We spent our day wandering about the various stalls at the Stowe Farmer’s Market and I found myself falling in love all over with cheese. I also discovered a liquor distilled from maple syrup, as well as gins that were created exclusively with herbs from Vermont! There were many fuzzies (puppies mainly, though a horse did show up!) that were very friendly with us.
Afterwards, we visited the Stowe Cider as well as Stowe Wine and Cheese. The staff everywhere was extremely friendly and is happy to help you find a cider that fits your flavor profiles! They make one that is aged in Rum barrels, for example, that is quite tasty.
Rum-Aged Cider!Deliciousness!
For lunch, we visited the Malt Shop, where I opted for onion rings and a burger with bleu cheese. They also have excellent chili-fries. Be warned, though, they only accept cash!
My girlfriend’s family has access to a timeshare in Stowe, VT, so I decided to take some time away from my day job to get some R and R. I took the opportunity to fly more with Delta to help maintain status, and kill two birds with one stone. To add icing to the cake, a good friend of ours visited at the same time, so we had many nights filled with Cards Against Humanity!
Flights
To reach Stowe, VT I flew to the nearest airport: Burlington, VT (BTV). The first flight was from Raleigh to Detroit, and then routed from Detroit to Burlington.
Thanks to my Diamond Medallion Status, I confirmed upgrades to First Class for both segments on the way up. The first flight was on a B737-800, while the second was on a regional jet (CRJ900). I opted for window seats on both flights – I’m a sucker for a good view!
Detroit
As we taxied for takeoff at Detroit, I caught a glimpse of a 747-400 – one of my favorite planes, and my first wide-body experience that I can remember. Because of the sentimental memories associated with the plane, I can’t help but smile when I see one.
AtlasAir 747-400 at DTW
Burlington Airport
While the Burlington Airport is technically international, it is fairly small in that it only caters to regional aircraft, albeit the larger ones (CRJ700/900). There is no SkyClub, due to its size, but TSA PreCheck is available.
The airport is directly across from the Army and Air National Guard hangars, which made for an impressive landing. The 134th Fighter Squadron was visible from my window. As an AvGeek, seeing F16s was definitely awesome.
134th Fighter Squadron
South Burlington
Before heading to Stowe, I headed into Burlington to get some coffee and a snack. I stopped at Scout & Co., and their iced coffee was just what I needed. Highly recommended, if you find yourself in the region!
Village Green at Stowe
The timeshare properties are part of the condos located at the Village Green at Stowe. Though a little dated (the condos were built in the mid-to-late 70s), they have modern furnishings and gas cooking. My girlfriend brought up our grill so we were able to make some burgers with delicious Cabot cheese. The condos also have an indoor pool, outdoor pool, hot tub, and dry sauna available. Unfortunately cellular reception in the area leaves a lot to be desired, and Wi-Fi is only available near the club house.
Affiliate Link Note: If you use my link to SkyRoam, you’ll get $20 off your purchase (to buy, not rent), and I’ll get a few free days! You certainly don’t have to… but I wouldn’t object!
A few days ago, I posted that I was purchasing a SkyRoam [Affiliate Link] hotspot. It came in on Friday and I thought I would share the unboxing!
The packaging itself
The hotspot arrived in neat looking packaging – very compact as you would expect. Contained within the package was the battery – rated at providing roughly 8 hours of use before recharging is necessary, the charging cable – standard MicroUSB, and the hotspot itself.
My girlfriend and I went up to Washington, DC for the long weekend and wanted to spend some time re-discovering the city, since we hadn’t visited since our respective childhoods. I booked our room at the Grand Hyatt given its location, and was pleasantly surprised by everything that came with it!
Location
The Grand Hyatt is located on the corner of 11th street and H street, which is a very short walk from the Metro Center Station. There are many restaurants a short walk away, and many attractions are within a 15 minute walk (the White House, the Washington monument, and the National Mall, for example).
Restaurants
There is a Starbucks Reserve in the lobby, as well as Cure – a restaurant that carefully pairs ingredients for a wonderful experience. Located on the first basement level is the hotel’s main restaurant – Cabinet. I received a daily breakfast pass because of my status, which was a pleasant surprise.
Diamond breakfast
Room Information
I was given a corner room on the 12th floor, with the bed offering a nice view of the city below.
Room entry
View from the bed
The TV was placed on a dresser that contained a safe and mini-fridge, as well as an interface system that allows guests to hook up their own devices.
