Day Six of the Road Trip- The Last Hoorah

Flavor Graveyard

Today was our grand finale of the road trip. We woke up at our hotel in the Green Mountains of Vermont and made our way down the street to the Mecca, The Ben and Jerry’s Factory. The entire outside of the building was colorful and fun just like a pint of Ben and Jerry’s. We arrived about 30 minutes before the first tour began to ensure that we were the first tourists of the day. To our surprise, they opened the gates a little early and we got to begin our tour at 9:45.

Walking into the factory was like a dream come true. The smell of fresh ice cream filled the air, there were colorful clouds and cows painted everywhere, and the employees were so friendly. The tour began with a short video about how the company got it’s start. It was interesting to learn Ben and Jerry split the cost of a $5 ice cream course through Penn State to learn their trade. Obviously it must’ve been a very successful program! After the brief video we stepped into the production room to get to see the magic that creates each pint. The workers in the factory even took the time to look up at us and wave. It genuinely seemed like everyone there enjoyed their jobs! I guess it must be the 3 free pints of ice cream they get to take home each day. That would make anyone happy! The tour ended in the tasting kitchen. In this room we got to sample a flavor that is only offered in Ben and Jerry Scoop Shops, Cotton Candy.  The sample was more like a scoop! Baskin Robbins really needs to step up their game as far as samples go. Cotton Candy ice cream is amazing!! It had a cream base with small pieces of cotton candy. I recommend anyone to try this flavor if given the opportunity.

Happy Girls and Their Vermonster

Once the tour was over the real fun got started. We all spent a solid 30 minutes looking at the cute things offered in the gift shop. I somehow ended up spending quite a bit of MOOO- lah at this stop. Every single souvenir seemed worthy to me. So when you see me strolling through Indianapolis with my Ben and Jerry’s umbrella, key chain, and pint koozie you’ll know what happened.

After spending 1/8th of my life’s savings in the gift shop we made our way to the scoop shop to tackle the task we set out day one to conquer, The Vermonster. The Vermonster holds 20 scoops of ice cream, 4 ladles of hot fudge, 4 bananas, 3 chocolate chip cookies, a huge brownie, whipped cream, and 4 choice toppings. We chose m&m’s, gummie bears, reese pieces, and sprinkles, which in retrospect we wish we would’ve chosen something else besides the gummie bears. They turned into little pellets after a few minutes in the bucket. Originally I thought we could blaze through this bucket no problem, I mean we all love ice cream! Let me tell you, nothing can prepare you for this thing… it is the Mount Everest of desserts. After giving it our best efforts we finished about two thirds of the bucket. It was devastating to leave behind such a delicious conglomerate but we had to fly the white flag, we were stuffed!

Before and After

To finish up our time at Ben and Jerry’s we went outside to pay our respects at the Flavor Graveyard. Inside the graveyard there were many flavors that are no longer in production. Each head stone had a clever little epitaph that coincided with the flavor name. Once we said our goodbyes and did a few belly stretches, we hit the road for our next destination, Niagara Falls.

The drive to Niagara was long and very boring. 7.5 hours on a 2 lane highway, definitely not ideal! Especially after eating 5 pounds of ice cream. We arrived to Niagara Falls around 8:30 pm. We were able to see the falls while it was still light outside and then again once it was dark and the falls were illuminated. The falls were beautiful and definitely something everyone should experience once in their lifetime. We enjoyed a nice dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe Niagara Falls before heading to our last hotel of the trip.

Niagara Falls

This trip has been an absolute blast full of lifelong memories. I’m sad it’s over but very excited to not have to deal with luggage carts and GPS for a long time. Tomorrow we will make our 7 hour trip back to Indy. It’s been real East Coast!

Day Five of the Road Trip

First, let me start by saying, Vermont is a severely underrated state. Before this trip Vermont was just the “safe place” in the movie I am Legend, it was completely off my radar. Vermont is extremely mountainous and beautiful. I swear the sky is even bluer here!

After checking into our hotel (which has a nice mountain view, hot tub, and game room!) we decided to drive down the road to Cold Hollow Cider Mill. The mill was full of local staples like maple syrup and pretty much any apple byproduct. We all got to sample the fresh apple cider after watching a brief video on how Cold Hollow goes about making it. Another main attraction is the Apple Cider Donuts. Priced at only 50 cents it was a must for us to try.

