Well it’s that time of year again when my friend and I make the trek to the world’s longest yard sale – corridor 127!  We started in Alabama four years ago and starting in Frankfort, Kentucky this year heading up to Cincinnati. 

My friend and I left yesterday from South Carolina to travel to Frankfort.  What started out to be a six hour drive turned into a nine hour drive…due mainly to a stop at Cumberland Falls.  What a lovely area…and I really enjoyed the short walk down to the falls after being in the call for many hours.

Today we got up and headed south for about 40 miles in search of yard sales.  I am always amazed at the different ways people make their signs to show they are having a yard sale.  “Classy Trash” was my favorite for today.  We leave tomorrow heading north on hwy 127.  Maybe we’ll spend alot more money!!

by Mike

We really didn’t want to leave Burlington but it was time to begin the journey home.  However, on the way to Manchester Vermont, our next destination, we had a most delightful dinning experience.  We stopped for a late lunch at the Midway Diner.  This was the traditional diner just like you would see in the movies or old TV shows.  The blue plate specials were on the chalk board as you walked in and you knew you were going to get a big helping of comfort food.  I was not disappointed, Cathy got the open faced turkey sandwhich with turkey, gravey & mashed potatoes with a side of cole slaw.  It was like a little slice of Thanksgiving, the turkey was roasetd on site and the gravey tasted like gradma’s (not poured out of a jar).  I ordered the soup and sandwhich special (homeade turkey & wild rice soup w/half a fresh corned beef sandwhich).  The corned beef was freshly carved and served warm w/a side of cole slaw and oh my goodness I felt like I had been tucked in for a 30 minute power nap.  The cole slaw was a mixture of cabbage and carrots with a light mayonaise base and was slightly sweeter than the slaw served down south and oh so tasty.  I was excited discover this hidden gem and disappointed that we were too stuffed to try something else off the menu and we didn’t have time to come back for supper.  If you are ever in Rutland, you need to check this place out!

Open-face Turkey

    

by Cathy

After a few days in Burlington…and walking everywhere!   It’s so nice not to have to drive to everything.  However by this time, I needed somewhere to go and just sit and relax…oh yeah..also to eat!  Mike has already mentioned Church street which was busy almost all of the time…that is, except when it’s raining.  Lucky for us, this day it was raining and we had our choice of which restaurant to go to.  We chose this Irish Tavern called Ri Ra Irish Pub. 

Ri Ra was very relaxing with the sounds of the Chieftains and other similar sounding Irish folk music.  Mike ordered a Guiness Barbecue burger and I ordered the Kilcooly sandwich.  My sandwich was great (…and warm too which is the way I like my sandwiches!).  It consisted of turkey, melted cheddar, sliced apple, smoked bacon, cranberry mayo on grilled sourdough.  Mike’s burger had Guiness barbecue sauce, cheddar cheese and onion rings on it…not only that it was Half-off Burger Nite!  We really enjoyed our meal in a very relaxing atmosphere.  In fact if you go to the Burlington Ri Ra website you will see exactly where Mike and I sat!  We are the first table you see in the header at the right.  Stop by and enjoy…we did!

by Mike

Let me start by saying Burlington is one of the coolest cities I have ever had the pleasure to visit.  Their main drag, Church Street, is comprised of 4-5 city blocks designed for foot traffic only.  This area is filled with a combination of great stores, pubs and restaurants and all kinds of folks cruising the area in search of bargins, cool beverages and new friends.  Much of the time this would include their 4 legged friends as well.   I have never seen such a dog friendly city in my life, hundreds of dogs all shapes and sizes and never did I see one use the bathroom or become aggresive with a visitor or another dog in the downtown area!  You need to check out Burlington, Its a great place to beat the heat of the deep south.  Now to the eats….

When asking the fine people of Burlington for dinning suggestions, one restaurant came up in conversation more than any other, Penny Cluse Cafe.  We finally made our way to PCC for lunch (they open for breakfast & lunch only) and it was really quite good.  They converted a house into a very unique dinning experience.  The decor is understated, the background music a combination sirius flight 26/ alturnative which was as eclectic as their menu.  To start things off we both had ice tea and bannana bread with maple-walnut cream cheese.  The bread was delicious, warm and Vermont being the epi-center of all things maple, well the cream cheese was melt in your mouth tastey.  I orderd french toast with 2 eggs over easy, homefries and bacon.  The french toast was sprinkled with cinnamon and powdered sugar and was a bit soggy for my taste.  The eggs were cooked as requested and the homefries were outstanding! We have both been amazed at how good the homefries are up here and not anywhere as greasy as hash browns down south tend to be.  However once you poured some warm vermont mayple syrup on the french toast it was quite flavorful (just not the way I normally like mine preparred).  The bacon was thick sliced and crunchy. 

Penny Cluse Cafe

Cathy odered a combination of french toast and Gingerbread pancakes with eggs and grilled ham.  We both thought the french toast was fair but Cathy raved about the gingerbread pancakes and the grilled ham.  Penny Cluse was a good experience and we both left wishing we had the time to go back and check out the lunch menu before we left town.

