Burlington, VT

When we woke up on Saturday, July 9, Zendo was covered with bugs - hundreds of mayflies. What a mess! We had to use the wet vac to get rid of them but as it turned out they were here for much of our Lake Champlain stay. Afterwards, we took Archie for a walk on the nearby beach where he had a blast wading in the shallow water and fetching sticks.

We took off for Burlington by 10:40 on a lovely day and arrived by1:00 after stopping for a significant refueling. We decided to stay at the Burlington Boathouse Marina for one night so we could prepare for our 10 day road trip but we’ll move her to a mooring while we’re away. Next to the marina is a beautiful boardwalk. We wish Miami took such care with its waterfront making it available for everyone to enjoy.

Our plan was to drive to Greenport, New York to attend an MTOA Rendezvous then head over to Philly for a doctor’s appointment for Jonny and finally to drive back to Burlington. That evening, we thought we would go into Burlington for dinner but it poured rain so we decided to stay in. 

The next day we got up very early and moved Zendo to a mooring, then got a private launch to shore and an Uber to the airport where we picked up our rental car.  The rain had been so intense that Vermont experienced terrible flooding and parts of the highway we were planning to take was closed. Fortunately, the highway opened up as we started our drive but the flooding we saw along the route was significant. 

We drove to New London where we met our friends Liz and Steve Kemper with whom we were sharing an Air B and B in Greenport on Long Island. But first we had an important task to accomplish. We had to pick up Stephanie and Ryan’s wedding rings from Mallove’s, Jonny’s cousin Jimmy’s jewelry store. So exciting! The rings are beautiful!!

We then met Liz and Steve at our favorite seafood stand - Captain Scott’s where we had lobster rolls, fried clams, and steamers - all our favorites! 

After stopping for ice cream at another favorite, Michael’s Dairy, we took the car ferry to Orient Point then drove to Greenport.

We had a very nice Air B and B right in the center of this cute town. This is a photo of the train station there.

The MTOA Rendezvous was very enjoyable. Jonny and I presented a workshop on the Down East Circle Loop cruise we took the first year we started cruising.  It was fun catching up with MTOA friends and meeting new ones. Some of the social activities included visiting two wineries, riding an antique carousel and an evening of contra dancing!

Archie was very well-behaved during the entire event!

On Saturday when the Rendezvous ended we headed to Philly for a few days. Of course, Stephanie and Ryan were thrilled with their rings. That afternoon the four of us headed to an engagement party hosted by Michael and Christina Bracken for their daughter Sophie and her fiancé Jason who just moved to Media, a lovely town outside of Philly. Stephanie and Sophie first met at their day care in Miami and we’ve been friends with the family ever since.

We had a fun couple of days with Stephanie and Ryan which included eating at one of their favorite restaurants and trying a new one as well.

Our visit corresponded with Jonny performing another of his acts of love by installing a new ceiling fan in their bedroom.

And of course, Archie and their Corgi puppy Eloise had a fabulous time alternating between wrestling their hearts out and then collapsing for hours.



We stayed through Monday because Jonny had a follow up appointment with the retina specialist which went well and we left for Burlington on Tuesday morning. Once again, it rained like crazy for much of the 7 hour trip but we made it back safely.  That evening we met the two Johns who we had dined with at Chipman’s Point and we got together for a delicious pizza dinner at a restaurant in Burlington called American Flatbread.

After all those hectic days we decided to hang out in Burlington for a few days which was quite lovely.  One afternoon we rented e-bikes and rode along a 10 mile coastal path to beautiful Mallet’s Bay.

We cooked on board a few nights but ended up eating on the foredeck to avoid the ever constant mayflies which seem to prefer our aft deck.

A couple of days later we met Ryan’s dad and uncle for breakfast at another cool restaurant called The Friendly Toast. They were in town for a beer festival. They were supposed to ride their Harleys but the rain interfered and they drove their cars instead.

Because we had had such a big breakfast we skipped lunch but started to get hungry by mid afternoon so we decided to have a very early dinner at a French restaurant called Leunig’s that had an excellent fixed price early bird special. There was still a chance of rain so we sat outside under a canopy and yes, it rained once again.

Later that evening the rain resulted in this gorgeous double rainbow. The photo doesn’t do it justice.

On our last day in Burlington, we had beautiful weather and went into town to their farmer’s market which disappointingly had absolutely no vegetable stands. But we had fun walking through town and finally made it to two of Burlington’s many brew pubs which made Jonny very happy.

All in all we had a wonderful time over the last couple of weeks. Burlington is a very cool and accessible city, the scenery all over Lake Champlain is fabulous and we are happy to be here.