Day 29 - Burlington, VERMONT to East Greenbush (Albany), NEW YORK

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When we woke up today we found there was finally no road workers in place out the front of the hotel and I was pleased Kerry had a great nights sleep. This hotel has been a great place to stay in Burlington, but today it is time to move on and we are traversing Route 100 south along the Mad River Valley which is a famous Vermont Scenic Byway, and yes the Mad River is the correct name !



First stop was the village of Wakefield to see the covered bridge where they have a live webcam we have been watching on You Tube for the last 5 years as the seasons roll by seeing the fall colours of the trees, the snow arriving, the river freezing and then the river melting where a cascade of ice flows down the river and then spring brings the trees and flowers to life. It’s like a live Thomas Kincade view if you’ve ever seen one of his paintings.



There were two options of getting here and I chose to avoid the i89 and use backroads and then after 15 minutes I realised I only had a quarter tank of fuel so I asked google maps to find me a nearby gas station and once I started refuelling it stopped again after only 4 gallons (why does this keep happening ?) and then we drove past a Dicks Sporting Goods warehouse at a town called Williston. It was just after opening time so Kerry encouraged me to stop and go inside looking for some more DSG socks as the six pack I bought at Phoenix on day 2 are now a bit discoloured as we’ve not been able to separate whites / darks when washing and one of my new blue t-shirts might have run a little !



The price was posted as $9.99 but was also showing as $20.00 on the actual labelling and it turned out $9.99 was the correct price (this was even cheaper than I had paid in Phoenix). When I went to pay we were being served after a man in camouflage outfit who was with his son who was also in camouflage gear. The check out guy told us he had just spent $290- on new camouflage gear so I hope he finds what he is after !



Once we left DSG I was back on track for our route and I managed to find a covered bridge as planned but I had actually found the wrong covered bridge, but soon I found the right bridge and went to park the car at a nearby gas station for a visit to the restrooms and maybe get something for lunch but I found wine instead of lunch as you do. In fact the owner convinced me to by this Australian wine for $9.99 that his wine buyer had recently recommended called “Kings of Prohibition”. What could I say ?



We then walked down to the covered bridge to grab some photos and had lunch at “The Sweet Spot” by the river watching some guys doing fly fishing and I ordered the grilled cheese sandwich with copper, cheddar and romano cheeses (delightful). Kerry had the soup which was tomato, onion, garlic, heavy cream, hot pepper flakes with salt and pepper. After we ate I told them I would like to give them some feedback and the look on the face of this guy was amazing as he thought he was in some trouble until he heard me say “we have been travelling across america now for over 4 weeks and that was the best meal we have had yet”. It’s not often I say enough nice things to make someone’s day better but I’m trying.



We then kept going on the drive and we stopped at a couple of waterfalls at Warren and then Moss Glen. The weather was threatening to rain but still dry. We were listening to a Vermont country music channel (89.1 MHz I recall) and they were playing some good music and gave constant warnings about heavy raining coming tonight. Later we arrived in Manchester to visit Hildene House which was the home of Abraham Lincoln’s son Robert (home was built around 1905). It was beautifully restored and has on display his fathers famous top hat he was wearing when he was assassinated in 1865 and we also saw an old train carriage beautifully restored as he was the chairman of the train company until his death. It was amazing to see how the rich and famous travelled in such luxury back in the day.



We arrived in East Greenbush just outside of Albany (which is the state capital of New York) and as soon as we checked in we went to the Cracker Barrel Restaurant close by and on this occasion there was no waiting time for dinner and I chose a better option from the menu on this occasion with Southern Fried Chicken with 2 sides of a cheesy hash brown and corn kernels (lots of corn kernels in fact). Kerry had the same but her sides were mashed potato and corn kernels with some of the creamy white gravy as well. Kerry tried another sangria and asked for it without ice hoping for a full glass but it was only a quarter full and was way more expensive than my Budweiser. The waiter forgot to give us the complimentary biscuits so I tried after our meal to negotiate to get an apple strudel desert in lieu but no luck so the biscuits came in a doggy bag back to our room (and would not be eaten !).



We left Cracker Barrell around 7pm and it was raining now exactly as had been forecast by the radio channel we’d been listening to all day and once we got back into the room at the Hampton Inn & Suites the heavens really opened up and it was chucking it down hard on our window and the hotel car park was getting flooded. It is forecast to rain all night and clear in the morning so we have timed today’s drive quite well. I managed to find room in my belly for another muffin that I had grabbed at breakfast time from the Green Mountain Suites (definitely the best hotel breakfast we have had so far) and also finished off the last cider donut as my discipline with food is starting to wane quite badly now.

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