Vermont Weekend Adventure

It had started to become way too close to a FULL YEAR since I was last in Vermont and me and my adventure buddy, Em, were having some serious withdrawals. After a stressful few months (thanks 2020) we were itching for a break. Me and Em had pushed back our trip a few times due to Covid, and when we felt it was finally safe enough for us to leave the state, we packed our bags and hit the road!

*Disclaimer: we continuously checked the travel restrictions in Vermont to make sure we could travel between NJ and VT safely. We stayed in a family owned condo, only planned for safe outdoor activities, practiced social distancing and wore masks when necessary.

With our kayaks strapped to our roof and a back seat full of snacks, we pulled into VT around 7 and headed straight for our favorite pizza place. You all know it because I always talk about it...yes we got Flatbread!! We grabbed our pizza and salad to go, and headed back to the condo to devour it and hit the hay. Me and Em were stoked because she had purchased her first film camera and was testing it out this weekend. So I broke out mine as well and we spent the whole time capturing everything on film!! We had a big day planned for our only full day there starting with a hike right after breakfast.

I’m not gonna lie, we got in a little over our head with this hike but it ended up being SO rewarding! We wanted to do something local, to limit how far we needed to travel, something not so crowded and something that didn’t take more than a few hours. We found a hike that ticked all our boxes with Lincoln Peak. Our access point was through Sugarbush as it’s only a few minutes from the condo. We went into this moderate hike super confident, and it didn’t take long for our confidence to dwindle. I’m not gonna lie, it was a lot harder than we thought it’d be!! (We're pretty sure we took the most convoluted path which made it harder) With neither of us being in any shape whatsoever, we were riding the struggle bus up this mountain. For some perspective, it’s about 4,000 ft. in elevation and 7 miles roundtrip, with an elevation gain of 1,000 ft. per mile. But with a few breaks, some wild strawberries to snack on and incredible views the entire way up - we managed.

The view at the top was unbelievable! Looking back at pictures, it’s hard to believe I saw it with my own eyes. We snacked, enjoyed the breeze and took plenty of pictures before scrambling back down the mountain to have some lunch. It was a BEAUTIFUL Saturday so we expected our favorite local swimming spots to be crowded. We hit up a few before finding the one we felt most comfortable finding a little separated spot to hang at. We submerged ourselves in the chilly VT water which felt amazing on our sore little legs!

After a much needed cool down, it was time to clean up and head to our reservation at Stowe Cider! Stowe Cider is not only our absolute favorite cider, but our favorite place to hang and drink it too! They had a whole yard set up with tables and grassy areas to reserve to drink and listen to some local music. We had reserved a grassy spot so we set up our blanket, ordered some drinks and food and relaxed the night away! You have to ask Em what she thought of the GUMMY BEAR cider...I stuck with less wild flavors I knew I loved haha

Our night finished up with much needed creemees before crashing, excited for what we had planned for the next morning. Pretty early we set out to Blueberry Lake to spend the morning kayaking! It was the perfect day. We floated along the water, watched families picnic and swim and saw the occasional pup splash around! The heat shot up pretty quickly, so at that point we headed to our favorite sandwich spot for take out and brought it to the river in town. We basically melted while eating our sandwiches and it was no time at all before we were wading in the water. Em skipped rocks and took pictures on her new film camera while I went for a much needed swim! Our last stop was for one more creemee before we left, to get our last fill of VT before heading back home.

That weekend was exactly what I needed to recharge! We packed so much into a little amount of time and we had an amazing weekend. I can’t remember the last time I laughed, sweat and spent that much time in the sun. I feel so fortunate that we were able to safely travel to one of our favorite places. If you’re thinking of traveling, please check travel restrictions for your home state, and the state you’re traveling to, and wear ya damn mask!