A wedding surprise with a Ben & Jerry’s cherry on top

I can’t believe how much has happened over the past few days. I haven’t even had time to blog, and that’s saying something, trust me.

After we left the Coolidge homestead, we drove to the north part of the state. It only took us a few hours to get there – Vermont really is tiny! We ended up spending the night in a town called Waterbury. We decided to eat a simple dinner in the RV, and then take a walk through town. That’s when we stumbled on this store called the Cold Hollow Cider Mill. They were selling cider donuts, apple pie, and even more local foods. The cider donuts were amazing! They made them fresh on the spot and they were warm and dripping with grease. Needless to say, they were delicious, but so filled with sugar and fat that Mom made us all eat apples in an effort to stay healthy. I didn’t mind – the apple was somehow almost as good as the donuts!

There certainly does seem to be a lot of local eating around here. Even when we went into the grocery store, it had a ton of local products, and we’ve already passed like three farmer’s markets. Glenda told us that the state has a lot of small farms, especially dairy farms, which is why there’s so much cheese and ice cream.

Speaking of ice cream… I thought George randomly picked the town of Waterbury to stay in, but I was wrong. He stopped here because it’s also the site of the Ben & Jerry’s factory! When Ray and I heard that we’d get to take a tour of the factory, we both started jumping up and down, barely able to contain our excitement. I think it’s the first time we’ve agreed on anything since this trip started!

The factory was just as cool as I imagined. We saw how the ice cream was made, and we even got to sample some of the new flavors! My favorite was Red Velvet Cake, but of course Ray liked Schweddy Balls the best. What a perv.

The next day we finally arrived in Burlington. I was starting to worry that we wouldn’t make it in time to find Amy before her sister’s wedding, but thankfully we got there on Friday, and the wedding wasn’t until Saturday.

We spent most of the day exploring downtown Burlington. It has a great open-air mall called Church Street, with a ton of shops and restaurants. Mom and I decided to do a little shopping, and she bought me this killer beaded necklace and a long, flowery scarf.

There are certainly a lot of hippies in Burlington. Musicians were playing all over Church Street, and girls in long flowing skirts danced to the music. A bunch of people had dreads and tattered clothes. Ray plugged his nose every time we passed them, until Mom told him to stop. “I don’t want to smell them! They don’t bath!” Ray practically shouted, and I had to pretend I didn’t know him so I wouldn’t die of embarrassment.

That afternoon we checked into a hotel near Lake Champlain. I watched the sun set on the water before we went out to find dinner. The lake was wide and blue, framed by mountains on all sides. Vermont really is pretty, though it’s hard to believe that Burlington is the biggest city in the whole state. Gloria told me that Vermont only has around six hundred thousand residents. That’s crazy when you realize that New York City alone has eight million people! Maybe that’s why Vermonters seem so protective of their state, and why they call outsiders “flatlanders.”

We had dinner at a great restaurant on Church Street called Sweetwaters, and then we went back to the hotel to crash. I could barely sleep, thinking about Amy and her sister. What would I do if I couldn’t find them? Would the wedding be ruined? I tossed and turned and worried –

And then woke to the sound of George’s voice. “Ami, Ami, wake up.”

“What is it?” I grumbled, burying my face in the pillow.

“You overslept.” George shook my shoulder. “It’s almost noon! Didn’t you want to try and find that wedding?”

Oh my God! I jolted awake, my heart pounding. I didn’t know what time the wedding started, but I couldn’t waste a single second if I was going to find Amy in time. I threw some clothes on and ran out the door, George close at my heels.

Fortunately, the waterfront wasn’t far from our hotel. Unfortunately, I didn’t know where the wedding was! Mom, Glenda, and Ray had already gotten up and gone to get food, so it was just me and George searching. He was being surprisingly helpful as I combed the park near the water. But as hard as I tried, I couldn’t find any evidence of a wedding.

Finally, I slumped down onto a park bench.

“It might be time to give up, kiddo,” George said, patting me on the back awkwardly.

“What am I supposed to do with this ring?” I groaned and held up the box.

“Maybe it’s an afternoon wedding?”

I shook my head. “We can’t stay here all day, waiting for them. We don’t even know where the wedding is supposed to be. This was a dumb plan in the first place.”

“Hey!” George frowned at me. “No one calls my daughter dumb. Not even her.”

The way he said it made me smile, but I was still feeling pretty discouraged. “It’s hopeless, George. We’ll never find them.”

“Let’s just walk the length of the park one more time.”

I reluctantly agreed, and we walked along the water, passed the boats in the harbor, and around the ECHO Lake Aquarium and Science Center. Then, just down the boardwalk, I saw people gathering around a big white tent.

“I think that might be it!” I yelled as I started to run toward the group of people.

“Ami!” I heard someone call my name and I turned.

“Amy!”

She was dressed in a pretty pink gown and she looked a lot cleaner than the last time I saw her. But her face was downcast and she was obviously upset as I jogged over to meet her.

“I’ve let everyone down,” she said softly. “I should never have gone hiking right before the wedding. My sister is so mad I don’t even know if there will be a wedding anymore.”

“Amy, I – ”

But she wouldn’t let me finish. “I lost her ring, Ami!” She threw her hands up in the air. “How could I have done something like that?”

“Wait – ”

“If I hadn’t insisted on going down the Long Trail, none of this would have happened.”

“Amy!” George had finally caught up with us. “Ami has something to tell you.”

“I found it!” I handed her the box.

“Oh my god!” Amy shrieked and took it from me. “Thank you, thank you!” She threw her arms around me. “Now my sister won’t kill me or cancel the wedding!”

I smiled at George and he smiled back. It was nice to be able to share this with him. He’s usually so embarrassing that I don’t even want to be around him, but every once in a while he comes through for me. I shouldn’t forget that.

After I returned the ring, Amy and her sister invited us all to the wedding. And so we spent our last day here eating cake and dancing near the water as Christmas lights twinkled all around us. It was pretty magical, and a perfect way to end our week in Vermont.