As Nick steered the Land Rover northwest, toward maple syrup and engagement rings in Burlington, Vermont, Sarah unfolded and examined a map.

“Nicky?” she said, running a finger over their route.

“Yeah?” 

“Do you think there is any possible way we could have planned this trip any worse?” She asked.

“Probably not,” he responded, reaching for her hand, “but it really has been fun so far.”

“It has,” she agreed.  “And today is going to be chock full of awesome.”

“Indeed,” Nick said, nodding. 

They were stopping at the Ben & Jerry’s factory in Waterbury before they went into Burlington.  Sarah was careful to wear comfortable clothes, as she intended to fully enjoy the “Flavoroom”  Nick had high hopes of submitting enough votes to resurrect Peanut Butter & Jelly ice cream, which had been his favorite during its brief time. 

“Look, Nicky,” Sarah shouted, “Cows!”

They saw a pasture with cows wandering around, as cows do, meandering and chewing their cud.  As they drove into the grounds, they were both open-mouthed.  They were actual cows from which Ben & Jerry’s ice cream was made.

“I feel like Charlie in the Chocolate Factory,” Nick said.

“Yeah,” Sarah agreed, “but the good one, with Gene Wilder, even though the Oompa Loompas scared the bejeezus out of me.”

“The Oompa Loompas were much less creepy in the Johnny Depp one,” Nick said.

They parked the car and looked around the grounds a bit. 

“This looks like it’s supposed to,” Nick said.  “It looks both socially-conscious and full of yummy things.”

Sarah ran to the nearest tree and wrapped her arms around it.

“I feel a little guilty we rolled up here in a Land Rover,” she said.

“We are definitely in hybrid country,” Nick agreed.

It was like walking into another world.  The tour was only $3 each, and began with the “company history moo-vie” in the Cow Over the Moon Theater.  Then a teenager who knew a freakish amount about the ice cream-making process showed them the production room, and described how ice cream is made.  There was a display of ice cream scoops through the ages, and fun-looking things everywhere.

The “Flavoroom” featured the new flavor ‘Goodbye Yellow Brickle Road’. 

As he sampled it, Nick asked Sarah, “You like?”

She nodded silently and kept tasting. 

“You need anything else?” He asked.

She shook her head.

He kissed her on the temple.  “We should keep you eating ice cream all the time,” he commented.

She elbowed him in the ribs and then kept eating.

After finishing the tour at the Flavor Graveyard, where Sarah asked if Nick needed a tissue as they saw “Peanut Butter and Jelly”, they went into the gift shop.

Even though she wanted at least one of everything, she settled on a variety of sizes of t-shirts that said “Body by Ben & Jerry’s” for the whole family.  She put hers on over her tank top before they went into the Scoop Shop where Sarah got a cone with Hubby Hubby and Nick settled on Dave Matthews’ Band Magic Brownies. 

After relaxing for a while, looking around at the Green Mountains and eating their ice cream, they skulked back to the SUV and drove to Burlington.  They pulled up at the Willard Street Inn at 349 S. Willard, Burlington, VT 05401, and were in awe.  They were parking by a mansion.  The place was gorgeous.

“I feel so wealthy,” Sarah said.  “Like I should be wearing fur or something.”

“In Vermont?”  Nick asked.

“Good call,” Sarah responded, smiling.  “I wouldn’t wear fur anyway, but I’d probably be made into a coat myself if I wore it in this state.”

When Nick opened the door to their room, Sarah gasped.

“Baby, it’s PURPLE,” she said.

“It’s called the “Periwinkle Room,” he told her.

“It rules,” Sarah said as she dropped her bags and hopped on the bed.  “How’s about a nap?” She asked him, patting the lavender bedspread.

After a healthy nap, they walked to Crow Bookshop.  Neither one could resist used bookstores.  Everything was nearly impossible to find but you always found something you never knew you wanted.  They each walked out with several books, and went in search of a quiet place by the lake to read.  They settled down, hearing music coming from a restaurant a bit up the coast, and sprawled out to read.

