Nope... not the Carribean islands, the upstate Vermont islands! My special lady and I had worked around the house Saturday and were looking for a little respite on Sunday. But where to go? Why not the lovely islands in Lake Champlain. So we packed up the car w/ hiking gear (no need), beach stuff (no need), and golf shit (kind of needed). We rolled up Rt. 2 through South Hero, Grand Isle, North Hero, over 129 to Alburg, and finally Isle La Motte. It was a beautiful drive actually. There were a ton of Quebecoise. Apparently it was Canadian Day. Seriously. In any event, we took in the sites and then made a couple stops. We noticed a big state park in North Hero and thought that would be a great place to throw down a towel, mabye take a dip and have a snack. Well, not so much. After a long drive we found a small shale beach w/ a couple of busted looking picnic tables, a locked lavatory, port-o-pot, and all of the zebra mussels and green muck you could handle. It was a beautiful location but not exactly a sit down and relax spot. There were a few much better looking beaches, notably at the Saint Anne's Shrine but they were packed. We decided to turn around and head back. By 1:30 we were getting pretty hungry. But where to stop? One hot looking spot was the North Hero House. If you are one of the 5 regular followers of this blog you know that we went a few years ago for a romantic getaway and it did not go well. So what would this trip bring? The scene was very scenic and hopping.
OK, it did not start well. We were seated and then immediately moved for a bigger group. My wife meanwhile had to wait an extended period to use the bathroom while someone took a shower in the one beach use bathroom. Yikes! We then had 3 people ask if we needed a drink. After 10 minutes or so we finally got our beer and Arnie Palmer from a 4th guy. A 5th then took our meal order. He was good though. The beach crowd was not as scenis as the lake. Lots of fat sunburnt folks in swimsuits. It was like a painting from 1725. Right? People were fat back then right? Anyway. The food came out pretty quickly and it was not bad. I had a pulled pork that I enjoyed with good coleslaw and kind of gross pasta salad. My lady had a nondescript bean burger which came back to haunt her later. Overall, after some fits and starts is was probably one of the better options we came across. Not fine dining but pretty good for a summer day on the lake.
Our final stop was a detour for 9 holes of golf. How about the Apple Island Resort?! We saw it from the road and made our move. It was odd. We drove up through what by all accounts was an upscale mobile home park. There were expensive mobile homes and tons of very well maintained vacation style mobile homes. There was also an abundance of golf carts. Everybody had one... except us. We got to the clubhouse and the guy was so used to the golf carts he had to double check the price of a pull cart. Well, it was a fun, easy, cheap executive course. The longest hole was 162 yards, the shortest was like 87... I teed off w/ my 60 degree wedge. Yup, I still lost 2 balls in the long grass. Shit!
Overall, it was a nice day. Go VT Islands!!!
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