Woodstock, Vermont

We drove through Woodstock, Vermont on a rainy afternoon.

An interactive map of the town:

Welcome to Woodstock (unrelated to the famous music festival, that was originally going to be in Woodstock, New York):

Welcome to Woodstock

Woodstock

Woodstock

Woodstock

Woodstock

Woodstock

Woodstock

We headed out of town, looking for a place to stop for dinner, and came across the Long Trail Brewing Pub:

Long Trail

Long Trail

Long Trail

Long Trail

Long Trail

Long Trail

A nice creekside view:

Long Trail

And tasty food:

Long Trail

Long Trail

Long Trail

Then we headed back to Woodstock; here’s another covered bridge:

Covered bridge

Woodstock

Woodstock

 

And another:

Covered bridge

We would have liked to spend more time exploring the town, but had to make do with a quick drive through.

Ben & Jerry’s Factory Tour

We visited Ben & Jerry’s original factory for their guided tour.

Ben & Jerry's Factory Tour

Ben & Jerry's Factory Tour

Ben & Jerry's Factory Tour

Ben & Jerry's Factory Tour

Ben & Jerry's Factory Tour

Starting the tour:

Ben & Jerry's Factory Tour

Ben & Jerry's Factory Tour

Unfortunately they didn’t allow photos during the tour, despite their site saying “there are plenty of photos ops”, perhaps because they weren’t manufacturing during our tour; it was a cleaning cycle.

Afterwards, a taste of ice cream:

Ben & Jerry's Factory Tour

Ben & Jerry's Factory Tour

While that would be interesting, the flavor we tried was actually:

Ben & Jerry's Factory Tour

Ben & Jerry's Factory Tour

Examples:

Ben & Jerry's Factory Tour

Available here:

Ben & Jerry's Factory Tour

Gift store:

Ben & Jerry's Factory Tour

Ben & Jerry's Factory Tour

Back outside:

Ben & Jerry's Factory Tour

Ben & Jerry's Factory Tour

The Flavor Graveyard of retired flavors:

Flavor Graveyard

Flavor Graveyard

Flavor Graveyard

Flavor Graveyard

Flavor Graveyard

Flavor Graveyard

Flavor Graveyard

A fun experience, though a little disappointing that they weren’t manufacturing at the time.

Travel from Richfield Springs, New York to White River Junction, Vermont

We drove our coach 261 miles, about five hours of driving, from Richfield Springs, New York to White River Junction, Vermont.

Here’s a map showing our route, heading northeast — not the most direct route, but the easiest, sticking with interstates, instead of twisty highways:

Route map

An interactive map, with potential stops pinned; we went through Massachusetts, but didn’t stop, so that doesn’t count as a visited state — but we’ll get it in a few weeks time, so that’s fine:

A short video of engaging the tow bar and doing a pull test to ensure the truck wheels turn as we prepare to leave:

Narrow road:

Narrow road

US-20:

US-20

US-20

Exit to I-88 East:

Exit to I-88 East

Exit to I-90 East:

Exit to I-90 East

Tolls:

Tolls

Rest area:

Rest area

Starbucks for lunch:

Starbucks for lunch

Starbucks for lunch

South to I-87:

South to I-87

Exit to I-90 East:

Exit to I-90 East

Narrow roadworks:

Narrow roadworks

Narrow bridge:

Narrow bridge

Fuel stop:

Fuel stop

Massachusetts Welcomes You:

Massachusetts Welcomes You

Steep Grade Next 6 Miles:

Steep Grade Next 6 Miles

Exit to I-91:

Exit to I-91

Narrow roadworks:

Narrow roadworks

Exit to I-91 North:

Exit to I-91 North

Welcome to Vermont:

Welcome to Vermont

Rest area:

Rest area

5% grade:

5% grade

Exit to I-89 North:

Exit to I-89 North

Exit to US-4:

Exit to US-4

Arriving at campground:

Arriving at campground

Following coach up steep narrow curvy road:

Following coach up steep narrow curvy road

Cooperstown

We visited Cooperstown, New York to go to the Baseball Hall of Fame (see tomorrow’s post), but before that we wandered through the town, and had lunch.

Village of Cooperstown

Downtown:

Downtown

Doubleday Field:

Doubleday Field

Doubleday Field

We had lunch at the HardBall Cafe:

Menu

Menu

BLTs, fries, mozzarella sticks:

BLT, fries, cheesesticks

More of the town:

More of the town

More of the town

More of the town

More of the town

More of the town

A cute town, but very touristy, unsurprisingly.

Baseball: Toronto Blue Jays vs Philadelphia Phillies

We attended a game of the Toronto Blue Jays vs Philadelphia Phillies, playing at the Blue Jay’s ballpark, Rogers Centre, the only MLB team in Canada.

Jenn’s game summary:

Our first domed stadium. They can open the roof, but it was closed due to drizzle and maybe wildfire smoke. A lovely park with excellent food and a vibrant atmosphere. The Blue Jays came out for four runs in the 2nd and 3rd innings each to make total cream cheese of the Phillies, who only scraped together one run. Bassitt recorded his 1100th career strikeout, and Bo Bichette hit his 8th home run of the year. It was a fun game with a bit of local color—they sang a song called “OK Blue Jays” before “Take Me Out To the Ballgame,” and everyone knew the words and gestures, creating a great community vibe.

