Attention cheese lovers!  Vermont should hold high rank on your travel bucket list.  With 45 different cheese makers scattered across this small state, you'll surely find a new favorite snack at one of these farms nestled in New England's mountains.

In early April, Chris and I decided to embark on an impromptu self-guided tour of Vermont's cheese trail.  For years we have enjoyed Vermont cheeses sold at local markets in Boston, but we have never ventured out on the cheese trail to taste freshly made cheese directly from the source.  

The Vermont Cheese Trail map along with some pamphlets we picked up along the way. You can print your own map here or see it in Google Maps: 

I quickly learned two lessons from our cheese tour experience:

1) Early April is not the best time to go. Many of the cheese makers are closed for the season and the weather is unpredictable. The first day was sunny and a balmy 70 degrees F. The second day was freezing,windy and snowy.  Early May might have been a better choice. 

2) Going on a cheese tour while pregnant can be a bit...well...tortuous.  Much of the cheese is freshly made with raw milk - a no-no food for pregnancy.  Luckily there were a couple of options made with pasteurized milk so I could partake in sampling.  A tip for the pregnant ladies: you can eat raw milk cheese as long as you heat it up. So bring on the grilled cheese! 

During our two day tour, we visited three cheese makers:

1. Plymouth Artisan Cheeses
2. Cabot Creamery Cooperative
3. Shelbourne Farms
   

We would have been able to squeeze in two more had we planned our trip beforehand and called ahead to arrange a time at those creameries that are appointment only.  But this was a last minute get-in-the-car-and-go trip so c'est la vie! 

Not only is it fun to taste the cheese, but the drive through Vermont is beautiful and each property has a really fascinating history.   Here is a brief recap of each:

Plymouth Artisan Cheeses: Presidential Roots

• Operating for 124 years, it's the second oldest cheese factory in the USA. 
• The factory was founded by the father of Calvin Coolidge, the 30th president of the USA.
• The factory's location has not changed since it's inception in 1890. There is a little museum above the shop where you can see the original cheese making equipment. 
• Here we purchased the Sage & Herbs cheese and two bags of our favorite almonds from The Mapled Nut, a Vermont owned gourmet nut company.  These almonds are so good that we finished them in a matter of minutes!

The charming and tiny town of Plymouth, VT. It's the birthplace and childhood home of USA President Calvin Coolidge and long time home to Plymouth Artisan Cheese.  The former President is buried across the street.

Above the store is an exhibit of old fashioned cheese making tools and the history of the factory. 

Present day cheese factory. Unfortunately, they weren't making cheese while we were there. 

Our favorite snack -The Mapled Nut gourmet almonds!  I also loved the unique design of each cheese label. 

Cabot Creamery Cooperative: Strength in Numbers

• Cabot isn't just one cheese maker, it's actually a cooperative of over 1,000 dairy farm families! 
• In the early 20th century, there was an excess supply of milk so farmers from the Cabot region joined forces and combined their extra milk to make butter under the Rosedale brand name. 
• Although the number of Vermont dairy farms shrank in the mid 60's, Cabot retained hundreds of members supplying milk to make their increasingly popular cheddar cheeses.
• We sampled all the cheeses on display at the Visitor's Center just outside of Stowe and our favorites were the horseradish cheese and the chipotle cheese. I love the horseradish cheese so much that I've begun purchasing it regularly at my grocery store in Cambridge. 

Chris sampling various Cabot cheeses at the shop. There had to be at least 20 different types!

Three cheers for pasteurized cheese! We purchased the horseradish (my favorite) and chipotle cheeses. 

Shelburne Farms: A Vanderbilt Legacy

• Situated along Lake Champlain, just south of Burlington, this 1,400 acre working farm is a National Historic Landmark.
• In the late 1800's, Lila Vanderbilt Webb (Cornelius'' granddaughter) and her husband acquired this land and hired the famous landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted to develop it (the same Olmsted that designed New York's Central Park).
• The farm is MASSIVE and consists of several stunning buildings designed by R.H. Robertson. 
• During the summer, visitors can stay at The Inn at Shelburne Farms. It's seasonal because heat was never installed at this summer "house". 
• The farm is currently a non-profit organization that helps educators and children learn about sustainable living and farming.
• While the highlight of this visit was definitely touring the grounds (even in the brutal snow and wind), the cheese was also very good. Here we purchased a 6 month aged cheddar and a horseradish mustard that pairs nicely with Chris' sautéed brussel sprouts. 

The Shelburne Farms tasting room and shop. The woman working here was very helpful and knowledgeable, but too shy to pose behind the counter for the picture. 

This is the Farm Barn - home to the bakery, cheese making facilities administrative offices, an elementary school, the children's farm and more. It's the most spectacular barn I've ever seen! 

The backyard of the Inn, facing a frozen Lake Champlain.  I'm looking forward to coming back here when the lake has thawed and everything is green.

This concludes our very first experience on the Vermont Cheese Trail.  There are still 42 more cheesemakers to visit so I know we'll be back on the trail again soon. 

If you are curious about where we stayed, we played it by ear knowing it was shoulder season in Vermont and demand would be low. We ended up getting a deal via Priceline at  The Essex Resort just outside of Burlington. We booked the room on our phone a few hours before checking in. Our room was very cozy and comfortable and we were only about 20 minutes from Burlington where we spent the evening and dined at Church & Maine.  Check out more photos from Burlington here. 

