Oh, Vermont. What a beautiful state. My mom would love to have a second home here, and if only we had that sort of wealth! Alas, we’ll have to settle for visits, and I definitely want to return because I enjoyed our time in Vermont so much. (I’m dreaming of spending an entire October in Vermont, bringing the cats, working from a cute Airbnb, and living fall to the fullest. Maybe one day!)

Our Airbnb was a mile from downtown Stowe, so it was in a perfect location. It was a two-bedroom, two-bathroom home with a loft that had two extra beds, so it would fit a family comfortably! It had a large kitchen, a large living area with plenty of seating, and views to die for.

Okay, enough about the Airbnb. What did we actually do with our three full days in Stowe? We lived our best fall lives!

Stowe Village

Our first day, we meandered around Stowe Village, which had tons of cute shops and restaurants. There was a bookstore but I once again came up empty, unable to find any books that I really wanted to buy. (Side note: I kept coming across American Hagwon by Min Jin Lee, and wondering if I should buy it. I didn’t because it’s a chunker of a book… completely forgetting that I had selected it from Book of the Month, and it was waiting for me at home. Ha!) There was a great chocolatier where we bought some truffles. And there was an eclectic gift shop where Mom found a gorgeous print from a local artist. We came back to downtown Stowe on our last day so we could pick up some souvenirs. It was raining and busy, and I not only found street parking but parallel parked like a boss in front of traffic. (*bows*)

Gold Brook Covered Bridge

This is one of Vermont’s more famous covered bridges, and it comes with a spooky ghost story (pretty much debunked, but it adds a bit of lore to the site!). There was a rocky, steep path you could walk down, but I took one look and noped out. There would be no injuries on this trip! Instead, we just took lots of pictures and enjoyed the views.

Gondola Skyride at Mount Mansfield

This was our most expensive excursion of the trip, but I couldn’t pass up the chance to see gorgeous fall views from a gondola. Everything I read said it was 100% worth it, and I agree. The trip up to Mount Mansfield was incredible. So many fall colors on display, and I really loved that we got the gondola all to ourselves. Always nice when we don’t have to share an experience like this with strangers!

Once we got to the top, we were very disappointed that the fog obscured the view completely. That’s the chance you take for something like this, so we tried to make the best of it by walking around, taking pictures, enjoying the views around us, and poking around in the gift shop (where I found a Christmas ornament). It was very cold at the top, though, so we didn’t linger too long. We eventually made our way back down, which was also an incredible experience! Such a beautiful place, and I imagine even more so during the winter, as people often come to this mountain resort for skiing.

Bingham Falls

There were two different hiking paths to waterfalls on our agenda, and we decided to try Bingham Falls first. I did not expect this hike to be as strenuous as it was! Maybe for other people, it would have been more of a “fun” hike, but I am terrified of breaking an ankle and I do not like clambering over rocks and up and down steep paths. We took our time, working our way very slowly and carefully over the rocky sections, and I’m proud to report that we emerged unscathed! Well, we were slightly traumatized, which is why we opted out of the second hike.

The path to the falls was downhill, which meant we were really in for it on our way back. I feel much more confident on the uphills than the downhills, so the way back felt a little less treacherous. (On our way back, a family of four was behind us for a section, and at one point, my mom almost lost her balance on some rocks, and I said, “There are people behind you.” What I was trying to say was that she had me in front and some people behind her, so she had lots of support to get over the rocks. But the family was like, “No, no, no. It’s fine. Take your time!” I wasn’t trying to be a bitch to my mom, I promise!)

von Trapp Brewery Tour

This brewery wasn’t on my radar until I was watching a Vermont travel vlog and they talked about it! Of course, Mom and I had to do the tour. The brewery was started by one of the actual von Trapp children, the youngest one, Johannes. And it’s one of the most successful in the country! The brewery tour was super informative—I’m always astonished by everything that goes into the brewery process! It’s so much more intricate than I expected. While I did not partake in the beer samples afterward (I hate beer), my mom gave them two thumbs up!

Smuggler’s Notch

Smuggler’s Notch was the go-to recommendation for Stowe, and we drove it on a rainy Tuesday afternoon. It’s an 8-mile stretch of road that has some of the most gorgeous fall views. The good news is, driving it on a rainy day meant there was very little traffic to deal with. The bad news is that I didn’t feel like getting out of the car too often because I didn’t want to get soaked! Ah well. I tried to just enjoy the drive without needing to stop and take tons and tons of pictures. The ones I got were just fine!

