When we left New Hampshire to drive to Vermont, I completely expected the two to pretty much look and feel the same. I mean look at them on a map… Vermont is New Hampshire just spun around on its head, right? I couldn’t have been more wrong. Vermont is a beautiful state that has its own personality and we really like it. Granted, we only saw one part of the state near Burlington, but that was enough for us to fall in love with Vermont. Here are just some of the things we love about Vermont and the Burlington area.
The City
Burlington is a small city that somehow feels bigger. The population of the Burlington metro area is around 200k, about the size of Charlottesville, Virginia, yet it seems to have the life of a larger city. The city and its people have a definite funky vibe about them. There are lots of shops and restaurants with people out enjoying themselves everywhere in town. Maybe it is because they know that winter is coming? Interestingly, about a third of the population of Vermont lives in the Burlington metro area, so it is pretty uncrowded state. Wyoming is the only state that has fewer people in it than Vermont.
Lake Champlain
Lake Champlain is a huge lake that borders Burlington between New York and Vermont. You can see it from all over the city. The lake is bustling with recreation. We saw lots of boats of all kinds on the lake – sailboats, powerboats, kayaks, etc. I talked to a guy living on his sailboat and he said the cruising here is great. There is apparently even a fair amount of SCUBA diving in the lake. When we first visited downtown, we saw a dive shop. I thought the owner must have been crazy, or poor, or both. But ,then we saw several people throughout the week toting their dive gear down to the water. Who would have thought? Fresh or salt, we love the water and Burlington has it in droves. I guess that is until it turns to ice?
The Mountains
We got our first taste of Vermont mountains driving from the White Mountains of New Hampshire. When you get to Vermont, the mountains seem to get a bit smaller, a bit greener, and a bit more beautiful. The mountains are intertwined with rolling farmland across the state like a perfectly swirled vanilla-maple creemee (soft serve ice cream to the rest of the world). I would love to see this place in the fall when the leaves turn. We were so mesmerized with the mountains that we forgot to take a picture of them! These mountains are also full of hiking, biking, and skiing. Sounds good to me!
Biking
From what I saw, Burlington is a very bike and pedestrian-friendly city. They have great bike trails in the city like the Burlington Greenway that rides along Lake Champlain. I saw miles of bike lanes on highways allowing people to commute into work. We talked to people who told us that these paths turn into cross-country skiing in the winter. We didn’t get a chance to go mountain biking, but there would have been plenty for us in the mountains right outside if we did.
Skiing
The winters are supposed to be pretty brutal here. I guess if you can cross country ski in town, then you probably need some level of brutality. Everyone here has been pretty honest when we ask about it. They hesitate like they are going to say “not too bad” and then they say something like “Yeah, they are pretty bad. But the skiing is awesome!” There are a handful of ski resorts within an hour of Burlington including Stowe, Mad River Glen, Bolton Valley, and Smugglers Notch. Go two hours out and there are more than a dozen including Killington, Jay Peak, and Sugarbush. Not too bad.
Fresh Food
People here really seem to care about food. There are lots of farms in Vermont and there is no shortage of them that are organic and/or dedicated to sustainability. Even the small Mexican place we stopped at for an afternoon stack bragged about the fresh local heirloom tomatoes used in the pico de gallo. We went to a working farm known for their cheese, Shelburne Farm, and learned to milk cows and chase chickens (like the one named Barbara Bush Archer is holding below). I wouldn’t be surprised if we were eating one of Barb’s eggs tomorrow if we went out for breakfast.
Beer
Vermont has some great beer. They have more breweries per capita than any other state in the U.S. We went to some great breweries and could have visited a lot more if we were here longer. We had some great IPAs at The Alchemist (including what some consider to be the best beer in the world, Heady Topper), hung out with more great IPAs at Foam by the waterfront, and visited Magic Hat whose taproom is as funky as their beer. I guess all that beer makes the winters easier to deal with?
Ben & Jerry’s
Half Baked, Cherry Garcia, Chunky Monkey, and Cookie Dough. Enough said.
Those are my observations on Vermont after a four day stay in Burlington. Honestly, we saw enough in this short time in this one city to know that we really love it here and think that we could possibly live here. Several folks told us to come back and visit in the winter before we move though. That sounds like a great idea to me . I can think of at least five good reasons (all ski resorts) to heed that advice (or was it a warning?).
Love it