Day 27 - Burlington, VERMONT # 2

---

Well as for staying in a quiet area of the hotel as requested we woke up around 7.30 to the sounds of roadworks outside our window. They are resurfacing the road so lots of grinding sounds going on including the use of jackhammers ! The room upgrade has placed us right at the front of the building overlooking the main road where the works are taking place !



It’s a beautiful and sunny day but only 2 degrees outside but will eventually reach 17 degrees but not until around 5 pm. It’s quite different here in that the maximum temperature does not occur around midday like at home but usually occurs quite late in the day around 4 pm.



I was looking forward to wearing my blue jeans today but can’t find them anywhere so must have left them hanging up in a wardrobe somewhere. A bit of dispute about who might be at fault but unlikely it would be me since I don’t make many mistakes ! Oh well since we did the washing when we arrived yesterday I can choose from everything else that is available in my suitcase (except for the shorts of course !).



For breakfast we headed to the “great room” as they called it in the main building for our fireside breakfast and we tried something different being rolled pancakes with pan fried apple cinnamon inside (a bit like the contents of a McDonalds Apple Pie) but fresh and so tasty.



We have two full days here in Burlington so we have decided one day will be a day trip to visit Waterbury and the Stowe region which is about 60km away, and the other day we will spend around the city / waterfront area here in Burlington. Last night I tried to book a tour we had wanted to do for the Stowe area for today but I could not book it until tomorrow so we will instead head back to downtown Burlington for a relaxing day walking around town and souvenir hunting (maybe even for a new pair of jeans !).



We found some free 2 hour parking at the College Street garage but could not download their App on the App store to book for 3 hours which is what I wanted (this is the same problem we’ve had a few times here where the iPhones are simply unable to download some American apps). Hence we have to stick to 2 hours to avoid being fined so we went for a walk around the church street mall looking for souvenirs and that elusive licence plate and had no luck at all. Some places seem to have lots of these and others are so hard to find. Not surprisingly in Vermont with the Green Mountains region their state licence plate is a very deep green colour And I’ll keep looking.



We decided to head into the shop on the mall that we had seen on the live webcam and it was an experience for sure. For a large part of the year the mall has snow piled up as they clean the snow from the mall and adjoining streets and dump this in piles along the mall and it is always in front of this shop and we’ve been unable to work out what shop it was but we always saw people coming and going. It’s like an Anaconda store back home combined with say BCF with a few extra things included. The first level had lots of outdoor gear and clothes ready for winter time with jackets and sweaters that are so thick to keep you warm and had sections where you can buy snow shoes so you can trudge along outside and snowboarding repairs shop to fine tune your winter activities as well. Lots of camping and hiking gear too.



Unusual in that as we were walking around there were at least 3 dogs I saw just walking around the shop that were not on a leash (just shopping for their masters I guess !). The prices were very steep and we saw a sign saying head down to the basement for the sale & consignment section so off we go and there is another huge area located downstairs and whilst we were not actually shopping per se we were interested none the less to have a peek.



I found a really lightweight jacket that was a wind breaker called Black Diamond Wind Shell and it had the highest rating for keeping the wind out but almost looked like a poncho it was so light and discounted from $160- to $90- (is that a bargain !!). I guess people here buy a garment that lasts a very long time and if you are leaving Vermont to move to say Florida you probably don’t need the warm clothes any more so the consignment section is used to sell your shoes, trousers, sweaters, jackets etc and get some of your investment back. At least we finally know what goes on inside that shop when we look again at the webcam when we get back home.



Conscious of time ticking by for our 2 hours of free parking we went to Henry’s diner for lunch (we had to wait again for a seat for around 15 minutes but got a booth yet again next to the window). This place was really old and was built in 1925 and the light fittings were typical of this Art Deco style with lovely mustard seats that you would not definitely not install in todays world ! The music was fine and we soon listened to a classic song in a diner from the late Olivia singing “You’re the One That I Want”. Kerry ordered the soup (greek chicken and leek) in a bowl and I ordered 2 eggs sunny side up with home fries and an english muffin.