Ben & Jerry’s Factory Tour

I was really excited for the Ben & Jerry’s factory tour because… ice cream! It’s a 30-minute tour and went by pretty quickly. We learned the history of Ben & Jerry’s, took a look at their manufacturing facility, and then got a sample of ice cream (mint chocolate chunk). They also have a gift shop and an ice cream shop where you can enjoy any flavor of your choosing! (We stuck to just the sample because a) it was cold and b) my teeth don’t like it when I have too much ice cream.) Afterward, we walked over to the Flavor Graveyard!

Cold Hollow Cider Mill

Before we left Vermont to drive to Boston for our flight home, we stopped at the Cold Hollow Cider Mill. We opted to just poke around in the gift shop, which was pretty robust, filled with foodstuffs that I desperately wanted to bring home. Alas, I settled for a few postcards, a warm apple cider, and two apple cider donuts. The perfect fuel for a road trip, right?!

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And that was Vermont and our New England road trip as a whole! It was such a great trip, and I’m grateful that I got to make more core memories with my mom. <3

After a couple of days in Maine, it was time to pack up and hit the road for our final destination: Stowe, Vermont. It’s a six-hour drive from Bar Harbor to Stowe, but we took the scenic route, including a detour for the Kancamagus Highway, which was well worth our time.

We left Maine early, and opted not to have breakfast at the B&B. (The previous day, we had breakfast at the B&B, but we weren’t the biggest fans. We thought there would be a spread of food to choose from like my mom had experienced at another B&B, but instead, we were given one option, and for picky eaters like us, it wasn’t a hit. To be fair to this B&B, it has nothing to do with their cooking and everything to do with our own pickiness. Everyone else who was there for breakfast raved about the meal, and one person even wanted the recipe!) We’re two little weirdos when it comes to food, so we decided we’d find a restaurant on the road.

We stopped for a bite at Dysart’s, which is a local chain that really hit the spot. I was craving French toast, and it was delicious (and came with real maple syrup!). My mom had pancakes.

Then, it was time to hit the road for real. Our first destination was White Mountain Cafe & Bookstore, which was about a two-hour drive. I listened to podcasts, and my mom took a nap!

It was a real treat to find this bookstore, and even better to score a prime parking spot right up front. Somehow I didn’t take a single photo while in the bookstore, probably because it was pretty busy and I felt weird about whipping out my camera. It was a small bookstore with a very curated collection, and I didn’t find anything worth buying. I did find some great postcards, though. (I have a whole collection from this trip, so watch your mailboxes!)

And we got some refreshments. I ordered a Nutella iced coffee, and my mom ordered tea. And then we shared a grilled blueberry muffin that was so, so good. We took a seat on a bench near the bookstore where we had this insane view, and it was really nice to sit for a while, listening to the babbling brook and feeling the breeze. This might be the happy place I return to in my head when I need a moment!

We couldn’t stay too long, though, so we were back in the car to find our way to the Kancamagus Highway, which I had heard so much about in my research! But we both realized quickly we needed a restroom, so I hunted for an easy place to stop and came across a gift shop with an incredible view! They even had this huge patio with rocking chairs so people could relax and enjoy the view. I think New Hampshire might be my kinda place, for real.

After using the restroom, poking around the gift shop, and taking some much-needed selfies, it was back on the road.

We finally started making our way down the Kancamagus Highway, and it was definitely busy! Our first stop was Sabbaday Falls, where we snagged a parking spot just as someone was leaving (it was super busy!), then trekked down to the falls and back. The hike is listed as easy, but there are quite a number of steep climbs (which always terrifies me because I broke my ankle on a downhill during my first-ever hike), and I couldn’t see where to actually see the waterfall (I should have done more research, sigh, but even all the travel vlogs I watched didn’t cover this!). Apparently, there were stairs you could climb to get to a platform, but we missed that turnoff, and instead, I thought you had to make your way through all of these treacherous rocks to get to the falls. Ah, well. This just means I need to go back to New Hampshire to see the real Sabbaday Falls, right?!

Anyway, we didn’t stay too long and continued driving along the highway. There were lots of places to stop and take pictures, but it was absolutely packed with cars, and I didn’t feel like fighting for a parking space after the disappointment at Sabbaday Falls. So instead, we just enjoyed the drive and the views. We ran into some traffic on our way out of the highway, and we also didn’t have any phone signal once we left Sabbaday and for a pretty long stretch of time, so we lost GPS access. I kept thinking of those teams on The Amazing Race who drive for hours in the wrong direction. At least we weren’t in a race for a million dollars if we were going the wrong way! But I could also see that we were traveling west, which is the direction we needed to go, so I figured all was okay!

