved. We spent most of the day exploring the museum, but on the way back to Warren, we stopped by the Ben and Jerry’s plant in Waterbury, VT for a quick tour and free sample.  That was a lot like going to the Tillamook Cheese Factory, except it was a lot more corporate and “glossy,” but what the heck. It was cheap and fun enough to do once. For dinner, we went out to a very nice wood-fired pizza place close to the Inn where the pizza and salads were very creative and delicious. We stopped on the way home and bought some pints of Ben and Jerry’s for the kids, who had been very generous in sharing their mom’s time with me all day.

Sunday morning, I hung around and enjoyed visiting with Melinda and her family. After lunch, I hopped back in the Prius for a leisurely drive back to Boston, starting out on Vermont Highway 100 South. Some of the leaves on the trees were starting to turn color, but it a  was bit early in the season for the full Vermont foliage experience. Still, it was a gorgeous sunny day and the drive through the valley on the two-lane highway, past rustic farm houses and through quaint small towns was quintessentially rural New England. I stopped for a bit at Quechee Gorge to have a look at the view and to purchase a few Vermont souvenirs, including some delicious aged cheddar and some locally made dog biscuits for Powder.

It took me several hours to drive back to Boston, but the traffic was pretty light and the weather was perfect, so it was an easy drive.  The car wasn’t due back until Monday morning at 8 am, so I found the courage to try driving in the city (only on the Cambridge side of the river, not in Boston proper) in order to do a little grocery shopping at Trader Joe’s. I got lost a few times, but I only turned the wrong way down a one-way street once. I managed to make it to Trader Joe’s, back to the house to drop off my groceries and weekend bag, and out to the rental car place in Medford to drop the car off without hitting anything. By 8 pm, I was on the bus, headed back to Cambridge. Overall, it was an excellent weekend.

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