 The donut was still warm and not as dense as the usual cake donut. I probably could’ve eaten 6 without thinking twice. Our biggest regret as a group was not buying an Apple Cider Slushie. This place is a must if you are traveling to Waterbury. It is conveniently located down the street from the Ben and Jerry’s Factory. 

Across the the road from Cold Hollow is a cute little place called the Apple Core. Inside you’ll find a cafe and a very large selection of spiked ciders, beer, and wine. We were initially lured in by the sign advertising wine tasting. For 2 dollars we were able to sample a cider and 5 different wines. All of the wines come from Grand View Winery which is located just outside Montpellier. We all enjoyed the wine! One of the wines was even featured on the Today Show! 

After finishing up with a few purchases for ourselves, friends, and others we went a little further up the road to Cabot Creamery. From what I hear you can’t go to Vermont without trying the cheese, so we put this place high on the priority list. Inside you are able to sample every single cheese that they make! And really, you can take as much as your heart desires, but beware, cheese fills ya up quickly! There is also a wide variety of maple syrups you can sample as well. Cabot’s is a very cute place! 

For dinner went to a restaurant on the other side of our hotel called, The Reservoir. Since Vermont is so beautiful we decided to enjoy our meal outside. The menu had a wide variety of options with most under ten bucks. 

The rest of the evening we spent outside of our hotel playing on the swing and enjoying the hot tub. Tomorrow is a big day for all of us, the Ben and Jerry’s Factory Tour! After tackling the Vermonster we will be heading to Buffalo, New York to begin our journey home.

 

 

 

Day Four of the Road Trip

Today began with a very easy drive to Albany. We are happy to report we had a much more positive experience with the Toll Roads. The drive through New Jersey and New York was absolutely beautiful! We loved seeing all the “Text Stops”, Delaware River, and mountains. It was also fun to see different Canadian license plates, they were every where! The drive was more pleasant thanks to the sweet mix on the Pop2K XM Radio station; it’s always nice to hear from Ashanti and Ja Rule.

Our main mission in Albany was to visit a Greek restaurant called, Anton’s Greek American Eatery. I guess when you drive hundreds of miles for a restaurant you picture something really elaborate. On our ride there, Lindsey shared stories about her time studying abroad in Greece and how Santorini was just as breath taking in real life as it is in pictures. So, in my head I was thinking this restaurant would be painted blue like the Mediterranean Sea and the waiters would be like the characters from My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Well, you can imagine my surprise when we rolled up to a place the size of a Penn Station in a strip mall across from a hospital with a few local college students working inside.

Despite it’s understated appearance, Anton’s was very tasty! As a table we ordered a Greek Dip Trio that had 2 types of hummus and tzatziki (a cucumber yogurt type sauce) served with fresh pita. All of us were feeling the need for a lighter entree so 3 of us ordered the Greek salad and the other 2 ordered a gyro. Everyone left satisfied even though it was not quite the picture my imagination painted on our way there.

Since we all agreed we ate “healthier” than usual, we decided to check out the ice cream and chocolate place next door in the strip mall. When we

Chocolate Playstation Remote

walked in I immediately felt like I was back in 1998 at a Precious Moments store. There were little trinkets all around and LOTS of brass. Upon closer look I realized that all these little trinkets were actually different objects made out of chocolate. They had pretty much any chocolate object you could want but my favorites were probably the chocolate handcuffs and a chocolate Noah’s

Chocolate Manicure Set

Ark. I decided to leave the Ark for someone else and went for a pineapple and strawberry sundae made with homemade soft serve ice cream. It was so good even though it wasn’t shaped like a tennis racquet or a penguin. Everyone else was also sucked into the homemade ice cream web, except Lindsey who went for the cheesecake smothered in hot fudge.

Chocolate Noah’s Ark

The rest of the evening we spent touring the enormous mall that even includes a CVS and mini golf!

Tomorrow we are off to Waterbury, Vermont, home of The Ben and Jerry’s Factory! We won’t be touring the factory until Monday but have some other very exciting things lined up for Sunday.

Day 3 of the Road Trip

Day 3, our day at Hershey Park in Hershey, Pennsylvania, was our favorite of our road trip thus far! As we rolled into Hershey Park we could smell the aroma of fresh milk chocolate in the air. We were all impressed with how smooth the parking process was. Since the toll roads robbed us blind, we decided to eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in the car to save some money. The peanut butter and jelly sandwiches were pretty average, but still satisfying.

