Visiting New Hampshire seemed like the thing to do when some family friends moved to that northerly state. My sister and I packed our bags, and we flew to Boston where we boarded a Dartmouth bus and rode out to Lebanon, New Hampshire.
We ate lots of food, hiked lots of trails, and ate all the ice cream. If you’re looking for a lovely little town to visit, Lebanon, New Hampshire is one of the most adorable.
Muriel’s Donuts
Before hitting the trails, we grabbed some donuts from the local celebrity, Muriel. She’s in her 80s and serves up some of the most adored donuts in the area. And we couldn’t agree more! Read more about Muriel and her donuts!
This menu made me smile so naturally I took a picture of it. But let’s show you one of the cinnamon sugar donuts of deliciousness.
Pinnacle Summit – Stowe, Vermont
Although I don’t consider myself a hiker, this is what you do when you visit friends who love to hike…and when you visit New Hampshire and Vermont. This climb was a muggy one with lots of insects dive-bombing us throughout the uphill climb. My body didn’t know what was happening.
Thankfully, my friends are all about snacks. They just kept dangling food in front of me, and I kept walking until we got to a stunning view.
We sat up at the top of this view for 20-30 mins, ate more snacks, and tried to avoid the friendly golden retrievers (I do like dogs, but just didn’t want to be touched) that apparently hike the trail every day. They live nearby, and their owners allow them to roam the summit freely.
Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream Factory
I’m going to be honest…one of my main reasons for visiting New Hampshire and Vermont was the Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream Factory. If you know anything about me, it’s that I love ice cream. So this was a huge selling factor for me.
For a few dollars, you can take a quick tour that allows you to see into the factory space. Our tour was especially exciting because a few things went wrong and suddenly the factory floor was covered with liquid ice cream. While we tour-people were anxious and worried, the tour guide and factory workers were unperturbed.
I just kept picturing Lucy and Ethel…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NPzLBSBzPI
At the end of the tour, you receive a healthy sample of ice cream from one of their flavors, and if you want extra fun, have your tour on April Fool’s Day. (I’m not going to tell you why)
Down the hallway into the gift shop, you get a quick glimpse of the top ten flavors in the world for Ben & Jerry’s, and then you can head over to the ice cream shop and enjoy more deliciousness.
Quechee Gorge Trail
Our next hiking adventure was much more chill. Why? Well, I was sore and not interested in the suffering of the previous day. So this was a quick little walk down to gorgeous waters that sparkled in the sunlight.
Then, we went and saw llamas, ate cheese samples at Cabot, and admired all the varieties of maple syrup.
Thank goodness, I took this photo…otherwise, I’d have had no idea where we went! It’s sometimes hard to keep track of adventures. Or is that just me?
This tree-lined trail was pure romance.
Actually, this entire trail was so beautiful, and it was so fun to be a part of the beauty.
Ice Cream Fore-U
In West Lebanon, New Hampshire, an ice cream shop shares a parking lot with Home Depot. Our friends informed us that it was the best ice cream in the area, and when they purchased their house and were at Home Depot weekly, they also indulged in ice cream.
Ice Cream Fore-U had quite the long line, and their extensive list of soft serve and hard serve had me sold from the beginning. But it’s the ice cream cone sizes that truly get you. I purchased a medium, and it looked like an extra large to me!
I opted for mango soft serve with chocolate chips while my sister went for the blueberry with oreo. Naturally, we swapped cones here and there so we could try another flavor!
Those chocolate chips were delicious, but they had some kamikaze nature to them. So many dove to the sidewalk rather than clinging to the melting ice cream! It was a hectic first five minutes!
Whether or not tiny town New Hampshire is in your future, I hope that you enjoyed this quick glimpse of my travel to New Hampshire and Vermont. We had ice cream every day–can anything be better?
Leave a Reply