Back from Vermont

We're back home again from a five-day, four-night sojourn in Manchester, Vermont. Manchester is in southern Vermont, on the edge of the Green Mountain National Forest. We stayed at the Equinox Resort, which is lovely and charming, an older resort that fell into disrepair for a while but has been renovated to be better than the very bestest that it once was. Our stay featured perhaps the hottest weather that Vermont has seen and will see throughout the entire summer. Ninety-plus-degree heat coupled with swimming-through-air humidity inspired us to avoid strenuous outdoor activities after 11 AM or so, but we still made the most of our time there.

Manchester attracts people from all over the country and world--our tour of Hildene, the home of one of Lincoln's sons, included people from Germany, England, and Dubai--but most cars feature Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey plates. The town has only a couple of token chain restaurants (McDonald's and a Dunkin Donuts in a gas station)--though locally owned restaurants abound--and features a plethora of outlet stores, from the usual (Gap, Banana, Pac Sun) to the higher-end (Burberry, Coach, Armani) to the unusual (Peruvian Connection, Overland). Parking lots are overrun with Land Rovers and Lexus SUVs, though Subies were represented well, especially among cars with green plates.

The options for activities are somewhat limited--at times I wondered if we had taken the vacation 30 years too early, though we did see other people our age at the hotel--so we tried to spread them out over our time there. Here's what we did.

Hiking
We hiked up Equinox Mountain. By "up," I don't mean all the way up; we later encountered two women who had taken on the challenge and were glad that we chose a less strenuous challenge. We walked up to a scenic overlook that offered a nice view of the valley below.

Fishing
We took a 2-hour fly fishing lesson from an Orvis instructor. We had a few nibbles but no catches. I am far from a master at the technique, but I enjoyed learning something new, and the pond that we were fishing in was gorgeous, like something out of a movie.

Shopping
Despite the heat, I managed to convince myself to try on and buy two new jackets. One is a winter ski jacket, not as puffy or heavy as the EMS jacket that I wore in Germany and a bit more stylish. August is apparently a good time to buy winter wear in Vermont.

I also found and bought my dream raincoat, for which I have been searching for years. It's red, reaches to mid-thigh or so, has long-enough sleeves, includes a hood, and is waterproof without feeling like rubber. Even at 50 percent off the original price and an additional 30 percent discount, the price of the raincoat was 2 or 3 times more than I wanted to spend. But I couldn't leave the rainwear behind, or I'd regret the decision, potentially forever, or at least until I found a replacement raincoat, a task that could take years to accomplish, considering that I've been searching for at least 3 years and have in that time purchased 2 inadequate--but not inexpensive!--substitutes.

My coat collection has grown quite a bit in recent years and is too large--the overflow has moved out of our downstairs coat closet and into the closet in our spare bedroom, so it's time to cull the herd. I identified 4 jackets or coats that no longer make the cut, and I'll be passing them along to family members, friends, or anyone who is willing to take them off my hands. I've also started culling my shoe herd and found 4 pairs that I no longer wear; they're also getting passed along the way. Slowly, slowly I work toward owning only clothing that I love...

Adventure
Bromley Mountain offers skiing in the winter and adventure-like activities in the summer. We rode the alpine slide (wicked fun) - I rode on the first-time rider track (aka the slow track) and had a blast. I saw a little girl nearly fall off her sled on the track next to me and decided not to push my sled or myself too much.

We also rode a new ride, their zip line flyer, which is a chair on a half-mile-long zip line. You can reach up to 50 MPH as you fly down the mountain. It was a bit terrifying, being strapped into a chair by a couple of sullen teenagers as I thought, "what if they make a mistake or forget to attach something?" However, they were careful, and I survived and enjoyed it. B and I were released at about the same time but he still beat me down to the bottom.

Culture
Yes, there's always time for cultural activities on vacation. As I mentioned earlier, we toured Hildene, the summer estate of Abraham Lincoln's son. We also visited the Southern Vermont Arts Center, which featured an exhibit on canine art. We bought a couple of prints from the gallery across the street. More items that need to be framed...

Golf and spa
One of us golfed, and the other one went to the spa. You can probably guess who did what. My tension tamer massage was excellent. B played a great round of birthday golf.

Lounging
There was plenty of time for lounging. The Falcon Bar on the property of the hotel featured a deck area, complete with fire pit. The deck faced at Equinox Mountain and featured a menu with gourmet cheeses and chocolates each evening. Mmm - I preferred the chocolates but the cheese plate had some fun accoutrements, including salted, oily almonds (yum). We played some games, including Five Crowns (always awesome) and Yahtzee (mostly a game of luck, but strategy plays an important part, as I learned).

Overall, it was a lovely, relaxing trip, and I recommend the Equinox Resort and Manchester if you're looking for a low-key getaway.