We got back to the car right on time for the 2 hour parking time and drove down to Shelburne Farms which I had heard about as a major tourist place but did not really know why. We only looked at the gift shop (nothing there as I think it’s like some sport of organic farm) and we popped in another Xmas store which was better prepared and stocked than what we saw in North Conway and made a couple of purchases for back home. In fact the layout of the store was identical but was much better presented.



We had to be back at the Green Mountain Suites in time for the evening reception which was from 5.30 to 6.30. When we originally had booked this place for the 2020 trip we were impressed by the fireside breakfast and evening receptions which were held on weekdays only. However by 2022 no evening receptions on Mondays so last night we missed out but tonight and tomorrow it’s game on !



We were not the first to arrive for the reception (maybe the second) and the food was out which was a weird concoction of hors d'oeuvres which were a small breadstick thing with a pretzel shell on the outside with an oozy beer sauce. Quite different and I’m not sure this will be enough for dinner but I had 2 to start and they tasted acceptable.



The lady serving free drinks (beer and wine) named Maria arrived a little late and I was first in line and got myself a local beer and a pink moscato for Kerry. We sat down next to a group of 3 ladies and after about 15 minutes one of them asked Kerry if she would mind taking a photo so she obliged and we started chatting. Well what an adventure the next 90 minutes would take as we exploited all sorts of topics with these ladies. The evening reception finished at 6.30pm and we finished when everyone else had long since gone and I did not go back for any more food at all.



Beth and Bonnie (sisters) and their Mom Jackie are now the most famous Minnesotans we have met. They have brought their Mom out to the east coast for the first time and are headed to Bar Harbour, Maine in basically the opposite direction to where we’re have just come from.



We shared some stories about our past travels and what we’ve done on this trip and it’s amazing how a conversation turns. A good example is we were chatting about how we love going to diners for a food / cultural experience where you always see the locals going about their normal business. They asked us to give an example and we talked about how we went to Minnesota in 2019 on a previous trip and we stayed in St Paul and went to a really cool old diner but the name escaped us and Bonnie said “oh you mean Mickeys” and yes that was it. She lives near St Paul and has been there many times. How bizarre !



Then we told them about how we made sure to visit the Big E whilst we were on the New England swing and they had never heard of it. We thought it was special but they said the Minnesota State Fair would be way bigger (and later research indicates it most definitely is). A lot of folk walk past Bonnie’s home on their way to the fair and she has been cooking Scandinavian Almond Cakes for quite some time and people just keep coming back year after year for them. In 2021 Bonnie made and sold 734 cakes and they each sold for $10-. Now that is not a bad income for a state fair over a couple of weeks (but I bet a lot of hard work was required to make them all).



We also learned about Beth’s two pigs (one of which is hoped to be quite tasty soon) and talked a little politics as well. They sit on different sides of the house but they agree they don’t want either Trump or Biden running in 2024 ! I’m not sure their mom Jackie could understand a word we were saying so maybe a translation might be required later but I do recall her saying Trump was a “crazy man” and after hearing him recommend we drink bleach I think we can all agree on that.



It was fun to chat with these ladies who were on their own adventure to the east coast for their first visit and unfortunately they are driving all the way to Maine tomorrow so doubt we’ll see them again. Other than enjoying some free alcohol these evenings provide an opportunity to chat to other guests which on this occasion provided the highlight of our day. It was around 7.30 when we called it quits and I hope they still had time to get to dinner somewhere.



Oh and just to finish off things I did not manage to find a Vermont licence plate today so pressure is now mounting for tomorrow to track it down but the missing pair of blue jeans were found hiding in one of our suitcases And it might have been my fault (I said might !).

---

Photos

This is the cheap poncho on sale for only $90-
We finally found out this shop is called the Outdoor Gear Exchange.