“Which one are you reading, Nicky?” Sarah asked.

“Egypt: Child of Atlantis,” Nick answered.  He picked a stray dandelion that was growing and bopped her on the nose with it.  “What about you?” He asked.

“Killing Pablo,” she responded.  “And you’d better hope no one saw you pick that living flower out of the ground.”

Nick laughed.  “I think they’re making that into a movie,” he told her.

“Like they did on ‘Entourage’?” Sarah asked.

“Yeah,” Nick said, “but with Christian Bale.”

The settled into quiet and read until it got dark, then moved in the direction of the music.  They found themselves at the Breakwater Caf?.  They ordered sweet potato fries and oddly, iced tea. 

“There’s something about being here that’s so calming,” Sarah said.  “It’s like Vermont is one giant valium.”

“I know,” Nick said, stretching a bit.  “I just feel like…chillaxin’.”  He knew she couldn’t stand that word, and ducked to avoid the sweet potato fry that she whipped at him.

After Nick had fish ‘n chips and Sarah ate a cheeseburger, they went back to the hotel.

“It’ll be nice to get a good night’s sleep,” Nick commented.

“With dreams of ice cream dancing in my head,” Sarah said as she turned out the light.

They both woke up early and decided to go for a run.  They were not surprised to find a lot of other people had the same idea.  The jogged along Lake Champlain for about an hour, allowing more than half that time to make their way back.  The hotel had an amazing breakfast spread, but Nick and Sarah guzzled water, drank coffee, and each grabbed a few scones before heading to their room to shower and get ready for the day. 

They went to the Church Street Marketplace, which was, essentially, a few blocks for pedestrians only.  They stumbled into Uncommon Grounds at 42 Church Street and each got a cup of the El Salvador Peaberry.

“Can you imagine,” Sarah asked, “living in a country that didn’t have good filter coffee?”

“Maybe,” Nick said, “but I’d be glad to come back and visit anytime.”

Before they left, Sarah got a cup of the Kona and Nick chose the Mexican Organic.  They kept passing the cups back and forth until they find settled on taking what the other had ordered. 

“The names of coffees,” Nick began, “sound a lot like the names of something else.”

“That’s very true,” Sarah agreed, “and I’m sure there’s an abundance of both here.”

Then they stopped into Sweet Lady Jane, a boutique that had everything from designer clothes to lesser-known, funky pieces.  Sarah fell in love with an orange sweater with yarn fringe all around the collar and cuffs.  Using the “chilly air” off of the lake as an excuse, she bought it to wear out that night.

Then they went into a cool-looking jewelry store, as Sarah remarked that EVERYTHING in Burlington appeared to be cool-looking.  Sarah started looking in the cases while Nick walked towards the salesperson.  She was not dressed in business clothes, like a lot of jewelry store salespeople.  She looked nice, but was wearing a nice pair of jeans and a button-down shirt.  It immediately put both Nick and Sarah at ease to see someone looking relatively like them.

“I’m Allison,” she told them.  “Can I help you find something?”

“A ring,” Nick said.  “A ring with a diamond or two, maybe.”

Allison smiled and looked towards Sarah.  “Is this for an occasion?” she asked quietly.

“Oh, she knows,” Nick said.  “I’m not making this decision without her input, though.”

“You’re a smart man,” Allison told him.  “A girl doesn’t want to be looking at a ring she hates for the rest of her life.”

“She wouldn’t,” Nick said.  “You know how Rachel on ‘Friends’ was known for always returning gifts for something better?”

Allison nodded.  Nick smiled and sighed.

“Do you have any colored diamonds?” Nick asked.  “It has to be naturally occurring color.”

“We do,” Allison said, leading him to a display case.  “Some of our coolest rings have colored stones, actually.”

She took a few rings out of the case and placed them on a tray.  Nick picked up a ring that was a double-band, half platinum and half yellow gold.  It was set with six small diamonds.

