Life on the Road

It’s a day for a road trip, stops on the way for bathroom breaks at unknown gas stations, and moments of pure, childish pleasure in the world. It’s a day for laughing at DVDs in the backseat of the car, and for watching mile after mile of green forests give way to verdant farmland. It’s sunny, then overcast, then almost-drizzling. Not quite hot enough for a summer day in the pool. A perfect day for running off to cuddle up with your imagination.

The Vermont Teddy Bear Factory is a full day-trip from the Lake George area (or Albany– tack on an extra hour from the state capital). It’s a 2 hour drive up and back to Shelburne, Vermont on the other side of Lake Champlain. The factory includes a bear museum and tour. Picnic tables outside give you plenty of places to sit for lunch and take pictures of the kids (or grown-up kids!) posing as teddy bears. There’s a play silo on the grounds, and a cafe if you didn’t brown-bag it. Try to get there before 11:30 or after 1. Tours start every half hour, but the factory crew goes to lunch between 12 and 1 and calls it a day at 4:30.

There are a few things I found particularly cool about the Vermont Teddy Bear Factory. First, this is one of the last places where American craftmanship is still in evidence. It’s an American factory, started in part because the founder’s kids didn’t have any teddy bears made in the USA. Second, the company espouses the very best in customer service. They trust their employees– enough that they honor them on the mailing boxes for their bears. And they trust their customers, as evidenced by the strong guarantee they give their bears, and the very warm way they treat every customer, whether they’re three years old and bringing their own teddy bear along to see the factory, or thirty-six, and getting a really special gift from a sister. Third, the tour is free (with coupon), and inexpensive (until you hit the gift shop, of course!)

Inside the tour, you’ll be treated to a visual and tactile experience as you’re allowed to hold the various teddy bear types, watch them being cut, assembled, stuffed, and dressed. This is no ordinary factory, though– the machines are painted bright colors, the floor is open for viewing, the staff is friendly. Teddy bears line the railings kids lean on to watch the procedings.

At a teddy bear hospital, damaged bears return to the factory for repair, and the tour guide is careful to explain how the teddy bear doctor does her best to repair every bear she can, whether the bear was hurt in a fire, by the family pet, or through a catastrophic lawn mower accident. If she can’t repair the bear, the bear doctor finds a replacement… but the first choice is always to repair that particular bear, knowing as the bear factory does, that each beloved bear is special for a reason.

Like all good tours, this one ends at the gift shop. If you guide the kids towards the more affordable (but foreign-exchange bear) Friend for Life area, where they select a bear or animal to stuff themselves, you might make it out with your credit card intact. Otherwise, budget carefully– even counting fuel for the car, this will be the most expensive part of the day trip, and that’s even without buying one of the special bear costumes, personalizing, or getting a custom-made costume for your beary special friend.

On the way, take the ferry across Lake Champlain for a more leisurely (and less gas-consuming) way to get from point A to B. If you have extra time, drive up to the Burlingame ferry, which takes an hour. Otherwise, head over at Charlotte, Vermont, just a few miles south of Shelburne, for the 20 minute crossing. Keep your eyes peeled for “Champ,” the Lake Champlain monster of the deep — a North American equivalent to the Loch Ness, and of similar supposed biology. Of course, if you don’t catch sight of the creature, you can still enjoy a nice, smooth ride across the finger-like lake that forms the border between Vermont and New York.

As you head back down on I-87, take a moment to appreciate the day. Embrace your imagination’s flights of fancy for the day, then curl up with a campfire and some silly ghost stories. After all, being a grown up means you can still be a kid!

Travel Details:

Vermont Teddy Bear Factory
9 AM to 6 PM summer (5 PM winter).
Adults: $2, kids free– see website for coupon for free admission.
6655 Shelburne Rd. (off Rte. 7), Shelburne, Vermont.
1-800-829-BEAR

Lake Champlain Ferry
6 AM to 9 or 10 PM
$9.50 car and driver, $3.75 adult passengers, $1.50 kids.
US Route 6 to Ferry Rd. at Charlotte in Vermont, or I-87 to exit 31 or 33 in New York.
1-802-864-9804