Our settling in and exploration period in Vermont continues. To be honest, I’m not sure the exploration will ever end here. There’s so much to see and do! And every season brings new activities. Spring has arrived, but that hasn’t stopped us from fitting in more skiing. Partly because we still had snow on the ground a week ago! But now things are finally starting to warm up, and I’m ready to see some green things coming from the ground and trees. Here’s how we have passed our time recently:
St Patrick’s Day Weekend
Historically, St. Patrick’s Day weekend is one of the only times of the year we have actually gone out to the bar for a few drinks. So this year, we decided to walk down to Church Street to do some exploring and find some tasty things to eat and drink.
Church Street in Burlington is a fantastic and historic pedestrian road located downtown. It’s four blocks which are closed to traffic, lined on both sides with lots of shops and great places for food and drink. If it’s a holiday, you’re pretty much guaranteed to find something happening on Church Street.
We wanted to find some place to enjoy a full Irish breakfast, so we stopped at Rí Rá Irish pub, which promised this on their menu. It did not disappoint. We enjoyed a couple of local beers w/ our breakfast (don’t judge, it was actually lunchtime) and enjoyed the lively atmosphere, which was accentuated by the small crowd that had gathered to watch the rugby tournament on TV.
After lunch, we walked down to the lakefront, and stopped in Foam Brewers for another pint. The place was packed, so we took our beers outside to drink in the courtyard. It was chilly, but that didn’t seem to bother us much. I think our bodies are adapting to cooler weather!
Our last stop downtown was to meet up with a new local friend, Courtney. I’m jokingly calling her a “hand-me-down” friend because before we knew her, she was a schoolmate and friend of our good friend, Jeremy. He connected us once we moved here, and I’m glad he did! We met Courtney for a couple of drinks at a great bar called The Archives. Besides being a comfortable bar, it’s also a vintage game arcade. And the soundtrack playing was great music from the 80’s. What’s not to love? Next time, I’m totally tackling Ms. Pac-Man.
Another XC skiing adventure – plus syrup!
The next weekend we decided to travel a bit to visit another ski resort, this time at Burke Mountain in the Northeast Kingdom. This was about a 2 hour drive away for us, and just after a substantial snowfall. Thankfully, the roads were clear and it promised to be a warm sunny day. After attempting to dodge the multitude of ridiculously large potholes along the route, we made it safe and sound and found the Nordic skiing area pretty much empty. So, we enjoyed the sunny day on the trails, pretty much all to ourselves! The snow was wet and “sticky” but we still had a great time and got a good workout in!
Our après-ski activity had us heading to Happy Hill Maple Farms to get a tour and taste some samples. We were greeted by a very friendly and knowledgeable young man who gave us a comprehensive tour, and afterward we tasted some maple cream (incredible), lavender infused maple syrup (very floral, not for me), and maple cotton candy (YES.) Satisfied and exhausted, we headed home.
Go Eat Listen See 