Late summer brings fast, but mighty storms to New England.  Sometimes, these storms result in spectacular light, especially during the magic hours around sunset.  A recent summer storm cast vibrant colors across our family farm and the Vermont countryside. Here are some of my favorite shots of this stormy Saturday afternoon:

The next day turned out to be a perfect day, weather wise:

A small reminder that winter is coming:

Despite what many may think, Vermont can get really HOT in the summer. What better way to cool off than a swim? While Vermont has its share of refreshing lakes, many locals chill out in nearby quarry pools.  One of said pools is located in Dorset, VT and after many years of passing by this swimming hole on our way to the family farm, we finally stopped to check it out.  Why we have never stopped here before is beyond me!  We love a unique adventure and as you may recall from our recent Costa Rica trip, Chris enjoys a good cliff jump. 

The Dorset quarry is located on Route 30 close to the town of Manchester, VT - a good spot for shopping and dining.  The quarry is easy to see from the road because there are swimmers mulling about and cars in the parking lot nearby. 

This quarry was created in 1785 making it the oldest marble quarry in the United States.  In fact, the marble from this quarry was used to build the New York Public Library.  Now an underground spring fills the quarry with clear water making it a popular destination for scuba divers and swimmers.  The smooth marble slabs that surround the pool offer several jumping points ranging from 2 feet to 25 feet high.  The water is cold, but refreshing, especially on a hot, sunny day. 

Kids love the quarry and since they tend to be completely immune to cold water, they can probably spend the entire day jumping into the water.  I overheard one little boy say to his mother - "Mom this is way better than the lake!".   Keep in mind that the water is deep and there are no lifeguards here so kids should be monitored at all times and those that are not strong swimmers should wear life vests. 

These brave gents  attempted one of the higher jumps:

The most courageous visitors jump from the highest point - about 25 feet above the water:

After cooling off in the water, we quickly warmed up by sitting on the dry marble in the sun. Visitors usually pack full picnics comprised of goodies from the local VT farmers markets.  We snacked on baby cucumbers and  juicy peaches from a nearby farm stand.  

We did a little research after our swimming adventure in Dorset and turns out there are a lot of swimming holes in Vermont!  The website Swimmingholes.org is a great resource to finding these hidden gems. Needless to say, we have a lot more exploring to do in Vermont!  

If you have been reading this blog a while, you might remember when I serendipitously ran into two people I knew in Barcelona.  Well it happened again! This time during our visit to the Dorset quarry. 

When I was a tot back in the early 80's, I lived in a small apartment complex on a road called Blachley. My parents were close with all the neighbors and we became a tight-knit community where the kids spent endless days at the playground while the parents BBQ'ed to the tunes of the latest Bill Joel soundtrack. We were so tight that we branded ourselves the "Blachlely Buddies"with yellow t-shirts (which were also tight because it was early 80s). 

[Pictured Above] The Blachely Buddies. Ahhhh the 80s!  [Pictured Below] Me in my yellow T. 

Two of said Buddies, were teenaged sisters named Regina & Eileen, who  often looked after us younger kids.  As time passed we all moved and lost touch, until a few years ago where we reconnected via Facebook.  The Friday before our trip up to VT, Regina posted an old picture of us on Facebook.  Fast forward a day to my arrival at Dorset quarry.  I heard someone call my name and thought "who in the world knows me HERE?"  Sure enough it was Regina and her sister Eileen who were vacationing in Southern VT that week.  They had heard about this swimming hole and decided to check it out with their family for the day .  What are the odds that, after 30 years, we see each other again in Dorset, of all places?  Anyway, we captured our reunion with this photo.  All that was missing was our yellow t-shirts!

Vermont is one of those states that can be enjoyed any time of year and while many people consider peak season fall/winter for leaf peeping and skiing, I think it's most beautiful in the spring/early summer.  I spent the last weekend in June with Chris and my parents hiking in western Vermont. We met at Merck Forest in Rupert where we started our day with a picnic lunch and then spent a few hours hiking through the property, which is home to many animals, stunning vistas of the Green Mountains, and webs of maple syrup tubes. 

Even if you aren't familiar with Merck Forest, you have likely heard of its benefactor - George Merck of Merck Pharmaceuticals. In the 1950s, George Merck donated 2,600 acres of land to be used for public use. Now Merck Forest & Farmland Center is a nonprofit organization dedicated to teaching innovative, sustainable management of forest and farmland. They offer a variety of activities such as hiking, camping, hunting, workshops and school programs. 

Southwest Vermont makes for a relaxing summer weekend destination. Merck Forest has a variety of trails for all levels and there are several other activities nearby: Manchester for shopping & dining, Dorset for golf & quarry jumping, and Lake Saint Catherine for swimming, boating, and fishing. 

Here are some pictures from our hike at Merck:

After our hike, we stopped at the Battenkill Valley Creamery for some well-deserved ice cream (we were hiking for almost 3 hours!). It was a little out of the way but they have the most delicious black raspberry ice cream, so it was worth it. We brought a few pints back to our family's farm where we met my aunt who was also at the house for the weekend. It was nice to be back at the farm and to see the garden in full bloom. That night we saw a spectacular show from Mother Nature. The fireflies (or lightning bugs as I like to call them) were out in all their glory. At the farm, the nights sometimes get really dark - almost pitch black. We found a dark area where hundreds of blinking fireflies surrounded us, looking like glitter, falling in the air. It was a perfect ending to a wonderful summer day.