Kutztown Folk Festival

Hey stranger! It's been a while! (Totally, 100% my fault.) As always, life has been happening, and I've been trying to enjoy it. I have a few posts planned for this month: Orioles Baseball, 4th of July, and then today. I'm also going to Louisville at the end of the month, and hope to have some great things to share with you then. How fast has this summer gone by?! I mean, seriously!

Anyway, so yesterday, my mom and I had one of our mother-daughter dates and this time, our adventures took us to Kutztown, PA. It's home to a university (who knew?), and also the Kutztown Folk Festival, which has been in operation since 1949. It celebrates Pennsylvania Dutch culture through the showcasing and selling of fine crafts, farming essentials, trades, quilts, and food. It's fantastic! It was a 2.5 hour drive for us, but it soon proved to be well worth the trip. Admission is $14 for adults, and gets cheaper from there. You can also find $2 off coupons online. The best part: parking is free! You can walk your dogs as you browse, and there are tons of things for children to do. Almost every station has an interactive element to get kids involved. There's also the only mule-powered carousel in the world. I took a picture, but I felt so bad for the mule . . . so I'm not going to post it. However, it's something for the kids, if they'd enjoy it.

Once you get into the Festival, there are just so many things to look at. You have blacksmiths, wood turners, metal workers, quilters, copper sprinklers, jewelry, pottery . . . literally everything you can imagine. Not to mention the food - fresh brick-oven baked breads, cinnamon rolls, pies, pretzels, meats, freshly brewed root and birch beers and sarsaparilla. Oh. My. Goodness. We could have stayed forever. It was so cool! And what honestly made it cool was that everyone that was there represented their craft, whether that was woodworkers, doormat makers (out of tires), bee cultivators, whatever. There was a glassblowing presentation. Each vendor sits and works on their specialty as you browse so you can see that the things you are buying are legit. 

The Quilt Barn was literally like a museum - for real, people were sitting on chairs and admiring the quilts. This is because Quilters pride themselves on doing every stitch by hand, if you're the real deal. My great-grandmother used to make quilts, and they are prized possessions in my family. This is why they're so valuable. You can cheat and do them on sewing machines, but deep down in your heart, you'd know you were a cheater. Anyway, every July 4 weekend, there is a massive quilt auction. Last year, one quilt sold for over $15,000!

Here are some of my favorite pictures from yesterday. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of the food that we had, but on the list was a GIANT cinnamon roll, eggplant fries with marinara, and an all-beef hot dog with sauerkraut. As well as fresh birch and root beers. Trust me, ALL diets were harmed in the making of this post ;) Enjoy!

 

 

 

Vermont - 802, Eat More Kale, and Moose Crossings

My most recent and anticipated trip was to Vermont. I hesitate to say the next part because I want to clarify that I'm not rich by any means. Most of the time, I live paycheck to paycheck because I use most of my "free" money on gas in order to do trips like these. The reason we were able to go to Vermont was because my mom has a timeshare that she can use on even-numbered years. This year, she wasn't using all of her points, and if she doesn't use all of them, they don't roll over but simply disappear. So, it was nice that she extended her points to me to use at pretty much any location I could afford to go to. New England has always been a place of mystery for me since, until two summers ago, the furthest north I had traveled to was New York City. So, I decided to pick Vermont. We stayed at Smuggler's Notch Resort, which is more family friendly and definitely at its peak during the winter months. However, overall, ended up being the perfect choice, and here's why:

1. There's a little something for everyone. My boyfriend is a lover of craft breweries and cheese. Vermont has both of those, in abundance. There are over 40 craft breweries alone, and they even have a passport that you can use to get free stuff (as well as free samples - without the passport). Cheese is also a famous product - think Cabot Creamery. Yeah, that's Vermont.
2. Maple Syrup. Homemade. Pretty much at every house along a semi-busy road, available in ice cream flavors (soft serve is called a creemee), cotton candy, hard candy, bacon . . . everything.
3. Small towns - Burlington, one of their biggest towns, is a college town of 45-48,000 normally. With students coming in to the four major colleges in the area (UVM included), it can swell to over 100,000. However, it feels small and quaint most of the time. Montpelier, their capital, is only 8,000 people and it's counted between Montpelier and East Montpelier. You'll definitely feel secluded and at home, if you dig the small town vibe.
4. Outdoor activities abundant. In the winter, skiing and snowboarding is a must. During the summer, Lake Champlain supplies avid opportunities for waterskiing, sailing, and everything else that goes along with water activities. Not to mention, hiking and biking in the mountains. Vermonters are outdoorsy people, so there's usually something to do in nature for all seasons.
5. Local everything. Not only do they have food options for pretty much any preference (almost every restaurant you go to, they have vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free options), but most of their businesses aim to use local products. They have an open mind to all cultures, lifestyles, and world views, but they are locally centered. It's pretty cool.

