In September we took a lovely babymoon to Vermont, at 28 weeks pregnant. Our fall schedule was already packed with travel and obligations, so I wasn’t going to insist on making a babymoon happen, but we had toyed around with the idea. We weren’t sure when we would be able to go (not to mention find babysitting) or even where we wanted to go. Then Whit’s parents had to reschedule their visit to Florida because we had Covid, and they generously offered us the money that was refunded after they cancelled our vacation house rental – AND they offered to come back and babysit for us!

The dates they gave us were in late September – a month away. With a little quick research, I figured out we could sneak up to Vermont for a couple of nights without spending practically anything – and it would be the start of early fall! After seeing Phish in Atlanta this summer, this would only be our second trip away from Arthur. We loved having that time together and wanted to take advantage of another trip, just the two of us, if we could. We decided to go for it and got everything planned in a couple of days.

A decade ago, I planned a surprise trip to Burlington for Whit’s birthday. We stayed in an Airbnb downtown and one night in a resort, went skiing, saw live music, and ate our way through the town. We fell in love with the relaxed vibes, local food, and down to earth people. Since living in Florida, we’ve longed for mountainous scenery, buildings with character, and fall weather, so catching fall in Vermont seemed like the perfect fit!

Ten days before our trip, guess who came down with Covid? That’s right – Whit’s parents. I immediately started thinking of alternate plans so we could still go to Vermont, but wasn’t too worried since they had some time to recover, although they were encouraging us to cancel our trip. The week before we were supposed to leave, they told us they definitely weren’t going to come watch Arthur. It made sense once they said it, they’re older so recovery is slower and it would be hard to chase a toddler when you’re not feeling 100%, plus Whit’s mom had a bad respiratory reaction the last time she came down, so it wouldn’t be good to risk that again.

I, on the other hand, by no means was about to cancel our trip. I thought about which friends we could send Arthur with and started looking up buying a plane ticket to take him with us. I asked my mom, who would be out of town while we were gone, what we should do, and she suggested – push the trip back a couple of days and we’ll watch Arthur so you can go! WHAT!! She even offered to keep him an extra night so we could add another day onto our trip and not be so rushed (seriously, her idea, not mine!). Okay!! That night I cancelled and rebooked everything ! We lost a little money from changing the airline tickets but otherwise were able to make it happen! What a whirlwind.

Finally on our way, we enjoyed a peaceful plane ride and then went to pick up our rental car. We had debated going with the cheaper car rental company with significantly worse reviews, or paying a little extra for a company with a 4 star rating. Once we switched dates, the only reasonable option was the cheapo one, and when we got there, the 2 star reviews were validated. The line was literally 10 to 20 times longer than any other line ! (There were probably 50-70 people in our line versus 2-5 people in all the other lines.) We worried about being stuck in line for HOURS but thankfully it only took about 45 minutes (worth saving $200 for, ultimately!!)

While we were in line at the car rental agency at the Boston airport, it started drizzling outside!! Can you sense my excitement? Whit pointed it out, and when I looked out the window, I had the same reaction I would have had if it were snowing. Seriously, the dreary weather was a balm to the soul for these warm weather Floridians! Sometimes you just want to feel a different vibe, not the same perfect day again and again, do you know what I mean? Anyways, we were psyched about the rain and cold weather haha.

I had to flip flop our original itinerary because we would now be traveling on Sunday and Monday when many businesses in small Vermont towns are closed. To get to Stowe from Boston, we now had the option to take a more direct, foodie route through eastern Vermont, or a roundabout, scenic route going all the way up through northern New Hampshire to see the fall foliage. We assessed the foliage quickly and decided not to risk the New Hampshire route since the leaves were just starting to turn (this was the last week in September). We could’ve gone double or nothing – I’m still not sure if the leaves would’ve been amazing that way, maybe they would have, but we had cheese in mind and that’s what we got!

Along the way, we did start seeing signs of fall, which we were geekily excited about! Once, we rounded a corner and a golden retriever was lounging at the top of the stairs of a farmhouse with colored leaves all around. Literally the most picturesque fall scene that looked like it came out of a 90’s movie.

We pulled off at a rest area to use the bathroom (#pregnant), and I was astonished at how perfectly the building and grounds epitomized Vermont! Beautiful, well made, charming, sustainable, and earthy. I looove this state!!

We eventually made it to Grafton Village Cheese Company, a delightful red barn filled with the most impressive variety of cheeses imaginable (outside of France ;)). All the cheeses, chocolates, and jams were local, Vermont-made or from a nearby in New England. Good cheese was one of the things I was looking forward to finding most, so we went to town!

We sampled and tasted, and made the hard decision of which to take with us. Being pregnant and not able to eat any soft or unpasteurized cheeses, my options were somewhat limited, but I found a hard sheep’s cheese (Shepsog) that I couldn’t resist. It was actually unpasteurized, but they run their raw cheese through a thermal process that kills any potential dangerous bacteria, so I could safely enjoy it. A dry cheddar (Clothbound Cheddar) got our attention as well, and Whit chose a soft blue.

By the time we had perused the entire store and picked souvenirs and gifts aplenty, it was too late to hit any of the other shops on our journey (still wish we could’ve visited the handmade chocolate shop!), so we headed straight for dinner. We had our sights set on an authentic Swiss fondue restaurant, but when we called to make a reservation, the owner told us he would be closing early due to it being a slow night. When Whit told him what time we would arrive, he told us we wouldn’t make it in time so we should not come (we were still a couple hours’ drive away).