After devouring our sammies in a less than 5 minutes we ventured into the park. The first impression was wonderful! So many rides and so little time. The park is open 10-10 and we arrived at about 11:30. Honestly, it would be nearly impossible to ride everything in one day, but we made it to a majority of the hot spots. The roller coasters were the main attraction. Hershey Park is home to 12 roller coasters and MANY other thrilling rides including a water park. Our favorite coaster of the day was Fahrenheit. Fahrenheit is a very steep coaster. In fact, the ride starts at a 94 degree angle! Although the ride isn’t very long, the climb and drop, accompanied with all the loops and twists made for a perfect combination.

Another very exciting aspect of the park is the FREE Hershey’s Factory Tour which is located in Chocolate World (right outside the amusement park). The entire ride takes place on moving cocoa bean. In about 10 minutes we learned about the entire, and very involved process of making Hershey’s Milk Chocolate. IT WAS SO COOOOL! Willy Wonka has nothing on Hershey! 

The best part might be the 2 pieces of fresh chocolate we got at the end. We all agreed it was the best Hershey Minis we’ve ever tasted, but this was also about 6 hours after our PB & J’s so our opinions may be a little skewed. 

While inside Chocolate World we couldn’t resist splurging on something 

chocolate. Ya know, the whole “While in Rome” thing. We decided to split two cupcakes. One was Reese Cup flavored and the other was Chocolate Chip Cookie flavored, both were delicious. As you can see from the picture, no morsel was left behind. 

We are very happy to report that our hotel is very nice, safe, and clean this evening. Tomorrow we will spend the day in Albany, New York for our next set of adventures. 

Plot Twists

All great stories have plot twists. Our story must be really great because we have had a few! Now that we are safe and won’t cause any concerns among our family and friends we can share our distain for our hotel in Pittsburgh. First off, the hotel hallway smelled like a hybrid of smoke, Febreeze, and old man/moth balls. Walking in our room, I almost felt like I was in a bad episode of Roseanne. Honestly the picture is very flattering. Not pictured is the bed skirt that is ripped in 3/4ths of the way around and the creepy smoker friendly balcony. After the initial shock we thought, “Okay, you get what you pay for, it’s not that bad.” …. Then we went to flush the toilet. It sounded like it was afflicted with emphysema, gasping for it’s last breath. So, needless to say we had to call maintenance (who was extremely friendly) and our toilet got a second chance. After that we thought we could make a short list of “pros”:

1. 5 mirrors- easy for us girls to get ready!

2. Located above a Panera, nice breakfast but unfortunately not complimentary.

3. Security at night.

“Hey, maybe it wasn’t that bad?!” Wrong-o! As we were packing up this morning and doing a little under the bed check we found a previous occupant(s)’ “personal protective” wrapper. Thank god we were leaving!

Once we started on our journey to Hershey we thought the worst was behind us, until 2 miles in when we did not get a “ticket” before merging onto the highway. I guess here in Pennsylvania instead of just paying as you enter/exit a toll you take this ticket that comes out of a very tiny and unmarked machine, and then once you exit the highway you present your ticket to the toll booth to pay. We needed to stop for gas so we decided to exit the highway (no big deal, pretty normal thing). Once we rolled up to the toll booth the extremely friendly *sarcasm* attendant asked for our ticket. We looked around and explained the situation and it didn’t matter. We had to pay the highest toll fee $34.45, and received a claim form we have to fill out and mail in.

Obviously this made us really happy, but we gassed up and continued on our way. Unfortunately, the Garmin took us the wrong direction on the very expensive toll road that has no exits for 20 miles. 😦 So, once again we exited, paid, and re-entered. Obviously we were very careful this time to get the “ticket”. The rest of the drive was very easy and actually quite beautiful! We went through many mountains and tunnels. Once it was time to exit the toll road for the last time we breathed a sigh of relief. This fare was $16.22. Honestly, who knew toll roads were this expensive?! I thought the Chicago Skyway was bad… I had no idea!

Although we had a few plot twists today, overall it was the best day we had yet! Hershey Park was an absolute blast and today was a beautiful 80 degrees and sunny. 🙂 Luckily our plot twists lead to a very happy ending. Stay tuned for more on that subject.