“This is one of my favorite,” Allison told him.  “It has six 0.14 carat diamonds, three canary diamonds and three pink diamonds.”

Nick picked it up and looked at it.  Then he got the loupe off of the counter and briefly checked out each diamond. 

“Babe?” He said, holding the ring out for Sarah.

Sarah walked over and took it out of his hand.  She smiled and slipped it onto her pinky finger, since it was too small for her ring finger.

“We can,” Allison said, “re-size that, of course.”

“It’s very nice,” Sarah said.  “But I’m not crazy about yellow gold.  Can it be made with rose gold instead?”

Allison smiled.  “Definitely,” she responded, “but there is an additional charge, since it would be custom-made.  Our designer also needs four weeks to create the ring.  But it can be done, no problem.”

“Four weeks?” Sarah asked, raising an eyebrow.  “Really?”

All three knew that she didn’t expect an answer. 

She placed the ring back on the tray.  “It would be really lovely with rose gold instead of yellow.  You should mention that to the designer,” Sarah told her.  “You know, rose gold with canary diamonds, platinum with pink diamonds.  Amazing.”

“Can I show you anything else?” Allison asked.

Nick and Sarah both smiled.

“I don’t think so,” Nick said.  “But we’ll let you know if we want that ring with the other gold.”

They said goodbye and walked around for a while longer.  Then Sarah suggested that they go to a Bikram Yoga class.

“Really?” Nick asked.  “But we got out of the South in the summer for a reason.”

“It’ll be good for our backs,” Sarah said.  “All that time on our rear ends, driving.”

At the hotel, Sarah got into her yoga clothes and Nick put on something comfortable. 

As Sarah was pulling her hair back into a ponytail, she said, “You’ve got something on under those shorts, right?  Nobody needs to go into a final spinal twist and see the twig ‘n berries.”

Nick laughed and pulled up the leg of his shorts so she could see the lycra shorts underneath.

Sarah kissed him on the nose. 

“Thank you,” Sarah said, “on behalf of all of those practicing around you.”

Bikram Yoga Burlington was at 257 Pine Street, Burlington, Vermont, 05410.  When they walked in, they were already sweating.  After going through the obligatory question and answer period, saying that yes, they have done Bikram yoga before and no, they don’t suffer from any health problems, they signed releases and paid the drop-in fee.  They also rented mats, two towels each, and bought two bottles of water each.

“You’ve definitely done this before,” Anna, the teacher, laughed.

They smiled and walked into the 110-degree steam room in which they would practice yoga.  They were drenched before the class even started.  90 minutes later, they were in savasana, their deep relaxation, and Sarah heard Nick start to snore.  She nudged him and he opened his eyes.  Rolling his head to look at her, he smiled and gestured for them to leave.  It was considered impolite to talk during any portion of the Bikram practice, and they both knew that savasana was the rudest time to make noise.  They tiptoed around the other people, with Sarah stifling a giggle when she dripped sweat on someone she was trying to walk around.  Then they sat in the lobby for a few minutes, waiting for their body temperatures to come down to a reasonable level before they went outside.

They tried not to attract attention when they walked back into the hotel, since they were both completely soaked in sweat still.  They immediately showered and then sprawled out on the bed.

“What are you thinking for tonight?” Sarah asked Nick.

“Well, I thought I’d want to go out for some drinks,” Nick answered, “but now I’m thinking maybe just dinner and then back here.”

“Most excellent,” Sarah said, wrapping her arms around him.  “You read my mind.”

They walked to Magnolia Bistro and sat out on the porch.  Sarah was snuggled into her new sweater.  They had decided on Magnolia when they asked at the hotel where they could get something vegetarian.

“You can even get something VEGAN,” Sarah told Nick as they looked over their menus.

“Probably not,” Nick said.  “But I think I will go vegetarian tonight.”

“Me, too,” Sarah said.  “After all, when in Rome…”

“Mooooooooo.”  Nick had been practicing since they were at the Ben & Jerry’s factory.  “Mooooooooooooo.”

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