We didn’t really know what to make of this (it seemed like a very French move), so I tried calling about 30 minutes later. I had better luck with the hostess, who let me make a reservation, but she still didn’t seem pleased that we would be arriving so late. I looked the menu over some more while Whit was driving, and just didn’t have a good feeling about being rushed – and the prices were exorbitant. Whit was pretty set on the experience and willing to pay for it since it would remind us of meals in France, but our alternative was a barbecue restaurant we had loved the last time we came to Vermont, and we decided we’d have a better experience there – without feeling like the owner is mad at us or rushing us!

The restaurant (the Prohibition Pig), on the main road of a small town with zero traffic, was dim and cozy, and the food hearty and tasty, so we made the right decision.

We continued our drive and got settled into our hotel, the Green Mountain Inn. Let me tell you – this is where you need to stay when you come to Vermont!! I was obsessssed. It’s a historic inn with red carpet, winding hallways filled with art, and staircases everywhere. One of my loves is houses with multiple walkways so you don’t have to go the same way every time – this inn was a dream, the hallways mazes to get lost in. It was perfectly quaint and classy.

The next morning after breakfast and coffee in town (at the Butler’s Pantry and Black Cap, respectively), we ventured up Smuggler’s Notch, a drive through a mountain pass, to see the changing leaves and mountain views. We didn’t realize the road led up to a hike with an incredible vista, but fortunately it was only a 20 minute walk to the overlook, so totally doable even in my third trimester.

We headed straight onto a narrow path surrounded by pine trees. The little tunnel, cushioned by moss, was completely silent. The air was fresh and the air smelled like Christmas trees. The overlook didn’t take long to reach, and the views were stunning. It gets old living in a flat state, so we loved seeing the elevation change and being able to see far distances.

We stopped at a little deli (Edelweiss Mountain Deli) for a quick lunch and continued to be impressed by the number of local stores, locally made goods, and tasty food.

Our itinerary for the rest of the day was to simply drive slowly and stop at all the little shops and interesting places along the way! We discovered a bookstore (Bridgeside Books) in Waterbury, savored apple cider donuts and maple creamees at Cold Hollow Cider Mill, browsed another gourmet snack shop (Mad River Taste Place), and stopped at a covered bridge. All the cute, quaint Vermont things!!

Along our route there was a waterfall just steps from the road. The bridge was out from the recent flooding, but we hopped over the creek and enjoyed a peaceful moment (and snacked on some of our cheese) by the falls.

We drove through a small town square with a gazebo in the middle of the courtyard and had to get out and pretend like we were in Gilmore Girls! (Okay, I made us stop but Whit loved the tiny town, too!)

Of course we loved getting updates from our little guy, too, who was having a blast at grandparent camp!

It was so still and quiet and dark on the rest of the drive to Woodstock that I started to feel a little uneasy. The stillness was exactly what I was hoping to find, but it was a bit unsettling at first. I tend to fear monotony, but sometimes our life is so fast-paced that I find myself longing for moments with space. It took a little adjusting and feeling afraid of being in the middle of nowhere (there are no big cities in Vermont!), but by the next morning I accepted the sense of peace and felt more relaxed than I had in literal YEARS. Like, before becoming a parent, France, and grad school – so like 8 years?! Mission. Accomplished.

Sidenote: For dinner that night, we hopped across the border to New Hampshire, where every chain imaginable lies just 15 minutes from the state of Vermont. We were intrigued by the lack of chain ANYTHING in Vermont (almost all the gas stations, restaurants, grocery stores, coffee shops, everything – was local), and found out that there are tons of restrictions in Vermont to limit the number of large-scale businesses. There are no McDonalds in the state capital, there’s only one Target, etc. It’s respectable, and reminded us of the vehemence the French have to keep France “French.”

The next day and a half, we stayed put in Woodstock and SOAKED UP the small town pace of life. We settled into a coffee shop (Mon Vert Cafe) in the morning where we breakfasted slowly, sipped on coffee, and read (Whit) and shopped (me).

The houses in Woodstock are colonial dreams that reminded me of the houses I adore in downtown Richmond, with tall trees in front and little creeks running behind.

Autumnal colors were just beginning to fall in Vermont, but the weather was perfect (cool enough for a sweater but warms up by midday) and the town was festive with pumpkins and mums everywhere you turn.

After eating sandwiches from the Village Butcher Shop and perusing the F. H. Gillingham & Sons general store, we napped luxuriously back at our hotel.

Note that all the milk in the fridge is local or made in Vermont (Stonyfield is a Vermont brand!) except for the specialty flavors.

Then we set off to find the Quechee gorge, which was a few minutes’ walk from our inn. We went the wrong way at first and wound up detouring through a campground and accidentally had to walk down a big hill – my pregnant body didn’t love that haha.

We had dinner reservations at Sante, a farm to table restaurant with small plates to share and a strong coziness factor. We took the uninterrupted opportunity to discuss baby names, and narrowed the list down to four top choices. What fun!

The next day we found pancakes (with Vermont maple syrup, obviously), a country store, and snacks and shops in town. We spent some time reading in a fancy, hygge room with comfy chairs and big windows (one of my favorite pastimes) in the Woodstock Inn. And of course took a photo op with the Woodstock covered bridge.

Eventually we had to force ourselves to leave and head back to the airport. All in all it was a very SLOW, extremely relaxing babymoon, with lots of time to enjoy each other’s company and quiet downtime before adding a new family member. Just what we were hoping for!

Of course there was nothing like reuniting with Arthur and squeezing him for a big hug after being away!!

P.S. Read about our previous trip to Vermont here! (Also click the backlink in that post and prepare to lol)