Day 5 - 28 April (Lake George, NY to Brattleboro, VT)

Another mind relaxing night and we woke up to the bright rays of the sun flashing thru our hotel window. Check the weather and its about 44 deg F (7 deg C) and its windy so it 'feels like' 39 deg F (4 deg C). Simple breakfast followed by loading the bike and we ride to the main street in Lake George and do some curio shopping and walking around and then head towards the local attraction Prospect Mountain, but surprisingly there are hardly any signs or direction on the road, while Mr. GPS is also not able to locate such a place. After asking & missing the turn off twice we finally reach the entrance, but disappointingly a big board prominently says they are still not open for the season!! Sigh…….

Prospect Mountain entrance- Can you think of a better welcome sign…!!

We move around there a bit and learn the hard reality that the off-season may be great for hotel discounts & sparse traffic etc, but surely not for the scores of local attractions that are still in their slumber!! So time to soberly hit the road. Besides, a little earlier, things between Mrs & Mr Adventure were not going too well due to the mis-planning of this trip and things hit a melting point & exploded. I guess we both had different expectations from such a trip and with very little planning it was natural at some point some steam had to be let off. Anyway, we leave the serene Lake George town & hit the road in a south east direction back towards Vermont. After some miles and some more clearing up of hearts, throats & sweet talks on the intercom, things get back to normal, and the intercom is suddenly active & lively again. Getting back to the ride, we pass serene villages like Poultney, Middletown Springs & Tinmouth, where we stop for lunch at a nice local eatery- Great food & nice service…but sadly forgot the name! We also meet a local biker couple just enjoying a nice sunny day on their bike. Over a nice biker to biker conversation, they repeatedly tell us we should attend the Americade sometime. They have apparently been doing it consistently for a good 17 years!! After lunch and the chit-chat we then join US Rt 7 south passing Wallingford, Danby, Dorset, Manchester, Shaftsbury and arriving at Bennington (ofcourse all English names, after all its in New England folks!).

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From here we take left on state Rt 9 which is an amazing ribbon of asphalt with lots & lots of curves and long sweepers, climbs & descends- mile after mile of entertainment for motorcyclists. Its very tempting to open up the throttle & tear open the roads here, but I went within the posted limits of 50-60 mph and thanks to my judgment, on one of the blind spots there was James Bond 007s first cousin 'The man with a radar gun', so being on the right side of the law we avoided contributing to the local state treasury and continued enjoying the wonderful ride passing Wilmington, Marlboro and ending all the way to our destination for the day, Brattleboro. This town definitely had a nice European feel to it from its narrow streets to old classic buildings etc.

During our search for our stay in Brattleboro we had read a lot about the historic Latchis Hotel & Theater and landed at their doorstep as usual bargaining for a room! Got a deal and check in. Ofcourse it's a no frills place but they have maintained a lot of the old world charm and being located at the corner of Main & Flat Streets, its bang in the middle of town with everything from shopping to entertainment to fine dining at arms length from the hotel. We walk next door to the Shin-La Korean Restaurant, where we had a mouth watering dinner from their Korean menu- Gopdol Bibimbap with Tofu, Yakisoba with chicken and closed it with yummy Green Tea Ice Cream (this Ice Cream is really worth a try- yummy).

The yummy Green Tea Ice Cream

Wife posing with our friendly waitress

Excellent food & wonderful service. Highly recommended restaurant for anybody passing thru this place. Head back to the room and wrap up the day.

Distance travelled 162 miles