First day of Fall: Nailed it!

---

I had major flashbacks to my UK trip this morning on the train from Grand Central to White Plains New York to pick up our rental car. Time for the best part of the trip! Our Mazda 5 looks like a mini-minivan, but gave us plenty of room for our luggage (...and lots of souvenirs). Within the first 30mins of our trip we had already found our first adventure—Sleepy Hollow! My family used to watch the cartoon version of Sleepy Hollow and I fell in love with that goofy Ichabod Crain. This was very necessary detour. Normally I have things very planned when I travel, but this trip was loosely mapped out and we have just decided things as we go. It's both stressful and exciting at the same time.





The city is pretty small and wasn't very touristy. Really the best way to get the Sleepy Hollow vibe was to go to the cemetery for pics on the Headless Horseman Bridge. Not the original one, but I was still watching for a big black horse and a weapon wielding horseman. There are also some high-roller mausoleums in the graveyard, Rockefeller, Chrysler, etc. Sophie was making fun of me because I kept collecting acorns. I know we have small ones back in Utah, but these suckers were huge! They looked like cartoon acorns. I just had to stuff a few in my pocket to bring home for moms “rock” collection.





After Sleepy Hollow we passed an Apple Cider Mill in Pine Hill and screeched to a stop in order to pick up a cup. The mill was really small, but the owners were so nice and demonstrated the process for us. The taste of the cider was fall in a cup! We were really nailing this “fall” thing so far. Next was a stop in Litchfield, Connecticut for some lunch. We ate at some place called The Village and I had a warm cup of French Onion soup with a walnut-berry-Gorgonzola salad. *You'll notice cheese as a prominent character in this trip blog.* Why don't I eat good food like this at home?? Oh yeah, I'd be 400lbs...





Taking a small break from food, we drove to the Yankee Candle Factory on our way to Shelburne, which ended up being a highlight of the trip. Of course we had to make our own candles, dip our own candles, and even make wax impressions of our hands. When in Rome! My candle was a layered vanilla and pumpkin spice—I can't wait to take it home and infuse my home with the scent of fall! The first wax impression I did was supposed to be an “e” in sign language for my niece, Edyn, but it crumbled as they were removing it from my hand, so I did an “I love you” in ASL instead. If I can get that thing back to Utah in one piece, I will be very surprised. We wandered the rooms and rooms of candle products and then came across this elaborate Christmas village that they have set up. It was beautiful! They had snow (teeny foam bubbles) falling in a room of pine trees, Santa's workshop for kids, and a massive set up of Christmas village homes that my mom would have died over. I spent way too much money at that place, but we did have a really great time!





It was an exhausting day, but we were wanting some more fall treats so we stopped at the grocery store and I picked up some halloween cookies and Sophie bought some nasty candy corn. Yes, Halloween is my favorite holiday, but I detest candy corn. Blech. We drove and drove some more until we finally came into the tiny village of Shelburne: population 1,000, and checked into our Dancing Bear Guesthouse. Such a nice guy and such a quaint, cozy place to stay. I would highly recommend it! P.S. Did you know that Bill Cosby lives in Shelburne...? For reals! It was only 730 or so by that time, but everything was closed. When I say everything, I mean that we only had 2 options for dinner in the entire city. A quick 15min walk across town and we had hit the city limits. Our best option was the West End Pub which ended up having the most amazing turkey burger I've ever had. That wrapped up day one of the road trip leg of our journey! I'd say that we rang in fall with quite a bang!!

---

Comments

[D MJ Binkley]

Fall in New England
Lovely photo.