Newport International Boat Show

Happy Fall everyone!  I can't believe we can say we successfully "summered in New England".  The weather was great and there was plenty to see in New England.  I wasn't sure how an east coast summer would compare to our last summer on the west coast.  The west coast was full of natural wonders while the east coast was full of history and big cities!  We are fortunate to have spent summers on both coasts and I can't say that I like one better than the other because they are both uniquely great in their own ways.

One 'world class' event we hoped to visit this summer was the Newport International Boat show in Newport, Rhode Island.  This gathering brings together boat lovers, nautical vendors, and of course many boats of all types and sizes.

The town of Newport is certainly worth visiting even if you can't make the boat show.  It is full of small restaurants and local shops.

The boat show covers 13 acres and was filled with sailboats of all sizes.  There were also power yachts, fishing boats and pontoon boats.  The best part of the boat show is that every single boat was open for you to come aboard and explore.

The sailboats we saw reminded me a lot of living in an RV!  Some of the 30-35' Sailboats had about as much room as the Airstream.  I think I could make the transition to boat life easily after living in our Airstream for the past year and a half.  Don't worry though, we won't be moving onto a boat next!

Here's the interior of an 'open concept' 37' sailboat that we toured, pretty nice!  I think this model (show special pricing mind you) would set you back about $175k.  I believe this was 2 bed, 1 head.

Many of the sailboats and yachts had beautiful wood working.  From teak and holly soles (flooring) to mahogany cabinets, and teak rub rails, you can tell the level of fine craftsmanship that goes into each vessel.

Having never been on a catamaran before, it was easy to understand why they are favored for bareboat cruises in the islands.  A wide stable platform, separate bedroom areas, and an elevated kitchen and living room with a view all add to their elegance.

Carbon fiber is certainly being integrated into boats.  We toured a couple of catamarans that were made almost exclusively from this space age material.  Advantages of carbon fiber include it's light weight, resistance to corrosion, and incredible strength.  Main disadvantage is of course cost!

Michelle is relaxing on one of the largest yachts we toured - a Princess 72'.  This had 3 huge bedrooms, 3 heads, and completely separate crew quarters.

Every sailboat mast was covered in flags - really a beautiful sight.

Looking over the bay filled with sailboats (the boat show is all behind us).  We could see a few 150'+ mega yachts parked in the distance as well.  Wonder who owns those?  Guess they could be charter boats... which brings me to the TV show "Below Deck" - check out what's it's like to charter a yacht at $150k per week in the BVI's!

Tahoe Tuesday

It's Tuesday so you know what that means!? Here's some pictures of what I've been up to this week-

Here's me sleeping hard, I've gotten so good a sleeping in crazy positions. I'm a professional relaxer-

Matt and Michelle cleaned this rug and it's so comfortable. I usually don't like when they clean because that means they turn on the loud vacuum!

As a cat I love boxes and this one ended up in the Airstream so I made sure to lay in it and chew on it all day!

Last of all here's a photo of me and Michelle!

Stowe, VT and Ben and Jerry's

No trip to Vermont would be complete without a trip to visit our friends Ben and Jerry!

We took the factory tour and got a sample of Milk and Cookies ice cream (cookies and cream).

We also took a trip to the flavor grave yard. I was surprised that this flavor didn't make the cut-

After our factory tour I devoured a pint of the finest ice cream around under this beautiful cherry tree.

We also stopped by the Green Mountain Coffee visitors center-

We then drove to Stowe which is a cute town with wonderful craft shops!

We spotted this cute poster in a gift shop!

We ended the day with a stop at a pretty covered bridge-

Vermont is beautiful and unique!

High Mowing Organic Seeds Field Day

A few years ago Matt and I met a nice family on a plane flight who happened to own an organic seed farm in Vermont.  While recently traveling in Vermont we happened upon a flyer for an upcoming 'field day' event at none other than that family's business, High Mowing Organic Seeds!  We of course had to check it out.  Luckily the family remembered us and we're so glad we went.

The outdoor extravaganza included tours of their trial fields, seminars and a meal made of local foods by the Culinary Institute... mmm mmm good!

We loved touring the trial gardens where they test plants to see if they will include those seeds in their future catalogues.  High Mowing offers 600+ varieties of organic seeds.  The company creates their own hybrid seeds and works to 'de-hybridize' certain varieties.

Here we are learning from Tom, the founder of the company, on how to save seeds!  Many other High Mowing employees also offered great seminars and tours throughout the day.

Here are the seeds inside of an extremely ripe cucumber. High Mowing will harvest the cucumbers they've been growing all summer, remove the seeds, clean them, dry them and then package them up for customers.

All the plants growing in the field we saw are in the trial stage. There are many more fields where their plants are growing that they will harvest for seed.

I was amazed at how many different varieties of plants and veggies there were.  I felt like I saw more unique vegetables in that one day than in my whole life.  Here are some beautiful heirloom tomatoes!

Lettuce starting to grow!

These were the tents set up for seminars and the meal prepared by the Culinary Institute.

More large lettuce plants!

Here are some of the many peppers they are testing out - just look at that color!

Look at those colorful carrots!

A pretty line of onions drying in the sun.

Dinner was a major highlight of the day.

What a small world it is when you can run into people you met years ago on a plane and they still remember you.  If you have an interest in growing organic seeds in your garden, you can order seeds from High Mowing online! 

Tahoe Tuesday

Welcome to Tahoe Tuesday everyone. Did you know that we are in Connecticut now? We were in Vermont (there are still 2 blog posts coming up this week about Vermont) but now we're in Connecticut. Later this week Matt and Michelle are going to a boat show which I'm not interested in attending. I don't think I'd like boats much.

I'll just stay here and enjoy my Airstream.

Central Vermont

Vermont is a very green and pretty state. So far I've enjoyed driving around seeing all of the old barns, cute small towns and natural beauty of the place. We found a nice campground called Meadowcrest Campground and have had an enjoyable stay.

Just down the road from our campground is the Cabot Creamery. We took the factory tour and watched them make cheddar cheese. We learned that cheddar cheese is suppose to be white. When Cabot started trying to sell their cheddar in the South people didn't buy it because it wasn't yellow like we're used to seeing. So, once a week they make a batch of yellow cheddar for us southern folks so we will buy it!

We got to sample many cheese flavors after the tour which was great!

On the drive back to the campground we drove through more cute small towns that I love so much and saw more pretty old barns-