I had the Fodor's Guide to New England, which was really helpful in at least giving a starting point for things to do. We had an outline of ideas for every day we were in Vermont, but we ended up finding other cool things to do instead. And, most of our excursions were in the northern part of the state. Because it's New England, there is a lot of history. Most of it is Revolutionary History, and the wars that happened before and after (French and Indian War, the War of 1812, etc.). Since we were only up there for three full days and were on a budget, we didn't see as many historical sights as probably a next trip will warrant, but here are some activities that you can look into depending on your interests. (Read: the things we didn't really see, but maybe will next time - because there will for sure be a next time.)

For Those Who Love History

• Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park. In Woodstock, it's Vermont's only national park and the first in the US to focus on national resource conservation. It has Billings' mansion and gardens as well as guides that services every hour on the hour. Their website is here. Tours are $8.
• Wilson Castle. In Rutland, it was completed in 1827 and belonged to a Vermonter who married a British aristocrat. It took eight years to build, but is a 32-room mansion that brags 84 stained-glass windows, 13 fireplaces, and hand-painted Italian frescoes. More information can be found at their website. Tours are $10.
• Stephen A. Douglas Museum. In Brandon, about 15 miles northwest of Rutland, the American statesman was born here. If you're interested in his early life, as well as early history of the town and the anti-slavery movement in Vermont, this sounds like a good stop. Free of charge, and open daily from 9 am to 5 pm. Information at their website.
• Vermont Museum. In the capital of Montpelier, this museum recounts the 150 years of state history. For $5, you can learn about everything from Ethan Allen to the now extinct catamount. Visit their website for more information. Be sure to check out their State House while in Montpelier. Tours are free, but donations are accepted. You can't miss it - it's a gold-domed structure surrounded by smaller, less memorable buildings.
• Trapp Family Lodge. This is located in Stowe, which is about 22 miles northwest of Montpelier, but was built by the von Trapp family from the Sound of Music. You can take tours, stay there, and during the winter, there is a ski-accessible-only cabin that serves food. There is also the Trapp Lager Brewery with local brews that are worth a try and also on your Vermont Brewers Passport. More information at their website.
• The Ethan Allen Homestead Museum. During the Revolutionary War-era, Ethan Allen was a guerrilla fighter who lived an elaborate life. His house, in Burlington, gives you a look into that life. It costs $5 to tour, and offers scenic hiking trails along the Winooski river. Information can be found here.
• Lake Champlain Maritime Museum. Located in Vergennes, this museum is central to Vermont history because its location along Lake Champlain. It's $10 for entry, but it seems like a really fun and educational stop if you enjoy Maritime history. More information can be found at their website.

Because of the length that this post is getting, I'm going to call it quits on things to do and see in Vermont. However, all of my information was from the Fodor's guide I mentioned earlier. You can purchase it at your local bookstore or on Amazon (for cheaper). My other posts on Vermont from here on out will be what we did while we were there, so I hope you enjoy.

Adieu Caribou! xoxo

National Gallery of Art

Wednesdays are usually mom days. That means my mom and I hang out, whether it's watching TV at her house, or going to the gym, or eating somewhere new for lunch. Today has been a day that we've been planning for a couple of weeks - homeleave was originally planned to start today (which means all the boarding school kids go home for the rest of the week), but because of the excess of snow days, we had to cut it short. So, we parked by the Jefferson Memorial, as usual. It's quite a hike, but it's free parking and the walk isn't bad if you're into DC, I guess.

We could only manage to make it to the National Gallery of Art, which was our main goal anyway. It doesn't compare to any other galleries I've been to recently. The national galleries are always the best: Rembrandt, Monet, Van Gogh, Bernini, Degas, Rothko. And the atmosphere is always amazing. They had a special archives gallery based on the recent release of Monuments Men, and though it was small, it was really great. Other exhibits included Heaven and Earth: Art of Byzantium from Greek Collections, Modern German Prints and Drawings from the Kainen Collection, and the showcase of The Dying Gaul: An Ancient Roman Masterpiece from the Capitoline Museum, Rome. The latter was made in marble in the 1st or 2nd century AD and its showing in the National Gallery marks the first time it has left Rome since 1797 (before, it was housed in the Louvre until 1816 - can anyone guess why?).

The Dying Gaul

My mom usually isn't into these kinds of things, but I appreciate how she can find something to like in pretty much any situation, whether it be Bike Week in Daytona or the National Gallery in DC. She walked around commenting and analyzing the pieces, being more drawn to the ones feature nature and splendid amounts of detail as their focal points.

Although it was cold today, it ended up being a good day to be inside admiring art. We had a great lunch (with gelato for dessert) at the café downstairs, and then headed home after the long trek back the car.

One of my favorites, Lake Lucern by Albert Bierstadt.

Hercules in bronze.

Nymph of Spring

Nymph of the Forest

Adieu Caribou! xoxo