We packed up early from the hotel, headed over to Story and Soil coffee for breakfast,
and then headed north to Montpelier Vermont.
From Hartford, you cross through western Massachusetts to get to Vermont.
In total, it was about 3 hours to drive up. The rain was falling off and on as we went more north, and we were also treated to more and more of the fall color.
By the time we got to Montpelier, it was raining.
It was also, unbeknownst to me, Columbus day, meaning all the government buildings were closed. I also missed that the lunch place I had picked out was not open for lunch on Mondays, so we had to improvise. We ate at the Skinny Pancake, a local chain, where I got a burger.
Then we hit the road and drove the remaining 30 miles up to Burlington Vermont.
Knowing we were still too early for the hotel, we drove to the Ethan Allen homestead and toured the grounds and tiny cabin that made up his home.
After that we headed back to see if we could check in. Our hotel, right off Lake Champlain,
was excellent, but we got there too early to get a room, so we parked and walked around Burlington. However, it was raining, so it limited our options a bit. Nonetheless, downtown Burlington is sort of a hip little college town.
Vermont foods to try were anything with maple, Ben and Jerry’s ice cream, gravy fries (poutine), and fiddleheads, the top of a fern. We did sample a small Ben and Jerry’s ice cream in the Church street marketplace,
as well as stopped in for some coffee at Kru Coffee to warm up on a cold rainy day.
Lake Champlain is below. Across the lake is upstate New York.
The hotel was fantastic, and it could have had great picture opportunities but for the rain…
but whatcha gonna do. That evening we went to the Farmhouse Tap and Grill
where I was able to get a Fiddlehead Bratwurst
and ‘sugar on snow’ a simple dessert of crushed ice with maple syrup on it.
We were again exhausted after all the walking and returned to the hotel to sleep.