Vermont: A Shout-out to Charity's Restaurant

Three weeks ago Laurie and I were up in central Vermont mid-week taking advantage of a deal through travelzoo.com.  For $99 we enjoyed a perfectly adequate room (I say "adequate" because it did not have a mountain view) for two nights and two breakfasts were included.  That's $99 total for two nights for two people.  You should check out travelzoo.

The hotel was the "Inn on Six Mountains" along  the Killington Ski Area access road.  I was pleased to see that the nearby Charity's Restaurant was still in operation. I frequented Charity's in 1972 when I lived most of a ski season in the neighboring town of Mendon.

I met the restaurant owner in the afternoon and was pleased to find out that he is the son of the original owner who build the place in 1971.  The owner was outside building this wonderful hay sculpture, of which there were many in front of businesses along the access road.

Charity's owner is on the left, armed with a can of spray paint.

The Pink Panther made with hay

That evening when we had dinner, it became quickly clear that Charity's formula for success was unchanged from when I remember it some 40 years ago.  The music was even the same:  Van Morrison, the Doors, Jackson Brown, etc.  And when I saw the menu with its list of burgers it reminded me that this was the first place I'd ever eaten a burger on an English Muffin.  We both couldn't help ordering burgers, though I decided I would be better off with a side salad than with fries.  (Fortunately for me, Laurie was happy the share her fries.)

Our food was excellent.  The fries were hot and crispy and the burgers were cooked the way we asked for them.  The bacon on my burger was cooked perfectly for my taste.  The only "con" as far as we were concerned was that the service was on the slow side.  Our waitress was very nice but disappeared for long periods in a restaurant that was far from crowded at the early time we were dining.

But, oh boy, did it bring back nice memories.

Burgers on English Muffins