Vermont

I posted a few times here and here about the trip we were taking in April: New York, Boston, Vermont, Portland, Cape Ann, and then back to New York via Boston again. I even managed to squeeze in one post about Boston food before I went "off air".

So let me quickly tackle Vermont. The Vermont leg was spent in and around Hardwick - a place that Kurtis' cousin says used to be known as "Little Chicago" (Diane, I hope you don't get shot for saying this). Lots of family time was garnished by farm visits and a fantastic brunch at Claire's, a co-op restaurant that has now been recognized by Conde Nast Traveler. My frittata is in the photo.

It was fantastic to spend time getting to know parts of Kurtis' family that I had never met before, and be introduced to a place on a very personal level. Often when you travel, you're meeting a town or city for the first time in the most impersonal way - hotel rooms, group tours, tourist attractions and guide books. But the way we were introduced to Vermont was through a wooden canoe kept in the loft space, meeting the very cow that produced the milk in our coffee, and having someone point out their favourite creemee stand.

I won't go into any more detail because there's already a fantastic blog post about it here. A big thank you to Diane, Lucian, Emmett, Miss Beazy and all of their friends and family for their hospitality.