I was chatting to the bloke who cuts the grass at our rented house last week about how beautiful Vermont is and he suggested we check out Hogback Mountain if we wanted something with a view. And he wasn't wrong.
The mountain is a straight shot east on the 9 — the Molly Stark Byway — and, given my unbeatable skill at getting lost, I programmed the route into the Outback's GPS. On the way there we passed Harriman Reservoir, and I stopped to take a couple of pics (with the wrong lens) while Alicia decided to photograph me photographing the scenery.
After a few minutes we were back on the winding road through the stunning Vermont scenery. As I keep telling people, it's one thing to see the leaves change in photos or on telly, but it's entirely something else to see them in real life. The colours are astounding, green, red, gold, yellow, orange, brown and even pink.
As we approached Wilmington we saw a flea market and immediately pulled in as both of us love looking through tat. Even with the whole plague thing going on it was pretty busy, with masks and distancing enforced.
We didn't buy anything, but we certainly could have. From Wilmington, which a pretty, charming New England town, we headed back along the 9 towards Hogback Mountain when we saw a ton of cars parked along the side of the road and realised we'd arrived. Hogback Mountain is in the town of Marlboro but I couldn't tell if we were in flavour country.
The viewpoint is famed for its 100-mile view, and you can see into Massachusetts and New Hampshire as well as more of Vermont. I snapped on the wide-angle lens (after cleaning three years' worth of dust off it) and started shooting.
I'm not sure if I'm looking into New Hampshire, Massachusetts or Vermont but it's a stunning view and the bright October sunshine really helps the colours pop. Taking the photos was more hassle than usual thanks to my glasses constantly steaming up because of my mask, but it's a small price to pay to not contact coronavirus. The only thing I forgot to do was shoot enough pics for a panorama.
After a visit to the giftshop we were both hungry and decided to stop in Wilmington to eat. There was a long line outside Dot's Diner, which isn't surprising given its reviews. As we were fading away with hunger we plumped for the Anchor Seafood Restaurant, which also has great reviews.
I got the fish and chips (fries, really) which was great. All that was missing was a ton of vinegar.
Alicia went for the salmon burger, which she liked but wasn't too keen on. Luckily I dived in and finished it off for her.
We arrived home to a bunch of overexcited dogs, who were let out into the garden for a much-needed pee. They all made a beeline for the tree where they'd seen a squirrel this morning because obviously the squirrel would still be there six hours later.
Finally, proving that as I approach 50 I'm turning into my dad, after our Sunday drive I fell asleep in the armchair.
🙂
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