I had the chance to see Ben Folds at the Klein Auditorium in Bridgeport tonight. Great show, although some songs were strange without their orchestrations. The crowd just had to make up for it.

This past weekend my friends and I drove to Taconic State Park in New York for our first major hike of the year. We took the South Taconic Trail, which brought us along the top of Brace Mountain and then over to Mount Frissel, Connecticut’s highest point.

It was a steep climb when we first started off but the views were rewarding.  From the top of Brace Mountain we could see clear across the Hudson Valley and even as far as the Catskill Mountains.  At the top we came across three paragliders who were having a bit of trouble due to the strong winds.  We stuck around about 20 minutes or so to watch a launch only to see the guy spin upside down and then crash into the bushes – a firm reminder why I avoid doing that sort of thing.

From the top of Brace Mountain we continued on for about another 2.5 miles along the ridgeline towards Mt. Frissell, the highest point in Connecticut. The peak of Mt. Frissell is actually in Massachusetts, but the south slop lies across the Connecticut line and is slightly higher than Bear Mountain, the highest peak in the state.

It wasn’t the most enjoyable part of the hike.  Along the way the trail dipped down a bit and suddenly we were walking through a foot of melting snow. We made a quick stop at the tri-state marker and at the CT high point before eating a late lunch and heading back towards Brace Mountain for a few more great views of the Hudson Valley.

This was round 2 of traveling around Vermont in less than a month, this time with my friends Mindy and Kamil for a weekend in the Burlington/Lake Champlain area. To be honest, we didn't spend a heck of a lot of time roaming around Burlington itself aside from checking out some of the restaurants and bars/pubs/breweries at night for a few rounds of Switchback as well as some other local brews.

The best part of the trip was leaving Burlington and exploring the area. Saturday morning we went out for breakfast at Magnolia Bistro and then hit the road, driving north through the outskirts of Burlington before merging onto RT. 7.  We reached a small town called Milton and then swung right towards the mountains.  Our first real stop that day was the Boyden Valley Winery.  We had hoped they might have some cheese to snack on but it was just wine, good wine.  My favorite was the Glogg, which is served warm and apparently popular around the holidays.

From there drove to Stowe, stopping at the Stowe Mercantile to sample some food, and then continuing our drive south with stops at the Cold Hollow Cider Mill, Cabot Store Annex, and the Ben and Jerry's factory.

On Sunday morning we took the long, scenic route home, sticking to the scenic roads and byways. This gave us the best views of the trip.

I recently spent a relaxing weekend at the Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe, Vermont with some good friends of mine. When I say Trapp Family, I mean the real Trapp Family, the ones made famous by the Sound of Music.   Back in the 40’s they settled in Stowe Vermont and eventually opened up their lodge to the public.  You can read about the place here.

This past weekend started off with a drive through the Berkshires with stops at the Barrington Brewery for some great food and microbrews, the Norman Rockwell Museum, and a brief visit to the city of Pittsfield. It ended with a spontaneous drive to Newport, RI, where we stopped for a tour and wine tasting at Greenvale Vineyards, and then enjoyed some food and a traditional Irish music seisiún at the Fastnet Pub.

These two dogs kept trying to knock us over during the tour of the vineyards.  The vineyard also had two massive Scottish Highland steer which they are using to eat away the treeline.  Apparently they can't use machinery due to restrictions of the local preservation society, so they brought the animals in to do the job instead. I missed the opportunity to snap a good photo of them, but you can see what they look like here.

This shot was from our table at the Fastnet Pub just before the musicians started strolling in. You can see a video of that below the cut.  The place has a great atmosphere and the food was halfway decent.  It's definitely worth checking out if you're looking for a relaxing way to end your day in Newport without spending too much.