And it was! Eventually, we made our way through the Kancamagus Highway and out of the crazy traffic. And then it was time to finish up this drive! Getting to Stowe took a few more hours, and I was soon driving through winding mountain roads in the pitch black, which was not my favorite thing and I was white-knuckling it a bit until we finally got to civilization.

And then we were in Stowe… but you’ll have to wait until next week to hear more about Vermont!

New Hampshire Quick Facts

• When we visited: Saturday, October 10th
• Miles traveled: 354 miles
• Pictures taken: 26
• Favorite little moment: Sitting outside the bookstore, listening to the sounds of nature while eating a shared blueberry muffin with my mom
• Souvenirs bought: one magnet

Leg two of our New England road trip commenced on Thursday, when we picked up a rental car (a 2027 VW Taos – a zippy thing that was a lot of fun to drive!) and started the trek to Maine. Boston > Bar Harbor isn’t a long drive (around four hours), but we made it an adventure by stopping at the Nubble Lighthouse right near the border of Maine. It was an hour and a half from Boston, so it was a great place to walk around and get some fresh air! Plus, the views were incredible. The weather was gorgeous – sunny and in the 60s – and there were a lot of people taking pictures and enjoying the view.

After that, I considered stopping in Camden to walk around, get a snack, and maybe pop into a bookstore (heh), but it would make us get into Bar Harbor pretty late. I scrapped that plan so we could get to our destination sooner.

The drive to Bar Harbor was gorgeous, too, so I wasn’t mad about staring at the view for miles and miles. I kept myself busy with podcasts and then some music when I started getting tired and needed to keep myself awake.

Eventually, we made it to the B&B, which was really adorable. It was so quintessentially New England! I felt like I was living inside Stars Hollow.

The best part about where we stayed is that we were just a short walk from downtown, which had tons of restaurants and shops, so we spent a lot of time wandering around and picking up some souvenirs. I also forced my mom into her third bookstore of the trip – Sherman’s Book Store. Such a great shop!

We only had one full day in Maine, and we tried to make the most of it with a visit to Acadia National Park! I purchased a vehicle pass for Cadillac Mountain because your girls are not hikers, and I was trying my best not to injure myself on this trip. We got to enjoy the beauty of Cadillac Mountain and then eventually started driving through the park, stopping at little lookouts here and there. I was really looking forward to going to Sand Beach/Thunder Hole, but just as we were in line to pass through, they shut down this entrance due to a medical emergency.

A bummer for us, but much more so for whoever was dealing with the emergency. I couldn’t find anything online about what happened, so I hope it wasn’t too serious. Anyway, we made the best of it and went the other way, eventually ending up at Schooner Head Overlook.

I’m proud to say that nobody was hurt on this trail, so success! We took our time, let the more athletic people pass us, and enjoyed being surrounded by nature. And we were definitely treated to a beautiful view! We opted not to be too adventurous here by climbing on too many rocks, but it was a great stopping point.

We meandered around the rest of Park Loop Road, stopping here and there, and eventually making our way back to our B&B. We parked the car and then headed out for a delicious lunch (below). Afterward, we took it relatively easy! We meandered around the shops for a while, then went back to the B&B where we napped, read, and lazed around until dinnertime. We went for a super delicious dinner at McKay’s Public House to cap off our time in Maine!

It was a great introduction to Maine, but there is so much more to explore. I definitely need to go back!

Maine Quick Facts

• When we visited: Thursday, October 8th – Friday, October 9th
• Steps taken: 14,909 (over two days)
• Pictures taken: 54
• Best sleep: Friday (8 hours)
• Favorite experience: Seeing all of the fall colors on our way to Bar Harbor
• Favorite restaurant: Blaze (where the pizza above was from – so damn good!)
• Favorite little moment: Listening to a conversation between two middle-aged friends while we were at Nubble Lighthouse. One of the friends said, “This is such a beautiful day!” And the friend responded, “Every day is a beautiful day when I’m spending it with you.” Corny, yes, but it melted my heart!
• Souvenirs bought: two magnets (Nubble Lighthouse and Maine), a lighthouse print, a long-sleeved Acadia National Park shirt, an ornament, and two books

What kind of hiker are you: the kind who climbs on rocks like it ain’t no thing, or someone who is a bit more cautious like me?