Leith V-Neck Sweater// Halogen ‘Owen’ Flats// AG ‘The Legging’ Ankle Jean// Leith Shawl Cocoon Cardigan// BaubleBar ‘Nova’ Pendant Necklace //Twine & Twig Blush Sea Glass Bracelets
Have you ever been on a road trip? I went on my first legit “road trip” (well, relatively speaking) a few weeks ago and LOVED it! I’ve always wanted to go on a road trip up in Northeast to see the leaves change and thanks to a few things falling in place this year, we were able to make it happen. The hardest part was figuring out where to go! After we started researching, there were so many amazing and exciting things we wanted to do up in the Vermont, New Hampshire & Maine area that I decided I wanted to make this NE road trip adventure an annual thing!
Unfortunately for us down here in Texas, making a little east coast-ish road trip isn’t as easy as jumping in the car and driving. Instead, we’ve got to fly up there, rent a car and THEN start the road trip. But regardless, it’s worth all the planning and traveling (to me at least) because I love traveling by car (especially when there’s pretty views) and I just LOVE anything and everything about Fall. So it was a win-win for me!
Anyway, I’m going to be covering parts of our itinerary and the stops we made along the way over the next few weeks – I didn’t want to offload all the content all at once because I felt like it would be too much of the same. Instead, I’m sprinkling it in with the other things I’ve got planned to keep things interesting!
Sole Society Leopard Scarf //Socialite Shift Dress (LOVE and comes in several colors! Plus, it’s under $50!) // Sam Edelman Suede Ankle Boots (quickly becoming my faovrite booties of the season, fit is TTS) //Ray-Ban ‘Original’ Aviators 58mm
First Stop of NE Road Trip: Stowe, VT
One of the places we knew we wanted to stop along our road trip through the Northeast was Stowe, Vermont. I hadn’t heard about it before but after doing some research, it seemed like of the only viable starting places (other than Montreal Canada or Bangor, Maine) as far as “big” airports were concerned. We just wanted to start as far North as possible and be able to experience some of the iconic NE highways during leaf-peeping season. And so Stowe, VT seemed like the best option for us!
After we started looking more into it, we quickly realized it was such a charming, gorgeous town, and definitely a place we wanted to go. It’s a small town but FILLED with trees, mountains, rivers, and is just picture-perfect gorgeous. One of the main reasons for our road trip is actually to see the leaves change, so this was the most ideal place to stay. Since it was out first stop, I wanted to a do a city guide on it keeping in line with all the travel & city guides I’ve been doing for all the other places I’ve ventured so far this year. Let me know if y’all have anything to add or any questions!
ABOVE: Pulling up at the Stowe Mountain Lodge in the 2017 Land Rover Evoque Convertible*
Where to stay
After looking into the top 3 spots to stay in Stowe, Vt, we were most excited about the Stowe Mountain Lodge. It was the only place with ski-in & ski-out and we thought it would be good to check it out for future trips in the winter time. Plus, it just looked like the best fit for what we were looking for! We absolutely loved it and will definitely stay there again!
Outfit Details: Sole Society Cleo Boot//Articles of Society ‘Mya’ Skinny Jeans//Topshop Double Strap Camisole//BP. Open Front Cardigan//BaubleBar Ring Drop Earrings//BaubleBar XL Ribbon Monogram Necklace//YSL Rouge Pur Couture Lipstick
The whole resort is set in it’s on little village really. They have shops and restaurants that you can walk around and explore. It has all the amenities you’d ever need/want in a vacation: nice spa, golf course, good food, heated pool (hot tub!), bike trails, etc. They also have a gondola that you can take to the top of the mountain and get a great view of VT from above. Not to mention that everything about the place is just COZY and has all the mountain vibes. All in all, we absolutely LOVED it!
What to do
For a small town, there was actually quite a lot to do in Stowe – especially if you’re into nature. I loved that there were a bunch of beautiful places to hike and walk and take pictures. Everything around here is simply stunning, and it gave me all the fall feels!