An interactive map of the ballpark environs:

This ballpark was a little more difficult to get to, as we had to cross an international border into Canada:

Welcome to Canada

Toronto:

Toronto

CN Tower:

CN Tower

CN Tower

Toronto Blue Jays:

Toronto Blue Jays

Toronto Blue Jays

Team store:

Team store

Mary Brown’s Chicken:

Mary Brown's Chicken

Poutine (of course) and chicken tenders:

Poutine and chicken tenders

Selfie from our seats in Section 119, Row 12, Seats 13 & 14:

Selfie from our seats

Closed dome:

Closed dome

Ace, the Blue Jays mascot:

Ace, the Blue Jays mascot

Cheerleaders:

Cheerleaders

Play ball:

Baseball

Baseball

Baseball

Baseball

Baseball

Baseball

Hotel rooms overlooking the field:

Hotel rooms overlooking the field

A run scores:

Run scores

Two more runs:

Run scores

The mascot “helping” the grounds crew:

Mascot helping grounds crew

Exploring the ballpark:

Exploring the ballpark

Exploring the ballpark

Exploring the ballpark

Exploring the ballpark

Exploring the ballpark

Exploring the ballpark

Exploring the ballpark

Exploring the ballpark

Exploring the ballpark

Chungchun rice hot dogs:

Chungchun rice hot dogs

Gamsung hot dog covered in potato, and half mozzarella hot dog:

Chungchun rice hot dogs

Cheerleader:

Cheerleader

Blue Jays win:

Blue Jays win

Ballpark

Travel from Newbury, Ohio to Youngstown, New York

We drove our coach 213 miles, about four hours of driving, from Newbury, Ohio to Youngstown, New York.

Here’s a map showing our route, heading northeast:

Route

An interactive map, with potential stops pinned:

Rain pouring off slide topper:

Rain pouring off slide topper

Needed to return the laminated parking pass:

Needed to return the parking pass

Road near Newbury, Ohio:

Road near Newbury, Ohio

I-90 East:

I-90 East

Fuel stop:

Fuel stop

BK for lunch:

BK for lunch

Paladin on the dash when we returned to our coach:

Paladin on the dash when we return to our coach

Toe beans:

Toe beans

Paladin on the dash when underway:

Paladin on the dash when underway

Welcome to Pennsylvania:

Welcome to Pennsylvania

A truck took the curve too fast, and rolled over; that’s going to take a while to clean up:

Truck took the curve to fast

Truck took the curve to fast

Welcome to New York:

Welcome to New York

New York Tollway:

New York Tollway

Service plaza parking:

Service plaza parking

Not something you see on a trailer every day:

Not something you see on a trailer every day

Text stop parking area; a good idea:

Text stop parking area; a good idea

Buffalo:

Buffalo

Tonawanda bridge:

Tonawanda bridge

Welcome to the City of Niagara Falls; we avoided the Niagara Scenic Parkway due to the 12’ 0” height restriction (we are 11’ 7”, rather close):

Welcome to City of Niagara Falls

And definitely avoided accidentally heading to Canada:

Exit

Arriving at Four Mile Creek State Park:

Arriving at Four Mile Creek State Park

Our site:

Our site

Our coach:

Our coach

Little did we know we’d be here a little longer than expected….

Baseball: Cleveland Guardians vs Los Angeles Angels

We attended a game of the Cleveland Guardians vs the Los Angeles Angels, playing at the Guardians’ ballpark, Progressive Field.

Jenn’s game summary:

A fun game with some interesting scoring stuff I’d never seen before, including a single that was also an E7 and then an “OAD 3-6-5” with the batter thrown out at third. Also, a delayed HBP call on a final out, so guys were back in the dugout and had to get back out to continue. The Angels struck first with back-to-back homers in the third (just after the above wacky play). Mike Trout got a couple singles and an RBI double, but the Guardians got three homers of their own (José Ramirez, Steven Kwan, and Carlos Santana) with some other hits mixed in to eventually win it 7-5. The food was pretty terrible (dogs were both soggy & burnt?!) but really good nachos and ice cream saved the day.

An interactive map of the ballpark:

Progressive Field:

Progressive Field

Progressive Field

Long line for the team store:

Long line for the team store

Team store

Pretzel, gross hot dog, soda, and water:

Pretzel, gross hot dog, soda, and water

More edible mozzarella sticks and tots:

More edible mozzarella sticks and tots

Angels vs Guardians:

Angels vs Guardians

Cheerleader:

Cheerleader

Seat selfie:

Seat selfie

The view from our seats in Section 136, Row Y, Seats 1 & 2:

View from our seats

Play ball:

Baseball

Baseball

Baseball

Baseball

Baseball

Baseball

Baseball

This guy a few seats down from us caught a foul ball:

This guy a few seats down from us caught a foul ball

Heritage park:

Heritage park

Heritage park

Heritage park

Heritage park

Bullpens:

Bullpens

Exploring the ballpark:

Exploring the ballpark

Exploring the ballpark

Exploring the ballpark

Exploring the ballpark

Exploring the ballpark

Exploring the ballpark

Exploring the ballpark

Exploring the ballpark

Exploring the ballpark

Exploring the ballpark

Exploring the ballpark

Exploring the ballpark

Exploring the ballpark

Exploring the ballpark

Exploring the ballpark

Nice nachos:

Nachos

Nachos

Home run:

Home run

Perry’s ice cream:

Perry's ice cream

Churro sundae:

Churro sundae

Play under review:

Play under review

Baseball

Scores:

Scores

Guardians win:

Guardians win

Mangia! Mangia!

We had dinner at Mangia! Mangia!, self-described as “A Really Good Italian Restaurant”… and we have to admit, they weren’t lying.

The large parking lot was packed, but we managed to snag one of a couple empty spots. We were worried that they’d be too busy, but were seated straight away.

The menu:

Menu

Menu

Menu

Jenn’s veal parmigana & noodles:

Veal parmigana & noodles

My lasagna:

Lasagna

I also had a baked spud side:

Also baked spud side

Dessert menu:

Dessert menu

We shared a cannoli:

Cannoli

Everything was delicious. We can see why it’s a popular place.