Valentine's Week

I made similar commentary to Valentine's Day last year (and you can check out the post here), but basically I think Valentine's Day sucks for single people and having been a single person for many, many years in the past, I can say that without being too big for my britches. But, now I am finally not single and I can say that Valentine's Day is a great reason to focus on your sweetie since the hum and drum of everyday life often makes your sweetie more of a punching bag than a lover. This doesn't mean having to buy dumb crap at the drug store, but flowers are a necessity this time of year (especially ones you can plant later) and the scope of the Vermont restaurant landscape and the Valentine's Day menu performances are silly to skip out on if you have someone to dine with.

The punching bagness I sometimes feel as a Vermont public relations professional, sadly gets bounced over to The Mitch on occasion. He is never slow to point this out and I am always quick to know it is not fair and a few weeks ago I decided I would celebrate The Mitch for the entire week leading up to Valentine's Day. Beginning with dinner at Tourterelle's last Friday, I spent the week making The Mitch his favorite dinners, doing extra chores that he usually does, and giving him a massage with the magical oils I made from lavender in our garden.

I am so infatuated with Vermont dining right now. Maybe it's because of all the Twitter activity local restaurants are so good at or maybe it's because I really am quite a chef myself and experiencing cuisine created by the professionals makes me feel like a palette connoisseur. As my last blog mentioned, we were headed to Tourterelle's which we did indeed do. I reviewed the menu online and knew I was getting the escargot and the bouillabaisse and wondered how adventurous The Mitch would be. He is not the biggest fan of interesting looking things on his plate and does not approve of anything that creeps along the floor of the ocean. But alas, That Mitch got the hamburger and while he savoured the bullish American classic, I enjoyed the artwork - the same design captured in various frames - while feeling very connected to the bottom of the ocean.





As the week wrapped up I felt a bit under the weather and rest, vitamins, fluids, and herbs kept me in the game while The Mitch graciously took over the final days of celebrating Valentine's Day. Always up in the trends, we spent Saturday shopping for records since we decided to return the Wii we got for Christmas and get a record player and surround sound system to compliment the awesome array of old records we "inherited" from my dad. And on Valentine's Day I awoke to a healthy breakfast snack in bed with an English Primrose, a Tulip plant, and a CW Creations necklace.

A day of Vibing began with a neighbor's lovely wooden heart but was ruined by a young Vermont state trooper who thought it funny to follow us through a multiplicity of backroads, slowing down and then racing up behind us. Congratulations to continue to make people not like cops - he was a complete dickhead. When someone flashed us to warn of another enforcer of the law, he happily squealed his wheels to ruin someone else's day. Looks like someone has no Valentine. And it ruined our afternoon of Vibing through the Bristol area looking for potential love nests for our future.

But all came out alright when we arrived at Mary's Restaurant at the Inn at Baldwin Creek very early, but were greeted with warmth even though we knew we were throwing off the reservation schedule. It gave us ample time to relax at the bar with a glass of wine and complimentary hummus - thank you. The Mitch and I enjoyed a plethora of bar-side reading and sharing and when our five course dinner table was ready, we were led to the coziest table in the barn board small dining room where every couple spoke at a whisper. Several hours later we made our way to the fifth course - the Chocolate Fest - and closed our week of celebrating our very special love for one another. In addition, Mary's Restaurant was right up The Mitch's ally. No frolicking ocean artforms on his plate, just a solid representation of hearty meat and potato type meals with a savoring twist of elegance and palette perfection that makes me smile. Plus, they have an annual poem contest we knew nothing about and I wrote up the days events in a verse of prose I think is at least a contender - I'll keep you posted and once they announce the results, will publish my romantic, yet deep and honest masterpiece!




Love and Light!

The Waybury Inn & The Pub

Hello Vermont Vibers! I have been one bad blogger - I admit it! I need to write shorter and more frequent blog posts - especially since I have been doing a ton of Vermont Vibing lately! Dining in the winter is a special favorite.

A few weeks ago, The Mitch and I drove the 116 route to The Waybury Inn - this is because I am most recently obsessed with Bristol and want to buy a house there after this mysterious wedding I continue to not talk about! So, down to The Waybury Inn we went because our great pals the Birongs (also owners of 3 Squares Cafe in Vergennes) got married there last summer and were off to enjoy a little winter love reunion. As The Mitch and I are often looking for things to do outside of the Burlington bubble and Charlotte does not have a happening social scene (besides chillin' with Carrie and friends at Spear's Corner Store), we happily joined our friends for dinner at The Pub at The Waybury Inn.

We whisked in running late as we usually do (this is because I have transitional disorder and have not yet found a cure) and sat down to a lively dinner - both in conversation and taste. Leek soup, trout, quail, salmon, tapenade, seafood mountains - no wonder it's Hi Ho, Hi Ho, Off To Tae-Bo I Go. Publicity quote for the cuisine - The Pub at The Waybury Inn is located at a crossroads of many potential Vermont Vibes outings and I energetically suggest a casual meal that livens your taste buds and strengthens Vermont's position as the nationwide leader in the best localvore cuisine.

Using the cuisine setting on The Mitch's old digital camera, we enjoyed pretending to be food critics:





We got a quick tour of the Inn after dinner before heading into Middlebury for a little apres dinner and took this fantastic press shot of the Birongs loving their room. I personally thought the romantic CDs and CD player was a classic touch - be sure to include the new Sade CD!

I can't remember a time I had a more enjoyable evening with friends and dinner - The Mitch and I are really digging this double date dinner thing at nice Vermont restaurants and there are so many we haven't hit up yet! Tonight we are finally heading to the long awaited Tourterelle's in New Haven - the escargot has been wafting up Route 7 and into my Vermont PR office for months now. If anyone has a restaurant they want to try and are looking to Vibe a bit with us - let me know! Let's be inspired by social media and then act on it like real Vermonters and support this groovy state!