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Last week’s post was all about Burlington and this week’s post is all about our absolutely incredible day trip to Stowe! We had planned this well in advance and didn’t realize how dog friendly of a town it was until we started researching this as a potential day trip option. Stowe gave us multiple perfect opportunities to take our dogs somewhere unique and special and it 100% did not disappoint.

Breakfast and Exploring Downtown

One of the last things we planned was where to get breakfast. This was a night before oops we should probably look where we’re going to eat kind of moment, but we found a place that looked great. We got up a little early, drove the hour to Stowe, and pulled up to the Green Goddess Cafe well before the morning rush. We sat outside and even though it was super foggy and kind of cold, we had a great time. The porch was super cute, the food was great, and it was right on our way into town.

After eating, we drove 2 minutes into town and even found parking immediately. Either get to Stowe early and get your pick of parking, or plan where you can park ahead of time because it got BUSY later in the day when we were leaving. We had some time to kill before the gondola opened, so we decided to walk around.

We knew Stowe was small, but we didn’t realize how small. It took us 5 minutes to walk the entire length of the main strip. There were a bunch of small shops (there’s even a dog friendly breakfast cafe and bookstore!) lining the street which would be fun to explore. Then we saw the iconic church that everyone takes pictures of during the fall when the leaves change color, so that was neat to see! After that, we decided to take the dogs for a walk on one of the paths around town.

Dog-Friendly Gondola Ride

By the time we got back from our walk, it was time to head over to the gondola ride. I was pretty much giddy with how excited I was for this part of the day. How cool is it that we can take our dogs on a gondola up Mt. Mansfield and walk around with them up there and see the views of Vermont from above? Yeah, we love spoiling our dogs.

We weren’t sure how they would feel about it, but they loved the train ride we took them on a while back, so we thought this would be about the same. They could not have cared one bit, but they were so calm and 100% excited to walk around up top. This is such a win in my book. Our stroller held up really well even on the gravel paths so when Mickey got tired we could still scoot him around. The views up there are amazing and I highly recommend making the trip up. You can also have lunch there with a view of Stowe below. We were too early to consider it, but we heard great things about it.

The Alchemist and Lunch

Speaking of lunch, we worked up an appetite walking around the mountain. There was a brewery that looked pretty awesome and always had a food truck, so we went down the gondola and drove to The Alchemist to hang out in their beer garden and grab food. The beer garden was massive and had a central bar right in the center of the lawn area. There were tables and Adirondack chairs set up along the perimeter and it was the perfect spot to just hang out for a bit.

Hook and Peel Pizza was there with their mobile pizza oven. I loved their selection of pizzas especially the one with corn on it. Don’t knock it until you try it. It’s the perfect addition to pizza with a little bit of sweetness. It will also forever remind me of living in England since that’s where I had corn on pizza for the first time. That pizza was out of this world good! Track them down the next time you’re in the Stowe area.

Percy Farm Dog-Friendly Corn Maze

Next stop on our “holy crap I’m so excited to do this” list was the corn maze! Percy Farm makes a corn maze every year that is known for being challenging. It’s also dog friendly! To get there, you park in the parking lot for a trail and there are signs leading you to the maze. You get a really pretty scenic walk through the woods and over a bridge and then you’ve made it!

Since the maze can be challenging the owners give you their phone number in case you need to be rescued. Luckily, we didn’t have to use it. Our dogs LOVED sniffing around and wandering through the field. They’ve never been anywhere remotely like it and they looked so happy the entire time. We made a bunch of wrong turns but eventually made it to the bridge that was hidden in there as an extra bonus to find.

Two families ended up following us because they had given up on being able to make their way out which was hilarious and a great way to meet new people. After 45 minutes, we made it out! This was such unique way to spend the afternoon and we loved that we got to do something completely out of our normal, especially with the pups. Can’t recommend this place enough!

The Original Ben & Jerry’s

We’d worked up quite an appetite and knew the perfect solution for it. Ice cream! Not just any ice cream either. Oh no. It had to be the first Ben & Jerry’s factory located right there in Stowe! The factory tour is not dog friendly, but the entire outdoor area is. We came late in the afternoon at peak times, so we were expecting a wait to get ice cream.

We waited about 20-25 minutes to get ice cream which wasn’t bad at all considering how long the line was. Oh man was it delicious. The boys also got doggy ice cream so that was an added bonus! We sat and enjoyed the deliciousness that is ice cream and then walked around where we could. Just around the corner was the funniest graveyard we’ve ever seen: The Flavor Graveyard. Many of the discontinued flavors were there with cute or funny headstone descriptions which was fun to walk around and look at.

At that point, we were tired. We’d had a fully day of adventuring, so we drove back to Hinesburg/Burlington to grab dinner and then went to bed, ready for the next day exploring Burlington. f you’re contemplating visiting Stowe, don’t miss it, especially if you’re traveling with dogs. We had a blast and one day was perfect for us.