Media inputs and USB charging
Hotel Amenities
As mentioned above, the hotel houses two restaurants as well as a Starbucks, so there are many dining options without even leaving the building. Also within the building is a FedEx location – contained within the business center, and a large number of meeting rooms.
Hyatt has a very friendly policy when it comes to forgetting things at home. Simply call the front desk and someone will bring what you need and leave it at the door for you. Depending on what it is, you can keep it, or just borrow it for your visit, allowing you to buy it at check-out.
Forgot something?
The hotel also has a spectacular skylight and a chandelier that dangles from the 12th floor to the basement.
While visiting Cancún for a timeshare presentation (I won’t say no to 5 days at a resort for dirt cheap!), the concierge at the Westin Lagunamar suggested what we visit El Fish Fritanga if we wanted some fresh seafood. Given our location, I thought this would be an excellent idea, and after a day of exploring Tulum, we made our way down from our room.
Location
El Fish Fritanga is facing the Nichupté lagoon with the entrance on the main-road that runs through the resort district. Though you have to walk between two buildings to get to the actual restaurant, you get to eat on the sand! Plus, it is located in walking distance of most of the hotels and resorts on the peninsula — a short 10 minute walk from the Westin Lagunamar.
Review
The food was spectacular — this was one of the few restaurants that had large chunks of octopus in their ceviche, whole fish for the same price as Chinese delivery in the States, and though I generally stay far away from sugary drinks… the best piña coladas I have ever had. If you enjoy seafood and well made drinks, do not pass up this opportunity!
Alas, all trips must eventually come to an end, and we realized that 5 days really isn’t enough time to see even one island of Hawaii — some follow-up trips are clearly in order! The airport is very easy to navigate, thankfully, and there are many lounge options available.
Priority Pass
Since I had access to Priority Pass lounges through my Citi Prestige[non-affiliate link] card (with two guests, no less!), I took Carrie to the IASS Lounge on the garden level. Though there were no alcoholic beverages available, they had interesting drink options — guava juice, for example!
Other lounges available at HNL include a Delta SkyClub, KoreanAir Lounge, JAL Sakura Lounge, United Club, Hawaiian Airlines Lounge, and Quantas Lounge. Quite a few options!
Aloha, indeed!
HNL → JFK
The return flight was on a Boeing 767-300ER and though we were not able to sit in DeltaOne seats, we were in the Comfort Plus cabin. Unfortunately Delta does not allow complimentary upgrades to DeltaOne even within the US. This made for a somewhat difficult flight back as the lavs in the middle were nonfunctional and the lights over the left third of the plane (where we were sitting) were also nonfunctional.
16A & BComfort Plus on a 767-300ER
The flight was a whopping 9 and a half hours, from boarding to deplaning, after a 45 minute delay on leaving Honolulu, so Carrie and I were all kinds of stiff. It didn’t help that the couple in front of us were discourteous in reclining their seats completely only to give us nasty looks if we so much as bumped them.
Given the length of the flight, we were given a rest-kits including earplugs, an eye mask, and a toothbrush with toothpaste. Definitely practical!
Delta Comfort Plus PackPack contents
After our second snack service, two of the cabin crew walked down the aisles handing out chocolate to the passengers, which was as nice touch and certainly appreciated after the flight.
Tasty!
JFK → RDU
Oof… here is where the fun began… our flight from JFK to RDU was delayed by three hours according to the Delta app, so I made my way to a counter to inquire to the nature of the delay. I knew the plane was there already thanks to FlightAware, and it turns out one of the pilots was delayed on an earlier connection.
The agent suggested we fly out of LaGuardia instead and provided a taxi voucher. Unfortunately, as our bags were checked we had to hope they would eventually make it home that night.
Thankfully, due to our status, we were able to upgrade to first class on the return leg (even if it was on a CRJ 700), and the SkyClub attendant was nice enough to allow my girlfriend in for free. Honestly, it is their customer service that makes me keep returning to Delta over other airlines.
Their website, however, is ridiculously buggy and would not allow us to track our bags after we filed our delayed baggage claim, so we weren’t able to stay abreast of the situation without calling periodically. The truly frustrating thing is that each time I called, I received a different answer from the representative. The bags finally made their way to us at 1 AM the following day, so everything wrapped up okay in the end, albeit a little stiff from that first flight!
