Day 8 - Burlington, Vermont
Unfortunately, today was something of a washout as we woke to pounding rain - not great as in the morning we were scheduled to have a walking tour of the city of Burlington, that sits on the eastern shore of Lake Champlain, the largest lake in the USA outside of the five Great Lakes. Thankfully, given the conditions, the walking tour was transformed in to a coach tour which was interesting enough but Burlington, like most places, was not at its best viewed under cover of glowering grey skies and pouring rain! On a sunny and warm day the compact city centre and the waterfront area in particular would have been most enjoyable ....... we could only imagine.
Back on scenic - though rather less so today - Highway 100 we headed towards Stowe, Vermont, passing as we did so the Ben and Jerry's ice cream factory (definitely a tour stop that we would have made had we been travelling independently). As it was we stopped off for a pre-booked visit to the Cold Hollow Cider Mill and enjoyed our first taste of Vermont Cider Apple Doughnuts - to be recommended but not quite as delicious as another local speciality the maple coffee latte (certainly no sugar required!). This little truck, an International K series probably dating from the mid 40s, was gently rotting, like an abandoned extra from the Cars movie, in the parking area :
Onwards to Stowe itself for lunch. Although Halloween is still the best part of six weeks away the stores and farms are already gearing up for it with some eye catching displays:
For some reason this decorated example caught Tracey's eye:
In the afternoon we were scheduled to take a gondola ride (ski lift) to the top of the highest mountain in Vermont, Mount Mansfield (4395 ft - Snowdon, Wales, by way of comparison, is 3560 ft) ...... but a) the summit was shrouded in cloud and b) the wind had whipped up so the gondola was halted on safety grounds. Saved us $50 but, given a clear day, it would have been a trip worth taking with, apparently, panoramic views across the north of the state.
Our guide attempted to get us a late tour of Ben and Jerry's factory but to no avail so it was back to the hotel via a stop at another of the Vermont covered bridges - this one, Gold Brook Bridge, is locally infamous as being haunted (surely not a story to encourage visitors?) and is otherwise known as Emily's Bridge:
Tomorrow the weather forecast is for a return to sunshine as we head in to the fifth of the six states we visit as part of this tour, New Hampshire.
And finally:
Back on scenic - though rather less so today - Highway 100 we headed towards Stowe, Vermont, passing as we did so the Ben and Jerry's ice cream factory (definitely a tour stop that we would have made had we been travelling independently). As it was we stopped off for a pre-booked visit to the Cold Hollow Cider Mill and enjoyed our first taste of Vermont Cider Apple Doughnuts - to be recommended but not quite as delicious as another local speciality the maple coffee latte (certainly no sugar required!). This little truck, an International K series probably dating from the mid 40s, was gently rotting, like an abandoned extra from the Cars movie, in the parking area :
Onwards to Stowe itself for lunch. Although Halloween is still the best part of six weeks away the stores and farms are already gearing up for it with some eye catching displays:
For some reason this decorated example caught Tracey's eye:
In the afternoon we were scheduled to take a gondola ride (ski lift) to the top of the highest mountain in Vermont, Mount Mansfield (4395 ft - Snowdon, Wales, by way of comparison, is 3560 ft) ...... but a) the summit was shrouded in cloud and b) the wind had whipped up so the gondola was halted on safety grounds. Saved us $50 but, given a clear day, it would have been a trip worth taking with, apparently, panoramic views across the north of the state.
Our guide attempted to get us a late tour of Ben and Jerry's factory but to no avail so it was back to the hotel via a stop at another of the Vermont covered bridges - this one, Gold Brook Bridge, is locally infamous as being haunted (surely not a story to encourage visitors?) and is otherwise known as Emily's Bridge:
Tomorrow the weather forecast is for a return to sunshine as we head in to the fifth of the six states we visit as part of this tour, New Hampshire.
And finally:
Hi both, looks and sounds amazing so far. We are enjoying keeping up with your trip. Fab narrative Mr P! Love all the food updates, I seem to feel very hungry when I read your blog! Hope the weather improves for you. Enjoy 😀
ReplyDeleteAbove post from. Alison now realised my name was not set when I made he above comment, as you know technology is not my strong point 🤓
ReplyDelete