Burlington, VT

We arrived for our third visit to Burlington after leaving Vergennes at 7 a.m. on the morning of Friday, June 22.  The waters on the lake were absolutely calm and placid so we had a fine cruise.  Lynn miscalculated the distance so we arrived earlier than planned at about 10:30.  That was fine with us because  Burlington is such a cool town and there’s lots to do.  We also have two sets of friends that we were looking forward to seeing.  The first thing we did once we got settled was laundry (which isn’t too exciting).  Unfortunately, Burlington Boathouse, the City Marina where we docked, does not have a laundry so we had to schlepp it half a mile to the laundry.  Jonny got to help with that and, fortunately, we found a great place for lunch (August First) just around the corner to help pass the time.

After that, Jonny took a bike ride on the Burlington bike trail that runs along the lakeside for many miles.  He went to pick up some prescriptions at Walgreen’s.  Along the  path he found a Stonehenge-like earth clock that marks the equinoxes and solstices.  Very cool!

Later in the afternoon, Skip and Jane Brown met us at Zendo.  Skip is the brother of one of Jonny’s old prep school friends, Paul, who has since sadly passed away. Jonny had not seen Skip in almost 20 years.  They treated us to dinner at their neighborhood food truck festival and we brought our goodies to their fabulous penthouse condo overlooking the lake and the Adirondack Mountains in the distance.  It was a wonderful evening learning about each other’s lives, reminiscing about Paul, comparing travel adventures and generally having a grand time. They are intrepid travelers and we enjoyed hearing about their past and upcoming excursions.  

As it started to get dark, we walked back to the boat and saw the most amazing sunset from the dock.  It can aptly be described as a truly psychedelic sunset!

The next day was Saturday and first thing we did was go to the excellent farmer’s market just a short walk from our marina.  There we stocked up on so many fresh vegetables and other items, that we had to be creative to find places to store them.  At one of the stands, we met the pony-tailed Lt. Governor of Vermont, David Zuckerman, who is a local farmer and owns Full Moon Farm.  He was very engaging and, of course, we bought some veggies from him!  

That afternoon, we got to spend with one of Lynn’s oldest friends, Mike Goldfield whom she’s known since junior high.  Michael lives in Vermont and we visited with him on our last trip. This time he spent Saturday taking us on the grand tour of Vermont where he has lived since he got out of college.  We visited Richmond, the lovely town where he raised his boys (and the unique Old Round Church there).  

 Driving up Mount Mansfield, we visited Michael’s son Steven who lives in a wonderfully rustic, remote and homey cabin in the woods.  He has created quite a haven for himself there.  Michael is grooming him and his brother Aaron to take over his construction management company.  We also got to see quite a number of  projects that Goldfield Construction Management built over the years including restaurants, office buildings, homes and even the Jewish Community Center in Stowe. He has truly left his mark in this beautiful part of the world and it looks like his sons will carry on his legacy. What could be better than that?

More noteworthy places he showed us were Stowe Mountain and its expanding environs, Alchemy Brewery where we got to sample the legendary Heady Topper beer and of, course, buy a case.  For those who don’t know, Heady Topper is quite a legend in this part of the world.  It’s a delicious well-crafted IPA that originally could only be purchased at the pub where it was made. Since its popularity has skyrocketed, they have have expanded the size of the brewery and it can only be purchased there.  

We swung by Ben and Jerry’s, which was too crowded for us to stop for the tour (maybe next time), then up to Smuggler’s Notch were we hiked to see the caves that were used to smuggle potash during the War of 1812.  

We also hiked up to to Bingham Falls, a set of dramatic waterfalls on Mount Mansfield where Mike  had spent many days swimming and hiking with his sons when they were boys.  Both sights were just beautiful.  

We were lucky because even though the day was cloudy and became increasingly so in the higher reaches of the mountains, that didn’t stop us from enjoying every minute of our tour.  We were able to fully appreciate the great beauty of this part of New England. 

Unfortunately, Mike’s wife, Melina was unable to join us this time but we look forward to seeing her this winter since they have been coming to Miami Beach a couple of times each season to get a break from the long Vermont winters.  We got back to the boat at about 7 p.m. with a promise to see Michael in the morning for breakfast before heading out to continue our journey.  Burlington is just a great place to visit  - it’s small enough to be very walkable and it’s surrounded by incredibly beautiful country-side. And best of all, we are so fortunate to have such great friends who make it so much more enjoyable!