Vermont - day two

Smuggler's Notch is outside the village of Jeffersonville in Cambridge, population 750. Named for the narrow notch running adjacent to Sterling Mountain, its vertical drop of 2,610 feet is the fourth largest in New England and the third largest in Vermont. Besides Sterling, it also consists of the Morse and Madonna mountains. 

The steep terrain drops into the notch, and the road connects Smuggler's Notch with Stowe. Stowe is the home of the Von Trapp Family singers, and a city I visited on my East Coast trip with my friend Kim in the late 1980s.

Tom and I began the morning with coffee on the back porch, enjoying the cool sixty-degree temperatures and the mountain air. 

We drove into Stowe for breakfast at the Skinny Pancake and ate outside on their patio. Then, we walked downtown and later stopped at a farmer's market. The weather was sunny and pleasant, and the drive was picturesque. Vermont is a beautiful state.

After hitting the large grocery in another town and replacing the sunglasses I broke in my luggage, we returned to Smuggler's Notch. The resort is huge, with three communities and three villages. We were in the North Community in the Tamaracks. It takes a car to get around the entire property, although we did hike up and down our area before I went inside to watch football.

We went back to the Martell's at the Red Fox for dinner. It's a family-owned and operated restaurant and music venue with dark paneling and dim lighting. We ate by the stage, but there was no music on Sunday. The food was incredible! I had the spinach salad. Tom ordered the special, a rose vegetable pasta. We were happy we returned and even more thrilled they were open!

Tomorrow's forecast calls for rain, but we're not worried. Tom was right. The unit is comfy, especially the fire. If we have to hang back and relax, so be it!