Things I am: word-fiend; talent whore; journalist; Beatles fan; Broadway.com's site producer; bad flyer; open-minded; aspiring theater producer; hopeful; NYC resident; cat-lover
Vermont-licious
I owe a post. I’ve been busy. But get ready for a long one! This past weekend my mama (a recent empty nester since little bro Zack started this fall at Georgetown) drove up from good old Bowie, MD for some Q.T. with yours truly. The following is a blow-by-blow account of our adventure:
THURSDAY
We paid $86.25 a piece for Rear Mezz seats to A Chorus Line. (Sheesh.) I never pay for theater. BUT IT WAS WORTH EVERY PENNY. Glorious. Amazing. Fantastic. Dance: 10, Looks: 3…er, 10. It’s the One (Singular Sensation). Ok, ok, sorry.
Somehow this show manages to be so small and intimate, but sooo enormous. Those iconic dances fill up the whole stage in a way that you just don’t see in many shows. Somehow shows with huge sets manage to feel smaller than this. In terms of the cast (who we’re profiling on the site in these adorable little videos), standouts for me were Shecky (Jeffrey Schecter) as Mike, Mara Davi as Maggie, Michael Paternostro as Greg and to my surprise, Deidre Goodwin as Sheila. And Curly Sue (aka Alisan Porter) is in it too! But really, save Charlotte d’Amboise’s not-so-amazing voice, they were all incredible. See it. It IS Broadway.
FRIDAY
Mom and I got up early and headed north, getting stuck on a two-mile stretch of I-91 in Massachusetts for about 2 hours because of TWO tractor trailer accidents, one on each side of the road, within a half-mile of each other. No joke. Nevertheless, once we made it into Vermont we were treated to some breathtaking views. (I forgot my camera, so this is stolen…yet accurate.)
Our first stop–of course–was at the Ben & Jerry’s Factory in Colbyville where they showed us the factory floor (vaguely interesting) and then gave us samples of American Pie (definitely interesting…to my tummy). They’re very eco- and socially-concious over there and I truly appreciate that. Some fun facts: Ben and Jerry, though still living, are actually no longer involved with the company. How strange! Also, Ben & Jerry’s flavors come and go often. They try them out for about six months and if they aren’t selling well, they get axed. There’s a fun Flavor Graveyard at the factory, but apparently if you start a write-in campaign you can often get a flavor’s life extended. I just may start one for Cool Britannia. Mmm.
After stopping at a real, live cider mill, eventually we made it to lovely Stowe, which is a ski resort town up in the northern part of the state just about a mile away from the Canadian border. The drive up was foliage-filled. We stayed at my random Orbitz choice of hotel-y place called the Innsbruck Inn, which was all decked out like a Swiss chalet and served us a full free breakfast in the morning. So cute!
SATURDAY
On a whim we headed east to Burlington, which owing to the combination of my dualing inner hippie and outer urbanite, was my favorite place in Vermont. We watched people walking puppies, browsed a cute farmer’s market/art area, bought books at Borders and hopped back in the car for a scenic drive along the western coast of Vermont.
Lake Champlain (as I now know) separates Vermont from New York state, and since I also learned that I am an excellent map reader, we tweaked the scenic route a bit, stopping for a look around the Basin Harbor Resort – which conjured up images of Baby and Swayze and the gang dancing to “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life” — and then heading south towards Rutland in central VT.
Rutland is apparently good for getting lost and that’s about it. Well, and their Norman Rockwell museum. I grabbed a couple of prints for my bare, green wall and hightailed it out of there. We attempted to find last-minute lodging in Manchester, which is a super-posh tiny town known for its outlet shops. (America, you are sad.) But, we failed and had to move on to the very south-western corner of the state where we stayed at a family-owned motel in Bennington. We got one of the last rooms, which was attached to back the house where said family lived. Boy, they were noisy! (Blushing, she refrained from sharing the details on that one.)
SUNDAY
Breakfast at Friendly’s = yuck. Honeycrisp apples and apple butter from The Apple Barn = yum. I started reading Prep on the rainy, wind-y, mountainous drive through Massachusetts and back to NYC. Mom and I saw Hollywoodland that night. I do understand the fuss about Ben Affleck and his square shoulders, but Adrien Brody made that movie for me. Geez, what an actor that man is. No, the accompanying photo isn’t from the movie, or even recent memory for that matter, but I thought we could all stand a little reminder of my favorite Oscar moment. Now that’s what I call charisma, Affleck.
That’s it for now I think. Vermont, say cheese!
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