HOP #1

I thought I would try something different, so instead of going sightseeing on my own, I signed up for two tours offered by Escapees; they call them HOPS.

Today we went to Lake Champlain and Basin Harbor.  We had 2 buses with a total of 110 people; I was on bus #2.  The buses didn't stay together, so only 55 of us in my group.

We left at 9am and headed for Lake Champlain.  Our first stop was Dakin Farm.  Featured on The Food Channel, Dakin Farm has a sugarhouse that has been boiling sap for over 58 years.  We saw the Maple Syrup Evaporator, which boils the sweet sap from the local hardwood sugar maple trees into the pure, yummy Vermont maple syrup we all love.  Dakin Farm also distributes Cabot cheese.  We got to sample EVERYTHING ... some good stuff.

Vermont is the largest producer of maple syrup in the US; Canada is the largest in the world. Maple syrup comes in 3 grades depending on its color and thickness. The maple sap needed to make the syrup only "runs" 2 weeks a year!  So all of the annual supply has to be collected at that time and immediately processed or it turns rancid.

As a side note, milk is the second largest ag crop of Vermont - who knew?  Also, they are the only state that has every variety of tree, hence the best fall foliage of any state.



Then back on the bus .... When we arrived at Lake Champlain we took a boat ride around the lake on a US Coast Guard vessel..  The cool, breezy air was most welcome and the area is beautiful.

And then lunch at Basin Harbor!  Yum.  Basin Harbor encompasses 700 acres with over a mile on the Lake Champlain shore.  It is still operated by the 4th and 5th generation Beach family, who owned the original farm.   We had a lunch buffet - everything from a salad bar that included a great seafood salad, chicken salad, etc., to meats and cheeses and fixings, to soups, burgers, hot sandwiches ..... not to mention the dessert bar.

Next stop was the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum. One of the exhibits was a 1776 gunboat replica Philadelphia II docked at the waterfront. It was very interesting to sit on the boat and hear of the history and of the men who fired those canons and what was involved. At the museum we learned what made this area so pivotal to Benedict Arnold's fleet during the American Revolution, the Native Americans of the area, the early French explores, and the historic Champlain Bridge.

Last, but not least, was the "I scream for ice cream" stop. Wonderful.

Note:  Soft swirl ice cream in Vermont is call “creemee.”  Always good to know.

 


We got back about 6pm and no one wanted dinner tonight.