Day 2 of the Road Trip

Today we spent the entire day in Pittsburgh. On a whim we decided to go to the Pirates vs. Reds baseball game. PNC Park was just a hop, skip, and a jump away from our hotel so it was quite convenient! The ballpark was beautiful even though the weather wasn’t. We enjoyed a nice spread of kettle corn, nachos, and soft pretzels during our time there. All items were overpriced but the nacho cheese was phenom. The big highlight for us during the game was getting our shout out up on the scrolling marquee. 

After the game we came back to get ready for dinner. All five of us were able to shower, and get ready, in under an hour and a half. The idea of dinner really kept us motivated! For dinner, we went to Primanti Brothers. This is a pretty popular restaurant in the Pittsburgh area with over 17 locations! Primanti Brothers has been in business for over 80 years!! All of the sandwiches are topped with coleslaw, french fries, tomatoes, and served on the most incredible Italian bread. The waiter warned us that the sandwiches were pretty big but we had no idea what we were getting into. The added carbohydrate, the french fries, really created a whole new experience to the average turkey sandwich. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would put ketchup on a turkey sandwich, but today I did, and it was fabulous! 

Believe it or not, even after that meal we still weren’t satisfied. We happened to notice a little homemade ice cream shop along the way called Dave and Andy’s Homemade Ice Cream, and meandered in. The smell of waffle cone, ice cream, and all that’s right with the the world hit us as we opened the door. I was quite impressed with some of their flavors! Such as: Cinnamon Toast, S’Mores, Maple Bacon, Banana Chocolate Chunk, and Oatmeal Raisin. The ice cream was just as good as it sounds!

Tomorrow morning we will bid our farewells to Pittsburgh and make our way to Hershey for a fun filled day at Hershey Park! Lucky for us the forecast looks promising 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

Day 1 of the Road Trip

After four states, many calories, and close to 400 miles we have officially ended our first day! Our first stop today was the Smuckers Company Store and Cafe in Orrville, OH. 

We were all very impressed with this little store, which is the only one of it’s kind! It was opened in 1999 just a few miles away from the factory. We were very impressed with the large variety of jellies, peanut butter, and so much more! Oh, and of course we enjoyed the free samples. 🙂 One of the features of the store was this colorful arrangement of jelly jars! 

It is kind of hard to see but the jars hanging from the ceiling make a strawberry! Fun Fact: 1,534 jars are used in this display. 

While at Smuckers we enjoyed a delish lunch at the Cafe. And much to our surprise they offered many other things besides peanut butter and jelly. I’d have to say we were also shocked by how cheap our lunch was! Oh, we also split this delicious peanut butter brownie. Yes… it was as good as it looks. 

Some other fun facts about Smuckers I learned after chatting up a friendly employee:

The company started by selling apple butter out of a wagon in 1897. The biggest seller for the company is not actually a jelly, it is Dickinson’s Pepper & Onion, which might I say is FAB when you mix it with cream cheese. Who knew?!

After leaving Smuckers we started making our way for Pittsburgh, which really was a pretty tolerable drive until we were about 2 minutes from our hotel. Traffic was out of control! This evening we enjoyed a night out exploring Pittsburgh which is pretty desolate on a Wednesday night, however we still had a blast! 

Tomorrow we will make our way to the Primanti Bros! Now we are off to bed, hoping to sleep off our belly aches and food guilt. 

FG Road Trip EVE!

We are just about 12 hours away from our departure! I tried to squeeze in a few last minute push-ups and sit-ups tonight. I was thinking if I felt sore, I wouldn’t feel as much guilt for overeating. I’ll let you know how that goes! 🙂 

As you can see there have been a few inconsistencies in our trip name and also the the word “Road Trip/Roadtrip”. So as it turns out “Road Trip/Roadtrip” is actually two words. We blame the world of Twitter and hashtags for our mistake. Good news is we were right on 50% of our Road Trip gear! #teachablemoment 

Now you may ask, “What does ‘FGP/FG’ stand for?” Great question! Our trip name was inspired by the Twitter hashtag and user name #fgp and @FatGirlProblems. We found the posts very relatable and felt like our trip was just one giant #fgp. And that’s the story of how we got our name 🙂

Busy day tomorrow! Off to Orrville and Pittsburgh! Can’t wait for a very memorable trip with some of by best friends and everyone’s BFF, FOOD. 

