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Travel Itinerary: Saturday, July 22 - Monday, July 24
We stayed at Made Inn Vermont with a kooky but kind hostess, Linda. Our room was very comfortable if a bit tight, but our bathroom down the hall (as in, not adjoining) was a disaster. I refrained from showering for two days because I couldn't get in/out of the clawfoot shower tub combo. An update is definitely in order. Both breakfasts were made to order and delicious. All in all, it was doable for a short stay but I'd probably look for a different place next time.
We really only had one full day in the area so we were limited on what we could accomplish. Originally, I really wanted to either hike, kayak, or both along Lake Champlain but our first night in town we were scared off by the mosquito swarms. We discovered too late that they seem to come out at night and hide during the day. Missed opportunity!
Instead we visited Shelburne Museum in a neighboring town only five miles away. Shelburne Museum is a collection of collections of art, hodgepodge, brick-a-brack, junk, etc. Basically, it's the rich version of hoarding. It's a huge property, lots of acres of land, and these sporadically placed collections of things like quilts, horse carriages, paintings, etc. There's even a lighthouse and a riverboat on property. We were particularly impressed by a horseshoe-shaped building that housed a replica of a circus cavalcade. It took the artist twenty-five years to complete! Can you imagine? On the one hand, I was impressed by the amount of effort that went into the figurines; on the other hand, it reminded me why the circus is a living nightmare for animals.
Afterward we went to Waterbury to take the Ben & Jerry's Factory Tour. Let me save you the time - skip it! We were very disappointed in the thirty-minute tour, which featured a six-minute informational video, an extremely brief look into the production process, and a kiddie-sized sample of ice cream (best part of the tour). Another minus - it was conducted by a very bored high school or college student on summer break. Ben & Jerry's should take a cue from New Belgium Brewery and tailor their tours to resemble theirs. They have very similar goals in terms of social change but where New Belgium has the perfect pitch, Ben & Jerry's message sort of gets lost.
This is the graveyard of discontinued flavors:
We didn't eat anything too memorable with the exception of our breakfasts. We had a halfway decent meal at Bluebird Barbecue. We split a sampler platter for two. The ribs were the best meat on the plate but the stand out was the cornbread with maple butter. Overall, it couldn't compete with Wayne's in Superior, CO. We are very much looking forward to going there again when we visit my brother-in-law later this summer.
All in all we had a pleasant, albeit brief, visit in Burlington. We were most impressed with the majestic beauty of Lake Champlain and its sunsets. Burlington, on the whole, reminded us of Asheville in that small, college-town, hippie-vibe kind of way. We agree that Asheville is our favorite of the two places. Still, I'd love to visit Vermont again and go to some of its villages. I wanted to go cheese-tasting but we didn't get around to that this time around.
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