‘Travel Blogger’ Articles at Sweetnicks

Visit: Packet Alley, Delaware

August 12, 2018 · Narrative

Looking for a fun day trip with your family? Let’s head to Delaware!

Last summer, another family and I planned a whirlwind day trip to Delaware. If you’re a regular reader here, you know I am fond of the Roadside America app, and that’s how a quick visit to Packet Alley in New Castle, Delaware got added to our “Things to Do” list.

Seriously the cutest neighborhood ever with narrow cobblestone streets and beautifully designed houses, I swear I would move there in a heartbeat. We slowly navigated our way to our destination and found on-street parking easily.

This above sign was put in in 1933, to herald the significance of this little blink-and-you-miss it historical alley way.

Why was this spot so important?

Back in the 1830s and ’40s, it was a common DC-to-Northeast thoroughfare for many of those traveling North. Stagecoaches from the south would unload on one end of the alley by the street, and riverboats from the north would pick up the contents from the other end and be on their way. A practice started in the 19th century, many famous people walked the same path we did that summer day, including former President Andrew Jackson, Presidential hopeful Henry Clay, Davy Crockett and Chief Black Hawk.

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Visit: Busch Gardens, Williamsburg, Virginia {Spring Break 2018}

April 13, 2018 · Narrative

Making our way through the East Coast’s amusement parks one rip roarin’ ride at a time, let’s visit Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, Virginia!

Busch Gardens is one of my fond memories from childhood vacations. I have no idea how old I was when we went, but I don’t think my sister was born yet, so that would put me at 9 or younger. I distinctly remember Busch Gardens and Colonial Williamsburg, and taking a visit to these destinations has been on my list for the past five years. It kept falling lower on the list because of the long six plus hour drive to get there, but this year, we finally got it done.

Interestingly enough, during our time in Virginia last week, we met a few other families that were actually there for the same reason. It was a vacation from their childhood that they wanted to share with their own kids.

Check and check.

Busch Gardens graciously comped me two admission tickets, which was quite generous given the entrance tickets for four years old and older are $90 a person! Eeek!

Unfortunately, while it was our Spring Break last week, it also appeared that everyone else was on Spring Break too! The traffic started about two miles before the highway exit for Busch Gardens. At first I just thought that it was late morning rush hour traffic. Unfortunately I was wrong. From that two mile mark to when we actually parked our car in the far-flung-Scotland parking lot, it was over an hour. It was so bad that the parking lot ticket agents were comping everyone’s parking, which was a nice savings of $20.

Given the weather was grey skies and a threat of rain and a cool fifty degrees, we weren’t expecting it to be as busy as it was, Spring Break or not. Apparently the employees thought the same because we heard several of them talking about the very unexpected 25,000 guests that were there that day!

Because we ended up actually entering the park so late, we actually stopped for food as soon as we got in. Probably not the best idea, because everyone else does the same. Busch Gardens is set up with different countries, and the first country is England. If we had walked a smidge farther, just into the next country, the wait for food probably wouldn’t have been quite so bad, but hindsight and all that being what it was, we stopped at the first place we saw.

Wanting to experience things, ahem, properly, because we were in England, I opted for the fish and chips, while my kids got chicken fingers, and salad. I actually ended up getting the kids meal for myself (pictures on the top left in the below photo), because it was three dollars cheaper and looked like plenty of food for lunch, and it was. The food was cooked to order, which was awesome in terms of freshness, but not so much in terms of the wait. It was about forty-five minutes before I had our tray with food, and luckily I stationed my kids outside on table duty since there are only a handful of tables to grab from to sit and eat. The pricing is akin to any other amusement park, lunch was around $34.

Once satiated we started scouring the nearby gift shops and rides. We actually ended up hopping on the train ride first, because it’s a good way to get a quick overview of the park and scope things out. It goes through four countries and makes a full circle, so you can either get off at a different country or take a round trip (we did the latter).

As a side note, we didn’t see any paper maps near the entrance, nor did the ticket staff hand us one when we went through, so we were kind of winging it through stumbling and finding things.

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Visit: Pond Hill Pro Rodeo {Castleton, Vermont}

July 29, 2015 · Narrative

A rodeo in the middle of Vermont? Yes, indeed, and I’m here to tell you all about it.

When it comes to Vermont, you might think of vast green landscapes, Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream Factory, maple syrup, and just good old fashioned back to nature moments. But a rodeo? Yes, I was just as surprised as you. When we visited Vermont a few weeks ago, our hosts had planned and house outing to a local rodeo, and since the kids and I have never been to one (and Madeline LOVES horses), we couldn’t wait to go.

It was only about ten miles from where we were staying, in the town of Castleton, and as we neared, you could tell that this was a very popular local attraction. When we got on the property, we quickly fell into a long line of pick-up trucks going down the dusty dirt road, pulling into the parking lot.

Ten dollars for adults, and five for kids, our money (cash only) was collected as we pulled in.

Once we parked, we immediately got in the food truck line because we hadn’t had dinner and, with only two food trucks on the property, the line was already getting long. Nick is obsessed with Fried Oreos this year, so he eagerly scanned the menu to see if they had them.

Spoiler alert: no.

But they did have your usual fare of burgers, hot dogs, fries, and drinks.

Also cash only.

Once we had our food, we scouted out seats for our group on the stadium-style bleachers. I would gather that most anywhere you sit is a good seat, but we aimed for the middle of the stadium, about half way up, that way even our littlest (read: shortest) attendees would still have a view.

And then it started.

Everyone stood for the National Anthem, and as the parade of horses and the American flag went past, I got goosebumps.

And it didn’t hurt that the rodeo was in an awesome dip in the valley … which meant the perfect spot to watch the sun set while the rodeo began.

There were all sorts of events during the rodeo: barrel racing, calf roping, bull riding, and more. This being our first rodeo, we didn’t know quite what to expect, and I’ve got to be honest, the segments where they roped the calves and threw them to the ground and tied their hooves together were a little hard to watch.

In front of us was the sister of one of the calf ropers, and the mother of another calf roper.

Which means we tried hard not to loudly cheer when the calves won, but we mostly closed our eyes during those parts.

The entire rodeo lasts about two hours, but because of the single-lane exit, we skipped out about 15 minutes before the end to avoid the mad dash and ensuing long line of traffic.

Which was a totally solid call.

If you’re visiting Vermont, or looking to cross “rodeo” off your Bucket List, it makes for a fun night. Besides the Saturday night rodeo events, which run from the beginning of July through the beginning of September, they also offer trail rides and horseback riding lessons.

Pond Hill Ranch
1683 Pond Hill Ranch Rd.
Castleton, VT 05735

Telephone:
(802)468-2449
(802)468-0578

Hungry for more things to do in Vermont?
If you are visiting Vermont, the Quechee Gorge is a beautiful spot to hike and picnic.
We loved our visit to the Morse Farm Maple Sugar Works place in Montepelier. Because, maple syrup.
Our visit to the Ben & Jerry’s factory in Waterbury was a delicious way to start the day.
Also in Waterbury, the Cabot cheese shop is right down the street and worth checking out.
The Vermont Country Store was an awesome stop and the last thing we did before heading home.
Our trip kicked off with a stop at the Vermont Teddy Bear Factory.