Octoberfest

In the four years that we have been in Boston, we have been to places in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine but have never been to Vermont. So we decided to go on a foliage trip around Mt Snow in Vermont this year.

Along the way, we could already see lots of beautiful colors in the trees. One of the first impressive sight was the French King Bridge over the Connecticut River near Erving, MA.

I actually found a scenic drive route from VisitNewEngland.com and we started our loop in Brattleboro, VT. I have read a lot about covered bridges in guidebooks and today, we finally got the chance to drive through a few of them :)

This was taken along Route 30 north of Brattleboro, VT while we were stuck in traffic. Sonya really liked the orange tree :)

With our handy GPS in the car, we detoured and drove through minor roads instead which we thought was even more scenic.

Another covered bridge...

I have checked the weather forecast the day. It was supposed to be cloudy in the morning but sun in the afternoon but it was almost noon time and the sky was still thick with dark clouds :(

It was a really nice drive with pretty trees on either side of the road. Once in a while, we caught a glimpse of a whole mountain face covered with green, yellow, orange, red trees.

While taking the photo above, we spotted a pair of hawks soaring in the sky above us.

House for sale which meant we could make a quick stop on its property and take a few photos :)

We reached Route 100 near West Dover, VT with the Green Mountain National Forest in the background.

I found out from the Mt Snow website that it was Octoberfest this weekend. We have never been to an Octoberfest before. We could not pass on an opportunity to enjoy some good beer and there was also activities for kids.

We headed for lunch first. There were food stalls within the Octoberfest but as it was raining, we opted for pizza in an indoor restaurant instead. Entrance fee for the festival was $20 per adult and included a free beer in a mug that we could bring home. Children under 5 didn't have to pay entrance.

Sonya and Clara were very hungry and getting restless while waiting for the pizza.

There was live band that played and people danced with beer in their hands :)

During the summer, a few of the chair lifts continued to operate to bring visitors to the summit and then either take the chair lift back down again or hike or mountain bike your way down.

Got our tickets and all ready to go up to the summit.

It was a first time for all four of us. I must admit that it was pretty scary because there was no seat belt or anything. You just sit and there was only a handle bar that you pull over your head onto your lap. I held Clara while Justin held Sonya. Clara kept moving around and kicking her legs. I was worried that she might actually kick her shoes off like how she usually does in the car. Luckily, that didn't happen.

It was really cold too. My hands were so numb by the end of the ride.

At the summit looking down...

There was a small restaurant at the summit but it was not open when we were there. I think it only opens in the winter when the winter sports season starts.

It is a pretty big ski resort with many different ski routes down the mountain to cater different skill levels.

Time to go down the mountain and back to the festival. We chose to go down by the chair lift of course. It was quite a long way up and down...

I had one arm around Clara and only one other arm left to take photos. I could manage some photos of Justin and Sonya but it was hard to do Clara and myself. The best self portrait I could manage was one of my shoes :)

Accommodations on the right of the chair lift and Octoberfest on the left :)

After we got down from the chair lift, we found people playing silly games. They had beer in one hand and tossed hotdogs to one another with the other.

What do kids do while the adults enjoyed the food and the beer? There was a bounce house on the side for them :)

Some of the kids were much older than Sonya and Clara. Clara got scared after a while and just wanted to get out.

Then we tried the other one which was like a bouncy obstacle course.

The steps were too slippery for Clara. An older kid offered to help her get up and yet she couldn't so I carried her out instead.

While Sonya and Clara played, Justin queued for the beer.

No, we didn't feed beer to our children despite what some of you might think :) They just wanted to have a smell of the beers.

Do we look drunk already? We had yet to drink! We only had a mug each :)

Clara enjoyed a lollipop while waiting for Sonya who was still in the bounce house.

The sun finally appeared later around 4pm :)

Another activity for the kids was face painting. Sonya went first and wanted butterflies on her cheeks.

Clara was next and she wanted orange butterflies :)

We left the Octoberfest and continued on our scenic drive that took us through East Jamaica, Wilmington, Searsburg, Heartwellville, Readsboro, Readsboro Falls, Whitingham, Jacksonville, etc and back to Brattleboro.

We had dinner at a Japanese restaurant along Main Street in Brattleboro before driving home with two sleepyheads in the backseats :)