The Vermont Cheese Trail

Mr. Hunter and family spent a day driving around southern Vermont, and we realized that there might be some good cheeses to be found along the way.  Turns out there's even a Vermont Cheese Trail, although many of the dairy farms and cheesemakers were located further north in the state.  

But in addition to sampling cheese at the Vermont Country Store, we managed to visit two dairy farms: Taylor Farm in Londonderry, makers of Gouda cheese and home to some wondrous Beglian draft horses, and Hildene Farm, which is located on the grounds of Hildene, the Vermont summer home of Robert Todd Lincoln.

Mr. Hunter appreciated the name of this brand of cheese: Hunter.

You can sample a big variety of cheese at the Vermont Country Store.

We spotted some Hildene Farm cheese among the many cheeses
at the Vermont Country Store.

Vermont Cheesemakers map.
You can find this map online, too.

On the porch of the Vermont Country Store,
Mr. Hunter climbed onto a tall stack
 of wheels of Cabot cheddar cheese.

Mr. Hunter considers the selection of goat cheeses at Hildene Farm.

A sign across the road from Taylor Farm.

The Vermont Country Store

Taylor Farm

Hildene Farm

Weston, Londonderry, and Manchester, Vermont

September 2012

Vermont Cheese Trail Map from the Vermont Cheese Council - 

http://www.vtcheese.com/cheesetrail.htm

Doc Brown's Kit-Cat Clock

Remember the opening scene of Back to the Future, where the camera pans across Doc Brown's notable collection of clocks?  Mr. Hunter considered starting his own clock collection when he found the Kit-Cat Clock for sale at The Vermont Country Store.

Classic!

The Vermont Country Store

Weston, Vermont

September 2012

Maple Sugaring Time

We were in Vermont, after all, so we had to stop to admire these maple leaf syrup bottles in the window of The Vermont Country Store.

The Vermont Country Store

Weston, Vermont

September 2012

Coke Glasses

Mr. Hunter's family used to have a few of this Coca-Cola themed juice glasses.  We remember them so fondly and were even tempted to buy a few of them.  Plus, the small and medium sizes of the Coke glasses made Mr. Hunter feel positively tall.

The Vermont Country Store

Weston, Vermont

September 2012

Taking a Cedar Bath

Mr. Hunter discovered his own kind of ball pit to play in at the Vermont Country Store.  And after he'd taken a quick bath in this box of cedar balls, Mr. Hunter also felt protected from any fabric-eating pests he might encounter.

Use cedar balls in your closets and drawers...
for aromatic insect protection.

The Vermont Country Store

Weston, Vermont

September 2012

Blast from the Past: Tab

Everywhere we looked in the Vermont Country Store, we'd find some product from way back when.

Mr. Hunter and I laughed to see a can of Tab nestled in a cooler filled with ice and cold drinks.  Tab!  We were immediately whisked back to the 70s.  

Vermont Country Store

Weston, Vermont

September 2012

Wikipedia article about TaB - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tab_(soft_drink)

Mr. Hunter Lives His Life with Moxie

Hey, you!  Don't forget to... Live your life with Moxie!

Moxie began not as a soft drink but as a patent medicine called Moxie Nerve Food.  Learn more at the Moxie web site.

Vermont Country Store

Weston, Vermont

September 2012

Drink Moxie official site - http://www.drinkmoxie.com/

Wikipedia article about Moxie soft drink - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moxie

White Shoulders and Tangee

In the cosmetics section of the Vermont Country Store, Mr. Hunter noticed a perfume that reminded him of one of his favorite Judy Blume books.  Well, wait, I think I was the one who read the Judy Blume books.  Anyway, as soon as I saw the boxes of White Shoulders perfume, I thought of Starry Sally J. Friedman As Herself.   Mr. Hunter wanted to record the moment.

Somebody with wooden shoulders contemplates White Shoulders.

I should have tried a little Tangee on Mr. Hunter's lips.
But imagine if it didn't wipe off!

A couple of weeks before we encountered this display of Tangee, an early brand of lipstick that apparently goes on orange and eventually changes color, we'd encountered a reference to Tangee in a Vogue article called "The Looking Glass," by Francine du Plessix Gray:  

"Remember Tangee?  It was a hideous orange-hued lip tint that turned pink and was then the rage among teenagers.  Having no compacts, we smeared it on haphazardly, and we must have looked ghoulish as we settled on our bar stools at Schrafft's to indulge in another ritual of our youth--the consumption of ice-cream sodas."

If you're interested in recreating the Tangee experience, you need only visit the Vermont Country Store online or in person.

Vermont Country Store

Weston, Vermont

September 2012

Official site for Tangee - http://www.tangee.com/

And a White Shoulders reference from Starring Sally J. Freedman As Herself, by Judy Blume:

     Sally sat on the Murphy bed and watched as Mom put some more rouge on her cheeks, went over her lips a second time and dabbed a drop of perfume behind each ear.  "You smell good," Sally said.  "Like Lillies of the Valley."

     "It's called White Shoulders," Mom said.  "It's my favorite... here, I'll put some behind your ears too."

     "Ummm... I like that," Sally said, wondering if Latin lovers would be attracted to it.  Maybe she'd try it out on Peter Hornstein.

Mr. Hunter, The Candy Man

The Vermont Country Store boasts a selection of what they call Nostalgic Candy.

Mr. Hunter found plenty of scrumptious-looking posing opportunities.

Candy Buttons remind Mr. Hunter of Farrell's Ice Cream Parlours.

Candies familiar and unfamiliar to Mr. H, including
Smarties, Joys (?), Look!, Nut Goodie, Spree, Bottlecaps, and SkyBar.

Mr. Hunter had to pose with the Necco wafers!
Also on these shelves: Bosco milk chocolate bars,
Halvah, Chiclets Gum, and 3 Color Coconut bars.

Hard candy.

In the licorice section, we noticed some cute licorice Scotties.

On one side of the candy room,
there was a big counter devoted to chocolate.
You had your selection of truffles, sure.
But also chocolate covered potato chips!

Doesn't Mr. Hunter look happy here,
nestled among Slopokes, Black Cows, caramels, Squirrel Nut Zippers,
Watermelon Chews, and Lemon Heads?

Vermont Country Store

Weston, Vermont

September 2012

Visit the Vermont Country Store's Candy & Chocolate section online 

to see if they sell your favorite sweets.

Snacking His Way Through the Vermont Country Store

You can't find everything at the Vermont Country Store, but when you're browsing the shelves, you're likely to find enough surprises and products that are old friends that you want to keep looking, just in case.

You might recognize a familiar face on the shelves
with the jellies and preserves.
That's a canister of Vermont Common Crackers for some jelly tasting.

Mr. Hunter was hoping to find some squashed-fly biscuits--
indeed, he did find them further on in the store--but first he posed
with these similar-looking fruit biscuits.

Raspberry Wasabi Dipping Mustard
from Robert Rothschild Farm.

I took this photo in honor of Krumbs.

Ovaltine and Postum.

Mr. Hunter's uncle is a big fan of Otter Creek's seasonal Oktoberfest beer.
But if you're tempted to buy it, remember that you can drive to the grocery store down the road
 in Londonderry, where they might have Otter Creek beers for better prices.

Mr. Hunter found some of those Garibaldi "squashed fly" biscuits.  Yum!
And yes, he bought some of these.  

Vermont Country Store

Weston, Vermont

September 2012