What I did on my winter vacation, Part 2

The dipping cabinets are restocked. The chocolate display case is overflowing with fresh gourmet chocolate delights. The candy jars are reloaded. Fresh coffee beans are in the house. Cups, napkins, ingredients, and all the other ice cream shop necessities are on the way. The Mt. Tom's supply chain is back on line and ready for 2010. The Valentine's Day display displays proudly in the front window, and a good batch of Valentine's candy is up, ready to help satisfy the candy cravings of your one special someone. In short, I'm pretty much all caught up and finally have a chance to start blogging again.


In the interest of likely more interesting photos (if you're outside my extended family anyway), I've opted to brief you on the second part of my January of leisure first. The first ten days were spent in sunny (but chilly) Florida with the family. We threw a 50th wedding anniversary party for the folks so this year, instead of just me, my brother's family, and the folks, it was a vacation overflowing with uncles, aunts, nieces, nephews, and cousins. Very cool, but probably not as interesting to you as vacation adventure part 2. Colorado & Utah...



I'll let the photos do most of the talking. Above is me next to the elk statue in downtown Boulder, Colorado. Many thanks to longtime friend Beth,her husband Pete, and wicked cool daughter Gretchen for the hospitality. In case you've never been there. here's a shot of downtown Boulder, Colorado, one of my favorite towns in the U.S. It was definitely on my short list of places to open an ice cream shop back six or seven years ago. Part college, part hippie, part artsy, very cool, if you ever find yourself in that area, well worth an afternoon walkabout.

Here's an interesting find in a gallery there...



Janna Ugone lamps. Her studio is right here at 1 Cottage Street in Easthampton. Nice.




After a couple relaxing days in the Denver burbs, it was off to Park City, Utah, by way of Salt Lake. Another local artist sighting while walking through the SLC airport, Mark Brown clocks being sold in a terminal gift shop. Easthampton artists rule.




Park City, Utah is the great little ski town about 40 minutes outside Salt Lake. There are only 3000 permanent residents, but swells to 45,000 during the ski season. And well beyond that for the 10 days of the uber-hip Sundance Film Festival.



As luck would have it, my visit with buddy Mark, his wife Marissa, and their 2 little princesses falls right in the middle of the Sundance festivities. The town is overflowing with L.A. types, (locals call them PIB's - 'people in black'), with their fancy fur coats, high heels, and Iphones. It's quite a spectacle. The rich and famous are all around. Paparazzi mill about. Locals and tourists wander the streets, anxious to catch a glimpse of a 'star'. We tried to just act cool as we did our usual little pub crawl through town, but it's hard not to be on the lookout for someone famous. Most were well-hidden in their fancy private backroom parties, but we did see a few. Here's my brush with fame...



The movie we got to check out was the premiere of 'Get Low'. It stars Bill Murray, Robert Duval, and Sissy Spacek. Wouldn't you know, they were all there. They got introduced, and even did a Q&A afterwards....



One of the questions from the audience was to Bill Murray - 'Is it true that you snuck up behind someone downtown and put your hands over their eyes, and they said 'who is that?' And you said, 'You wouldn't believe me if I told you.' And then you snuck away.' Wouldn't put it past him, he was genuinely funny during the unscripted after-movie banter with the audience.




Here's one more, my buddy Mark's daughter, hanging with the Snoop Dog...


I showed all these photos to one of my 17 year old scoopers. She barely knew Ben. Had no idea who Bill Murray or Robert Duval were, but she knew the Snoop right away!

On to the other main attraction of Park City in the winter - Skiing! They were having a terrible ski season, hardly any snow, until just before I got there. It snowed for 5 days straight, nearly six feet! Needless to say, the skiing was tremendous...

We even got to check out the half-pipe Olympic qualifier competition. All I can say is, Shawn White = amazing. In a class by himself.

Here's one more of the awesomeness of the Utah mountains.

My friend Mark's walk to work at SkullCandy, speaking of hip... and I thought I had a pretty sweet commute...

Many thanks to Beth, Pete, Mark, & Marissa for the fine hospitality. Good fun, great skiing (came back in one piece, which is good), and a nice break from the rigors of ice cream making. Feeling refreshed, recharged, and ready to go. Well, at least as recharged as one can be after a month of sleeping on pullout couches, trundle beds, inflatible mattresses, and subsisting on a diet of chicken sandwiches and nachos.

See you soon.