 

The Final Countdown

It is hard to believe that June is finally here! Which means the road trip is rapidly approaching. The hotels are reserved, yoga pants are purchased, rental car is booked, and last minute dieting has began. Recently we each spent some time looking for pictures that would look nice in our trip bios. While conducting that search we found some other precious gems. After a brief look into each of our Facebook albums, it is clear that our love of food has been apparent since at least the Summer 2006!

Enjoy a brief history in pictures of the FGP Roadtrip Crew.

Notice the girls in the back, full cones and so much to look forward to. Then check out the three road trippers in the front 2 cones consumed and another well on its way! #fgp

We only dressed as sauce packets because the Crunch Wrap Supreme and Chicken Burrito costumes didn’t turn out well.

Dressed up as a cows to get free Chickfila. No Shame.

Lindsey and Katie enjoying an Xmas cookie or 4 circa 2010.

A true FG doesn’t let a man get between her and her bag of pretzel crips! Meals before men.

“I have no idea where all the puppy chow went?”

Cupcakes for the queen of cupcakes!

“Oh my gosh, this bachelorette party is the best night of my life. I love these breadsticks!”

Honestly, how many people do you know that have a picture in front of Donatos?

Noticing a reoccurring theme with Lindsey and Christmas cookies.

Don’t let Jordyn’s super hip flip phone take away from the 3 polished pasta plates.

FG Rule number 33: Always stick close to the snacks.

Isn’t he cute? He’s actually not the main focal point of the picture… check out Molly’s delish Chickfila ensemble. #nom

She didn’t share. Would you?!

And my personal favorite… little Molly scavenging for food wherever she can find it.

 

Meet the Indy Girls- Ally

On June 18th, the Indy girls will embark on their week long, food filled, road trip. In order to show our qualifications for such a journey, each girl has responded to a few questions. In the weeks leading up to the trip, a new Indy Girl will be featured.

 

Name: Allyson (AKA Ally, Al, Alfred, Weenis, Poopie)    Age: 24

I’m only smiling this big because of the Cheesecake!

Occupation: Registered Nurse

Average Time Taken to Consume Lunch: Approx 15-20 mins

Favorite Dessert: Ice cream! My fav is soft served (twist on a waffle cone) but I’m also a sucker for Ben and Jerry’s Half Baked 🙂

Favorite Carb: Pasta or bread—hands down! And cheese..is that a carb?

Have You Taken Heartburn Medication in the Last 48 hrs?: Nope! I thankfully have a stomach and esophagus made of steel 

Go-To Taco Bell Order: Crunchwrap Supreme (Chicken, no beef!), order of nachos, maybe some cinnamon twists? and a Mountain Dew Baja Blast Freeze!

 Last Time You Got “Seconds” & What Meal?: At my Sister’s Baby Shower.. There were lots of finger foods and CFA nuggets were there. It’s my life, ok?

 What Annoying Food Habit Do You Have?: I can only eat one food item at a time before moving on to the next item.. FGP for sure!

If Calories Didn’t Exist, What Would You Eat Today? (3 + meals):

Breakfast: A couple of eggs and toast with bacon and a side order of biscuits and gravy. Maybe a chocolate chip pancake or two?

Lunch: CFA for sure- #3 with fries and a cherry coke

Dinner: Buffalo chicken pizza along with Chicago’s breadsticks and cheese, salad (only topped with a crap ton of dressing and croutons of course) and lots of WINE! Dessert: Ice cream, duh!

ICECREEEEEAM

Fat Girl Confession: Well just this weekend, after a night of heavily drinking, I decided to buy a full order of Hotbox breadsticks with cheese. I ate them all by myself however, I did not stop there because when we went to Tbell 30 minutes later, I ordered cinnamon twists and also ate all of them too! Oops! 

Fatmare(Just like a nightmare, but with food):Many of you know “Fat Girl” has been in my blood since my Great Grandpa started Long’s. I’ve had multiple Fatmares about the Bakery closing and living in a world without donuts, brownies and cookies all at my disposal!

What Are You Looking Forward to Most on the Trip? I’m looking forward to spending a whole week with my two favorite things: my girls and my food! ❤ ❤