Back to Burlington

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Our return cruise to Burlington on July 6 was a short one.  It only took two hours for us to get there from our Shelburne Bay anchorage which was about eight miles south of Burlington.   We were returning to Burlington to pick up the new anchor and chain we were buying.  What a treat to return to this great town.  The only down side is the marina does not have laundry facilities so we’ll have to wait until we get to the next marina to address our growing pile of dirty laundry!

Jonny washed down the boat, which is much easier now that we are in fresh water.  Afterwards, he rode his bike to the chiropractor since his back is still bothering him (even after 3 visits to said chiropractor).   Lynn luxuriated in some alone time having failed to find a nearby place for a pedicure.

 

That evening we met Susan and Brooke (the two women who we met at lunch on Willsboro Bay).  They had offered to help us in any way and in fact they very kindly picked up the new anchor from West Marine for us and delivered it to our boat.  We then walked over to a cool restaurant near the waterfront called The Skinny Pancake.  We spent a very enjoyable evening getting to know each other, exchanging stories and just having a great time together!  What a treat it is to meet such lovely people.  We hope our paths will cross again in the future. 

On  Tuesday we walked into the center of town where Lynn bought some rain pants and a pair of quick-dry outdoor pants in anticipation of cooler and wetter weather in Canada.  We also did our grocery shopping at City Market which is a very cool co-op style market somewhat like Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods.

Later that afternoon we rode our bikes on a bike trail that wound around the coastline and through some very  pretty parts of town.  We didn’t have time to take it all the way to the bike ferry that connects the trail over Mallots Bay which would have been a lot of fun.  We had to get back because Jonny had yet another appointment with the chiropractor.  

Apparently even men have the  prerogative of changing their minds and that’s exactly what happened with Jonny’s decision about diving for the anchor we lost in Converse Bay.  First he was going to have someone dive for it, then he cancelled the dive, then he found someone else who could dive for it for less money and the dive was on.  To make a long story short, Pierre, the handsome diver, delivered the retrieved anchor  later that evening and  Chip, the handsome marina owner,  delivered the 200 feet of chain we purchased through him.  We spent our last evening in Burlington moving the old (heavy) chain to the aft deck,  loading the new (heavy) chain into the chain locker, and connecting the old anchor to the new chain.  We now feel much more secure about anchoring in the deep rocky terrain of northern Vermont and Canada. 

The following day we took a cab to return the new anchor to West Marine, where we now have several hundred dollars of credit which will probably not take long for us to spend!  We walked to the University of Vermont Medical Center where we caught the free bus (again) back into town.  We had our last meal (for now) in Burlington at a popular and packed breakfast/lunch place called Mirabelle’s.  Another good meal in this very attractive town.  We definitely recommend Burlington as a place to visit especially in the summer!