Sydney, Jake, Electra and Bernie

Hi Friends,

The word is green. Think lush, saturated, verigated, forested, harvested. Think compost, recycle, solar power, wind power, farm to table, bicycle lanes. Vermont is so green.

My niece, Sydney, or Schmoo as I like to call her, lives in Burlington where she works with psychiatric patients at UVM Hospital and attends classes at UVM. She and her wonderful boyfriend, Jake, live a short bike ride away from downtown in an apartment in a lovely old Victorian. I hadn't seen Syd in over a year and how good it was to spend time with her and Jake. They love living in Burlington and shared the names of places to visit, eat, shop, etc. I already miss them.

Apple Island RV Resort
South Hero, VT
We stayed at Apple Island RV Resort in South Hero (home of Bernie Sanders:) which is an island surrounded by Lake Champlain and just a few miles from Burlington. We had a beautiful view of Lake Champlain from our site. This resort is a tad expensive. Jerry will tell you that the best thing about Apple Island was the wifi. Have to admit - the wifi was strong and constant which is not something we can say about most of the campgrounds we've patronized. On Fridays they host a small Farmers Market at which I purchased beautiful, local tomatoes, fresh from the ground broccoli and blueberry jam made by the farmer just four days prior.
www.appleislandresort.com

Saturday Farmers Market
Downtown Burlington
Now, as pleasant an experience as this was it doesn't compare to the Farmers Market held Saturday mornings just off Church Street in downtown Burlington. I've been to many open markets but this one sits atop a pedestal above all others. But hear me out. It's not just about the variety of vendors of which there are many and of high quality. It's the people. It's the people. It really is about the people. Sydney (my lovely niece who lives in Burlington) and I went, riding our bikes from her home. At the market we placed our bikes in the Secure Bicycle area, a free service where your bike is stored and monitored in a secure area while you roam around the market. So people-friendly.
Everything is fresh. Everything smells yummy and there's a level of sophistication in the food prepared by the vendors. You won't find fried turkey legs, funnel cakes or hotdogs. Try made-to-order crepes filled with roasted red peppers, carmalized onions and cheese. How about, my niece's favorite, scallion pancakes. Jerry raved about the bread filled with pears and goat cheese. Hungry yet?
Burlington is a big town with a small town feel. There are two universities close to town and across the street from each other: Champlain University and the University of Vermont. There's also Church Street which is several blocks (closed to traffic) of shops and restaurants. We were there on both a weekday and weekend and both times it was packed with people. And the dogs!!! All manner of powwows. We ate at the Farmhouse Tap and Grill. Jerry had Fish and Chips and reported he enjoyed his meal and most importantly the fish was not saturated with grease. I had a beet and goat cheese salad with pistachios and fig vinegar. OMG! Delicious. Syd and I had lunch at Zabby and Elf's Stone Soup. It was delicious. Their menu is New York Jewish and Vegetarian.
www.farmhousetg.com
www.stonesoupvt.com

Shelburne Museum
This museum, located in Shelburne, just south of Burlington, is a slightly different kind of museum experience. Founded by Electra Havemeyer Webb (what a cool name) the museum is comprised of 35 structures on 45 acres. Webb was from NYC and born into wealth then married into more wealth (can you say Vanderbilt). Over many years, Webb had historic or interesting structures from the surrounding Vermont area moved to Shelburne where they were restored and eventually opened to visitors. Webb's family also possessed a sizable cache of fine art and folk art which are on display in several buildings. So what kind of buildings can one find at Shelburne? An authentic General Store built in 1840 and stocked with items from early 20th century. The Circus Building is a horseshoe-shaped building which holds the largest miniature collection of circus figures. As displayed it measures over 500 ft in length and the figures were made on a 1 inch - 1 foot scale. So picture 30 elephants being led by guides all carved with such detail. That's just one tiny example. Really must see to appreciate. By far the most unusual (or unexpected) structure is the 220' Ticonderoga, a side wheel steam boat built in 1906 and now sits on the museum grounds. It was moved to its current location from Lake Champlain via rail.
There's too much to see in a day - one ticket is good for two consecutive days which is exactly what we did.
www.shelburnemuseum.org.

The Colchester Causeway
Colchester, VT
This is a pedestrian and bicycle path that stretches from Burlington to South Hero. Most of it is on the old Rutland Railroad in the middle of Lake Champlain. We started in Colchester and walked about four miles in the woods and then onto Lake Champlain. At one point the Causeway just ends. There's an approximately 100 ft break in the Causeway to allow boats to go across. To allow for the hikers and cyclists to continue to the other side there is a small, very, very small ferry that will ferry you over in about four minutes. If you arrive at the ferry station and the ferry is on the other side, you simply raise the flag and the captain will motor on over. The views are stunning. A must do.
www.colchestervt.gov

The Trapp Lodge
Stowe, VT
The hills are alive with the sound of music...
For those who are not familiar with the von Trapp Family history...allow me...
The von Trapps were a nationally recognized singing family of seven children and their (parents Maria and Georg) who, at the onset of WWII, escaped the pressure of the Nazi regeme to "join the party" by walking (and by rail) across Austria and ultimately settling in Stowe, Vermont. Here they built and established a four season lodge which operates to this day and still owned by the von Trapps. Maria von Trapp, the indefatigable matriarch, wrote a memoir upon which the movie, The Sound of Music, is based.
Our tour guide gave us a detailed history of the family and brought us to the prettiest graveyard where all the von Trapps are interred. Afterwards we watched a film about Maria and then met Samuel (I think that was his name)von Trapp, a grandson who works the business, particularly the Trapp Brewery so you know where we went for lunch. But first we walked the grounds which have the most spectacular views. The original Lodge burned to the ground in 1980 and was rebuilt to the same specs and expanded as well.
www.trappfamily.com

Now onto the brewery. It is a new and beautifully designed building just down the road and serves yummy lunch along with their own beers. Jerry had bratwurst with apple sauerkraut and spaetzel. He enjoyed his lunch quite a bit. I tasted the spaetzel - wunderbar!
www.vontrappbrewing.com

So, I'm going to dispell some Sound of Music beliefs. There was no beautiful woman to whom Georg (pronounced Gee (rhymes with bee) yorg) was engaged prior to bringing Maria into his home to tutor one of his children. There was no Liesl as in the movie. As a matter of fact, all the names of the children were changed for the movie. A chaplain taught the group to sing and was their first manager, not Max, a friend of Georg. Georg proposed to Maria (not really a proposal) out of practicality more than love. He was also 25 years her senior. But they did go on to have three more children.

You can't swing a dead cat without hitting a brewery in Burlington. I'll tell you which breweries we visited but you'll have to talk with Jerry about quality.
www.zerogravitybeer.com
www.fiddleheadbrewing.com
www.magichat.net
www.vontrappbrewing.com

We are in Addison, Maine now and all I can say is WOW. But that story is for another day. Please write back with comments, suggestions, etc. We'll be heading to Bethel, Maine in late August then onto Cape Cod in mid September.
Some pics below:
Also, I'm sending another post with just pictures. Findpenguins allows only six pics per post.Read more