Happy almost November everyone! Lindsay here! If there is one thing that I love more than Fall, it’s weekend trips in the Fall. Heck, I like weekend trips all year round. So much so that my boyfriend and I have sufficiently traveled everywhere near us that is within a reasonable driving distance. We need more ideas. Help. We take a lot of weekend trips throughout the year. We love to travel, but traveling for months or even weeks at a time is not an option. We like to do 1-2 larger trips by airplane per year and then fill the rest of the year with little mini’s.
Weekend trips are nice because they are cheaper, easier, and typically require a lot less planning. Just get in the car and go! They also allow you to go on a vacation without using up a ton of your limited vacation time from work. Our trips typically go from Friday to Sunday. Then, we are only taking 1 day off from work. Unless you are like me and need that one extra day on Monday to un-depress yourself from the fact that you aren’t on vacation anymore.
This time around we decided to head to Burlington, Vermont. I had never been before but had heard great things. Plus, it is only a 4.5 hour drive from Syracuse. Although 4.5 hours might still seem like an annoying amount of time to be driving or sitting in the car, the drive goes through the Adirondacks so it is actually a very pretty drive. And it is mostly back roads which makes it much more enjoyable than driving 5 hours on the highway.
Our first stop was the Ben & Jerry’s factory. Sadly I have no pictures to document that fact that we were actually there. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; I stink at travel photography. I was too invested in the ice cream I was going to eat and didn’t even think about taking my camera out of my bag. Just know that we got an ice cream sundae immediately.
We then decided (I say we decided but realistically I just old Edin that we were driving a half an hour in the opposite direction of our hotel for something cool) to head up to Smuggler’s Notch. Not to be confused with Snuggler’s Notch which is what I keep unintentionally calling it on accident. Smuggler’s Notch is a cool little mountain pass that runs through Mount Mansfield and Spruce Peak. It is a cute little windy road with trees on both sides. Of course, we were about 2 weeks too late to see any leaves but it was still neat. I intended only to drive through Smuggler’s Notch just because I thought it would look cool. I know what you’re thinking. “You drove an hour out of the way just to look at it and then drive an hour back!?” Yes. And those are the same thoughts my boyfriend had which is why I didn’t tell him that was the plan. We found a little parking area and got out of the car to do a little walk around. We started to walk up a little trail across the street which ended up being us hiking up a fricken mountain. Spruce Peak to be exact. Listen, hiking a mountain was not on the agenda. Which was further confirmed by my outfit and brand new boots that I was literally wearing for the first time. HOWEVER, it was either endure the pain and sweat of climbing a mountain or listen to Edin whine about the fact that we drove all that way just to look at some dead trees between some rocks. I chose my battle.
Eventually, we made it to the top and to our surprise, it was well worth all the whining I did the whole way up. At the top of the peak is Sterling Pond and it is stunning. The perfect place to sit and relax. There is even a little babbling brook doing its thing in the background to complete the ambiance.
We honestly could have sat up here all day but my hiking speed of .01 miles/hour caused us to get to the top pretty late. So we needed to scoot back down so we could get to our hotel before dark.
We grabbed dinner at a nearby restaurant called Waterworks and I don’t know if we were just famished because we climbed Mount Everest earlier on pretty much empty stomachs or if the food is actually really good but we thoroughly enjoyed it. Again, no pictures but who wants to see our food anyway?
Next day was adventure day. I had zero agenda other than the fact that we were going to wander around all day. And that is exactly what we did. Church St. is a cute little street filled with shops and restaurants. It is also right by the Lake Champlain. So we wandered, snacked, got more Ben & Jerry’s and just adventured.
Now I am not exactly sure what happened but I left NY with a boyfriend and got to Vermont with my own personal lifestyle photographer. He asked me to stand on the tracks so he could take my picture and next thing I know I look over and he is literally laying on the ground trying to get a good angle. Hello? Who are you? I appreciate you but you are getting your pants dirty. So, if you are wondering why there are so many gosh darn photos of me in this post that is why. Consider this a portfolio of Edin’s work.
There is a cute little arcade bar off of Church St called The Archives. We spent a lot of time here. It is filled with old school arcade games and pinball machines. It is also where I learned that I love pinball and need to get a machine of my own immediately. It is a good rainy day activity if you have unfavorable weather.
We ended our adventure with a visit to the WORLD’S LARGEST FILING CABINET. Against Edin’s wishes. It was exactly what it sounds like. A bunch of filing cabinets stacked on top of one another. I was the only tourist there at the time. Why? It’s a national treasure. If I am near the world’s largest anything I am going to go see it.
We ended our day with a nap and dinner at The Farmhouse. Another restaurant off of Church St. I would highly recommend it. It was a great end to our trip.
Another thing I will say is that Burlington is a very dog-friendly city. I got a dog-friendly hotel without realizing it and there are dogs everywhere. Most of the shops in Church St. have toys and water bowls inside for your pup. So if you are debating whether or not to bring your doggie I would say bring him!
I would definitely recommend a trip to Vermont. We cannot wait to go back in the Winter for some snowboarding (or hot chocolate from the resort for me).