Burlington, Vermont, USA

Last Monday we all (Vanessa, Craig, Di and myself) headed off for a three day journey through Vermont and New York State, USA.

Vermont is know as the Green Mountain State and driving through Vermont certainly confirms this description. It is very rural and, being summer bursting with new growth, is a beautiful place to be at the moment with little villages and towns lifted straight out of some movie set.

The first night we stayed in Burlington, a university town on the eastern shore of Lake Champlain. This is the largest city in Vermont with a population of about 40,000.

We hired bicycles and followed the cycle way along the shore of the lake and out along a causeway that extends out into the lake, a total distance of about 25km return. This path follows an old rail line that has long since been removed. The weather was glorious and the cycle way passed through leafy neighbourhoods, sandy beaches and crossed the Winooski River.

Monday night's dinner was Chinese cuisine on Church Street, the main street in Burlington and a lively outdoor eating area and pedestrian mall. Wonderful food at a reasonable price.

The hotel we stayed at was out of the main centre of the city. Craig and Vanessa had concerns about the hotel. Since the rooms all had outside doors (as most of our motels back home do) they called it the "murder hotel" as these are the types of hotels in the movies where murders occur. Oh great! Anyway, we survived the night and moved on to Mount Mansfield and Lake George the next day.

 

The waterfront on Lake Champlain, Burlington, VT

The cycle way through leafy neighbourhoods

Us on the cycle path along the causeway

Eating out on Church Street Marketplace, Burlington

 Church Street Marketplace, Burlington