The next morning, we had a quick breakfast in the hotel lobby (pocketing a couple cereal boxes for the road trip -come on, "everyone" does it!) and took off for the 5-mile morning race. I loved this race. Meg came up with the idea of me holding this sign i loved he pic and check our Bridget's hair - she's channeling her inner Keith Richards!
The course reminded me of my cross country training runs back in Wheelersburg on the county roads. The best part was that Coach Bill Luti was actually giving out 2-mile splits and I so so so wanted to take a picture with him! The course ran through a private school grounds-just beautiful! The finish was at the Concord High School and reminded me of trail racing. Lots of runners sitting around in the grass just enjoying each other's company. Great atmosphere and wonderful race experience. Thank you New Hampshire!
Afterwards, we immediately found a playground foe Bridget to burn off some energy, then trecked to Hanover for a visit to the beautiful Dartmouth campus.
Boy did we score. Hanover was having a street fair on Saturday! We each got some dartmouth gear, had a fantastic lunch at Molly's where Meg had the "best burger ever" and Bridget did her monster impersonation with penne pasta fingers, then capped off our experience with lattes from Dirt Cowboy. Thanks, Karen, for the spot-on recommendstions! You know us perfectly!
Next stop: Ben & Jerry's to sample their yumminess. Meg got her shirt, Bridget picked up a cow bell (to cheer me on at my races!) and we all sampled yummy ice cream. Bridget had strawberry cheesecake, Meg had their chocowlate chip and I had imagine whirled peace. We checked out the graveyard, played on the playground (all of us) and the girls tried their hands at spinner art! Great afternoon!
Headed down the road to Stowe, checked into our room and decided to go for a quick swim before dinner. We had pasta at Pie in the Sky - great little pizza and pasta joint. We laid out a map of Stowe, read the travel book and made our food/shopping plans for the next day. Can't wait!
Got up early Sunday morning to pick up my race packet/bib. The website listed Ye Olde English Inn, but it was wrong and I had to hike it over to the start location. The sun was already pretty hot so I knew I was in for quite a race. I won't go into more detail, other than to say I was terribly disappointed with the course and its organization. Post-race wasn't anything to write home about. With a vibrant New England craft brewery scene, we were served PBR! No thank you. So us girls headed down the road to the Stowe Harvest Market (think Dean & Deluca!) for morning treats and Green Mountain coffee. Then off to shopping. The rule is we each get to bring home one nice thing on each of our trips. This way, you get something special, but you have to be mindful that you only get one thing. Bridget got her beautiful dress at Bumblebell with her very own hot pink ice cream scooper. I found a versatile (and on sale) scarf at In Company and Meg got her "one thing" at Dartmouth - a beautiful rugby stripe hoodie. To finish off our Vermont experience, we stopped at Black Cap for a maple latte and Cold Hollow Apple Cider Mill for the 4th best donuts in the U.S. And to sample apple cider. It was priceless to watch Bridget sample the fresh pressed apple juice and comment after each sampling. It was like being at a wine tasting for toddlers! It was truly a perfect afternoon!
We then made our way back to Boston. Room service was just what we tired girls needed and it didn't disappoint!
Looking forward to making this an annual tradition!
You all are so darn cute! Is your GWS your new favorite shirt? Mine sure is :)
ReplyDeleteI love that shirt. What a cool design, too! Thanks again for hooking Meg up with Liz. She truly enjoyed working with her and is looking forward to volunteering more, including at your Rev3 tri for GWS.
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