Anytime a weekend includes time with friends, family, good food and some spontaneous adventures (and getting some rest, too, of course!), I consider it a success. So this past weekend, which included all of those things and then some – was one for the books.
On Saturday, which was filled with rain and passing storms, I met up with my friend Stef for lunch at Stone Cow Brewery in Barre, Massachusetts. While Stef and I spend a lot of time recording our podcast together or cooking/baking for said podcast in her kitchen a couple times a month, it’s been a while since we were able to just go out and catch up about life in general over a drink and food that we didn’t have to prepare ourselves – so I welcome any opportunity we get to do so!
Afterwards, we stopped by the Hardwick Vineyard and Winery to try out some of their seasonal samplings, listen to live music, and pick up some bottles of wine to bring along on our upcoming ‘Girls Trip’ we have planned on Cape Cod in the next couple of weeks. I also grabbed one of their Apple Pie wines to bring home for myself because my goodness, it was delicious!
Sunday was considerably more sunny and warmer out, so my initial plan had been to stop by one of my favorite swimming spots in Vermont for a bit of a cold plunge, however as I got closer to the area and saw that many, many others had the same idea – and that there was nowhere to park or walk down to the river! – I scrapped the plans and continued a little farther north until I reached the little town of Newfane and stopped to stretch my legs.
I’ve driven through Newfane plenty of times over the years, and had passed by both an antique shop and a deli nestled in the area that had always looked adorable, but had never gotten around to actually doing any exploring until now. I’d first stopped at Fayetteville Corner, the aforementioned antique shop where I found a couple of very cool items (one of which I scooped up for my apartment!) and talked to the employees about the area and it’s history before I set out on foot to take a look around.
A sign for a railway museum caught my eye since I hadn’t seen any other buildings from the road, but sure enough, as I made my way around the corner up the street from the antique shop, a historic railroad station/depot – including decommissioned tracks! – were tucked away behind the trees. A woman working at the museum gave me a free and detailed tour after we’d spotted each other and stopped to say hello, and I was blown away by how perfectly so many relics from a time gone by were preserved, many of which I had been told were provided by locals who simply wanted to help furnish the museum and had located old photos, signage, and news clippings saved in their family’s homes and barns. It was incredible!
After grabbing a sandwich and an iced tea at the popular Newfane General Store, I next headed over to the Windham County Museum, which was right near where I’d parked my car for the afternoon. This museum, which came highly recommended by the lovely tour guide at the train depot, was also free to the public and included a number of incredible relics like old photographs, banners, war memorabilia, and clothing – but the building itself also used to serve as the county jail (and a hotel?!), and that half had been fully restored to show visitors what the cells and living conditions had been like from the late 1800s into the 1960s.
It was so wild to think that all of this neat stuff had been sitting there the whole time, and would have been completely overlooked if I hadn’t made the choice to stop for a couple of hours and take a look around – but I’m so happy I did!
My weekend, which was extended into Monday, also included a day trip to Rhode Island with my boyfriend for another adventure, albeit one we planned instead of just an impromptu road trip – but I’m going to be sharing the photos from that journey in a couple of days since I’m still going through them all!
See you all then!
xo
Coffee & Chiffon 