View from Hotel in Burlington, Vermont

by Cathy

Burlington, Vermont has to be the greenest place on earth as well as the most dog-loving!  Let me explain…when Mike and I first arrived, we noticed there were dogs everywhere.  Everyone was walking their dog downtown, in some of the stores, on the bike path, everywhere!  It was wonderful.  Also, this place is extremely “green” and I don’t mean color.  Everyone recycles, saves water, and anything else that saves the environment.  I bought some shoes and mentioned to the salesgirl that I would have to pack the shoes to get them home…she imediately said “oh let me take the box since you won’t be able to recycle.  I’ll recycle the box for you!”  Hmmm…this made me think that things were different.  Then Mike and I went to the American Flatbread.  “Best pizza I have ever eaten!”  No exaggeration!  You actually got to see them cook it in the wood fired oven.  Mike and I could not eat the whole thing but the waitress said not to worry…they composted all leftovers!  Green strikes again! 

We went to the aquarium and my husband was especially impressed with the waterless urinals     …only my husband would find this interesting…however the first time I flushed the toilet in our hotel room it like to have scared me to death!  It was one of those toilets that saved water and thus has to have a very strong rush of water.  Well enought about this….

Eat at the American Flatbread if you are in Burlington, Vermont!  It was great!  But be prepared to wait. Luckily Mike and I went at lunch and the wait was not long…but we saw people waiting for hours in the rain in the evening…just to eat here!  We’ll write more about our stay and eats in Burlington.  Great great place to vacation!

Wood Fired Oven

Quechee Gorge

As we left The Fort we decided to drive the back roads to Burlington.  This took us to the town of Quechee and such sites as the Quechee Gorge (personally if you’ve seen one gorge you’ve seen them all, but to be fair I expect it would be spectacular in the fall), Fat Hat Corner, Cabot Quechee Store (great cheese), Scotland by the Yard and the Taftsville covered bridge (which was pretty cool) then it was off to Woodstock, the name brings all sorts of imagery to mind, rock-n-roll, mudslides, hippies exploring their world (both seen and unseen), however this was not that woodstock.  It was a quaint little New England town with a

general store, art galleries, a hotel (named after hobbits) the Shire Town Inn, several restraunts and rain….. After attempting to eat at one deli, which closing as we walked in the door, we decided to press on to Burlington.  This took us through some beautiful country, many of the houses looked as though they were painted by Norman Rockwell.  Needless to say after driving for another hour, with no prospects of a diner in sight I received a vision.. no a sign..even better a McDonalds!  Serving sweet tea, hot fries and one delicious Big-n-Tasty! It just goes to show you no matter how far you travel, you can find a little taste of home in the most unexpected places (I promise to try and stay regional the rest of the trip). Bon Appetit!

(by Cathy)   I had to add that the “Sweet Tea” at McDonalds was a promotional thing and after talking to the waitress was an extremely “hot” item in the New England area.  Guess us Southerners know a thing or two about tea!

Taftsville Bridge

The Fort

We asked around as to the best place to eat breakfast and most of the locals suggested “The Fort”.  One person stated that it was their closest thing to a “greasy spoon.”  We got directions and headed out.    One look at the building and I thought they had given me the wrong directions!  It looked like just a gas station from the front, but once you walked through the door it just looked like your typical convienience store.  Look across the store and there is the door to The Fort.  Mike and I entered and I have to say it was anything but a greasy spoon.  I ordered a hamand egg sandwich with house fries and MIke orderd the corn beef hash breakfast.   I was amazed as to how “un-greasy” my house fries were and they were “oh-so-good.”  The atmosphere was great and this was possibly the cleanest restaurant I had ever been in.  

If you are ever in Lebanon…make a stop at The Fort…it will be well worth it!

Mike's Cornbeef Hash

Lui Lui

I should start out by giving some props to my man Guy Fieri (who has the greatest job in America) the host of Diners, Drive-ins and Dives which was the inspiration for our vacation this year.  So far its been fun and I have to admit it takes a bit more research than I expected to find those hidden gems as we travel around Vermont and New Hampshire.

Which leads me to Lui Lui, a regional favorite that specializes in Italian Cuisine.  It was quite good.  the restaurant was spacious, there was a good crowd but you didn’t feel crowded.  The decor had an Italian feel, I liked the tomato cans being used as light covers on the chandeliers.  Combine that with some cool jazz from the 50′s and you have the setting for a nice dinner. 

Grace

Our waitress, Grace, was very attentive and more than willing to give us suggestions on other eateries we might frequent.  She started things off with some hot, homemade rolls (a nice hard crusted creation).  They were killer and served with a garlic/oil dipping sauce (which Cathy liked quite a bit) & butter.  I am trying my best not to gain the 40 lbs back I have recently lost so I avoided the calories from a dinner salad and went stright for the rigattoni with sausage & peppers.  The pasta was not over cooked & the peppers combined with a local sausage popped with flavor in a nice marinara sauce.  I’m full and I’m sure you have heard enough of my rambling.  Go get something to eat!

Rigatoni Saugage and Peppers

Cathy's Meal - Penne Chicken Broccoli Alfredo

by Cathy

I picked Mike up at Logan Internation Airport in Boston around 3:30 pm.  We at once headed to our hotel in Nashua, New Hampshire.  It was a very nice hotel, but once checked in Mike and I headed out to start our quest for the best place to eat in New England!  We headed first to the Red Arrow Diner in Manchester, New Hampshire.  Our waitress, Vanessa, was great and very patient since we took our time in ordering.  We had a blast and was really glad we stopped here first.  As you can see from the pictures below…the food was incredible!  Mike had the pork pie and I had a hamburger on a english muffin with SWEET POTATOE FRIES!

Pork Pie

Once finished with the meal…we couldn’t leave without dessert!  We had a homemade chocolate eclair that was so good that we ate it before taking a picture!  But the best was yet to come…Mike bought two homemade twinkies to take back to the hotel and let me tell you …they were to die for!

Homemade Twinkie