July 2012 - Burlington, Vermont and Lake Champlain

Moving on from the Ben and Jerry factory, we took a very scenic route up to Burlington, Vermont.   It is hard to take pictures from a moving vehicle so I was not able to get photos on the way up.  There is something to be said for putting the camera down and just enjoying what you see with your eyes only.  I've been doing a lot of that this past year.

Burlington sits on the banks of beautiful Lake Champlain in the northwest corner of the state of Vermont.   A vibrant college town, Burlington is full of things to see and do.   I have been wanting to take in Burlington for years.   When we first moved to New England, Burlington was actually one of the places where we considered putting down roots.   David and I love the culture that urban areas provide and Burlington is full of it.    When we considered why we moved up here and after we had spent a whole winter being close to family, we came to the conclusion that the urban areas of New England were closer to family than we were in Louisiana; but they still were not close enough.   We needed to be right here in the midst of them.   It was a good decision.

Church Street is a busy marketplace area of the city which is closed off to automobile traffic.  It is lined with shops and restaurants, some with outdoor seating.  It is beautiful and clean and alive with energy.  We loved it!

We tried to grab dinner at one of the restaurants in that area; but, we chose badly.  We were ushered inside one of them and seated in a corner and promptly forgotten.   After about fifteen minutes of not seeing a waitress with a menu or a glass of water, we got up and left....completely unnoticed...and moved along.   Yelp came through once again with the suggestion of American Flatbread Company which was a short walk from Church Street.

We love pizza, as you well know, and wood fired pizza is the best of the best.  I'm a huge fan of the thin crust variety.  American Flatbread's interesting menu uses locally sourced ingredients which makes their pizzas even more special.  Vermont's farm to table movement is second to none.  I absolutely love dining in that state.

 

Another casualty of not blogging this right away is that the items that we chose were specials written on the blackboard.  You can't find them on their menu anywhere. 

This terrible IPhone photo was the amazing salad that we shared.  It doesn't look very wonderful in this photo but trust me....it was.  I remember local greens and fennel and nuts and goat cheese and some incredibly delicious dressing.  Salads like this are so earthy and fresh.  We love them!

Again, I have no idea what was on this pizza other than the tomatoes  and spinach that I can see.  As David said, this was THE finest pizza that he's ever had.  It was really amazing.

As you can see, he was pretty happy his dinner selection.

So happy with this selection that there were no leftovers....

After a meal like that, it begs to be walked off and Burlington is a fantastic place to do that.  We caught a glimpse of Lake Champlain and headed that direction to get a better view.  Isn't it gorgeous?

The walk down to Lake Champlain was worth it.  There were bands and musicians playing outside of restaurants and coffee shops along the way and the energy of this city was intoxicating.  We absolutely fell in love with Burlington.   The beauty of Lake Champlain is indescribable.  These pictures definitely do not do it justice.

When we made it back up to the Church Street marketplace, it was even busier than when we left it.  Street musicians and performers were out and we had a blast just hanging out for a time in this area.

Even though we were going to take a more straight route home instead of the winding scenic route that took most of the day, it is still quite a drive back home.   As much as we love Burlington, it is painfully clear that it is way too far from the family.

Before our drive home, we headed over to

 Uncommon Grounds for a beverage and dessert.

a cappuccino for David...

an iced chai tea latte for me....

and we shared a yummy peanut butter cookie...

It was the perfect ending to a fantastic day.  

Burlington, we love you and we can't to see you again.