Had a very nice mini trip.  Couldn’t have asked for nicer weather!  We got to Bennington in the late morning and just checked at our motel to see if we could leave our car there and then check in later.  Well, our room was ready and they let us check in right then, which was great.  We stayed at the Knotty Pine, and the owners were very friendly.  I would recommend this place.  Clean and reasonable.

We then rode into Bennington and around a bit before deciding on lunch, which was at the Bean and Leaf:

Cute little cafe, which is for sale, and that always perks up our ears a little.  John and I split a yummy sandwich that had pesto, mozzarella and tomato on a foccacia.  This was good, but I think it would be sublime done panini-style.

Then we went on a covered bridges loop around the town.  There were some massive hills, longer than the ones to Lake George.  My thighs were pretty shaky by the time we climbed to the top of them, but I didn’t have to stop!

There are quite a few covered bridges in Vermont, and they are well taken care of:

Here is John underneath one of the bridges. He recently bought this neon orange shirt, and I think you could probably see him from space while biking.

Vermont is really a beautiful state.  The views were quite nice up high.

We looped back into town and stopped for coffee.  This was one of the best lattes I have had in a long time.

Then we wandered around downtown for a while.  They were celebrated the Moose Festival this year, so there were tons of large moose sculptures:

Biked back to the motel and then swam in the outdoor pool.  A very brisk swim!  I am spoiled with the heated indoor pool at the Y, I’ll tell you.

We chose the Madison Brewing Company for dinner, and decided to split a 5 oz beer sampler.  I am not a wine drinker and never have been, but  I love micro brews. However, drinking is extremely rare for me nowadays, as I don’t like to drink my calories (other than in latte form), but  I love samplers like this so you can try several different kinds.

My favorite:

With some smoked gouda mac and cheese.  Again, with the big portions!  I only ate part of this:

Overall, Bennington was a very nice town.  A little college town.  Plus some interesting historical sites:

I think we biked 20+ miles yesterday all around.  Not too long mile wise, but tiring for hill reasons.  I ate too much this weekend, so this week will be working hard.

Oh, and peonies are in bloom now – they look and smell fabulous!  Wish I could find room in my garden for these.