Vermont State Craft Fair Road Trip, Day One

This morning, I made my west to Worcester to meet my Mom at my parents' house. Every weekend before Thanksgiving, Mom and I head north to Burlington, VT for the Vermont Hand Crafters, Inc. Annual Holiday Fine Crafts & Art Show. We were out of Worcester by 9 AM, and by 9:15 we had coffee and bagels in hand and were leaving Paxton, MA, behind...

The ride north was uneventful. I made Mom a CD (another annual tradition), which quickly gave way to a few hours of iPod fun, and after only one quick bathroom stop in Rutland, we were in Middlebury!

We headed straight for Noonie's Deli in the Marbleworks for sandwiches, and walked across the river to Frog Hollow to check out their offerings before heading still further north.

Mom and I may be creatures of tradition, but we're always open to a little adventure, and this year we found it in Charlotte! The Charlotte Senior Center was hosting a benefit Artisan's Fair. We turned off Route 7 at the traffic light in Charlotte, and there it was! We saw mostly cutsie stuff, with the exception of two presenters. One was an extraordinary quilter, and the other made appliqued felted wool scarves that were to die for!

As we made our exit, we saw signs for Charlotte Village Winery!

Winery! Oooooooh!

Turns out the wine is pretty good. We had a free tasting, a nice chat with one of the owners, and bought a few bottles to support the wine making. Plus the view from the tasting room and attached deck was an unobstructed Adirondack Mountain vista, complete with sparkling Lake Champlain spread out below. ::sigh::

After checking in to the Comfort Inn on Williston Rd, we looked up some movie times, and headed back into Burlington to park the car near Church St. We picked up some penuche at Lake Champlain Chocolates, and bought two tickets to see "A Good year". Dinner was at American Flatbread's Burlington Hearth - delicious!

Color us crashed. To bed!