ABOVE: sipping on hot apple cider at Cold Hollow Cider Mill from my this blog post
Nordstrom Cape//Leith V-Neck Sweater// Vince Camuto ‘Melaya’ Boots//Articles of Society ‘Mya’ Skinny Jeans//BP. Bar Pendant Necklace
- Zip Line & Tree Top Adventure – Tree top obstacle course, we didn’t have time to go (plus it was actually closed while we were visiting – sad), but this is a must for next year! And I’ve heard GREAT things about it!
- Cold Hollow Cider Mill – Cute country store that sells fresh & hot apple cider along with cinnamon sugar apple doughnuts, yum! The locals RAVE about this place and actually go themselves, which should be reason enough to give it a shot if you’re in the area! This is where I took the photos from last week’s poncho post!
- Stowe Mountain Auto Toll – This toll road takes you to one of the highest points in VT where you can overlook all of the rolling mountains and take some really cool nature shots.
- Walk the Stowe Recreation Path – Has bike trails, walking trails, cute little bridges and goes over a river. This would be the perfect mild exercise for your time in Stowe!
- Mount Mansfield – You can climb or hike up this mountain – steep and tough though! – or you can drive to the lookout area to take insanely pretty pictures!
- Moss Glen Falls – This is a pretty easy walk – 30 minutes or so – to a cool, gorgeous waterfall! This would be ideal if you wanted to get outdoors into the trees but weren’t up for the Mount Mansfield trek.
- Gold Brook Covered Bridge – If you want a cute photo op, this is definitely worth the visit! It’s a old-school covered bridge, BUT it’s said to be haunted so it’s kinda cool/spooky!
Outfit Details: Sole Society Leopard Scarf (exact one I’m wearing is on backorder) //Socialite Shift Dress// YSL Rouge Pur Couture Lip Color (No. 28)
Where To Eat
- Plate (located in the heart of the town) – Located on Main Street this cute dinner spot is the perfect place to end your day with a good meal and cocktail. The restaurant is pretty small but definitely worth the wait just to soak of the ambience. They serve a wide variety on their menu and the open kitchen is so fun to watch. We tried two of their drinks there and they were so good!
- Solstice – (located inside of Stowe Mountain Lodge) we had breakfast here (twice!) and drinks one night before dinner. The setting is so convenient if you are staying at the Lodge. Breakfast was really good and the view was even better. They have these amazing floor to ceiling windows that make you want to stay there all day and watch the leaves fall. Oh wait also, the LATTE there is BEYOND amazing! I had one every single morning and thoroughly enjoyed it!
- Trattoria La Feste (a little outside of town but so yummy!) – After many recommendations we stopped here for a delicious Italian dinner. We each had a different pasta that was so yummy and their bread was too good to pass up.
- The Main Street Cafe for Lunch – If you are looking for a quick bite to eat where all the locals hang out, you need to visit The Main Street Cafe. This sandwich shop shares it’s space with a bookstore, two cute shops. There are plenty of sandwiches to choose from and the bakery makes their cookies and muffins fresh daily. I had the chicken salad sandwich and even went back to get ANOTHER for our drive down to Manchester (city guide coming soon)!
Outfit Details: Wayf ‘Easton’ Knit Cape // Hinge Button-Back Sweater (wearing size XS) // TuckerNuck stacked Bracelets // Dee Keller Portia Pumps //Articles of Society ‘Mya’ Skinny Jeans (best pair for under $100 I’ve ever tried on. EVER. Fit is TTS, wearing size 25)
*This photo makes me laugh and I got to know the valet guys a little bit while setting this one up, which was fun! The marketing team wanted a photo with the Evoque at the hotel for the partnership with Land Rover…and now everyone wants this car! Literally, we got stopped EVERYWHERE. More on our trip (and the other cities) to come!