We stayed at the Doubletree
by Hilton in South Burlington. The hotel was clean and cute, however for
our size family it was tight. We were only there for the weekend. The room had
two double beds, chair, desk, standard hotel room. We did have a small fridge
that was nice with small kids. We only went with our boys, 8, 4, and 10 months.
We were on the main level so no worries or stairs or elevators with the kids.
We were also down the hall from the indoor pool which made getting there so
much easier. Being empty when we went was a plus for us too! Hot tub was just
that a hot tub, no jets were working but that was ok since we couldn’t really
use it with 3 kids. There was a small fitness room but you know we didn’t touch
that. There was plenty of shopping and restaurants nearby, definitely a great
location.
Since we weren’t there long we really only had Saturday to
spend sightseeing; we found some information about a hot air balloon festival
and craft fairs. We headed over in the morning only to see the craft fair, the
hot air balloons wouldn’t be filled into much later in the day. It was rather
small and typical craft fair but they had hands on musical tent for the kids.
My kids LOVED it. There were so many new and exciting instruments they could
touch and play. Some we didn’t even know what they were. We couldn’t pull them
away. They were also excited to see what the locals referred to as the MARBLE
MAN! All marbles, all shapes, all sizes. There were many other types of vendors
but I think what surprised me the most… BOOZE! Yep, lots of alcohol. Not just
wines, but hard liquor and beers and everyone was offering samples. We don’t
really drink but we liked that it was offered. I think another thing I enjoyed
was a lot of the artists had signs that said PLEASE TOUCH. As a mother of 4, 3
being boys, I’m use to people cringing when we walk in to any place with glass.
Artists ENCOURAGED the kids to feel it, see it, and sense it! They talked to
the kids not just the adults. It was truly a different kind of craft fair for
us. However, we made our lap in about an hour.
We ate at a little pub called Scuffer. It was fairly empty as most
people were eating outside. Callan who is only 10 months old, had the best
grilled cheese it was almost as big as him. ALMOST being the key word. Declan
loved his chicken fingers and Shamus was on strike only opting for chocolate
milk. The staff was friendly despite a family of 5 invading their pub.
We walked the lunch off through the market, enjoying a slush
or Popsicle; looking at street vendors and artists. No horns honking, people
yelling, or someone trying to sell you something you don’t want to buy. No
homeless people begging for money or thugs sitting on the corner. Political
groups telling you are wrong, doomed or immoral. It’s truly a beautiful place
and we hadn’t even seen the water yet.
We walked down to the water front. You could take a dinner
cruise, have a picnic (cute bakery up the street with garage doors opening the
shop right up, great idea), or visit the Aquarium that’s right there. One of
the things we liked also was a lot of people rode bikes. I know a lot of people
hate bikers. I’m definitely not a bike rider or a hater of bikes. Lord knows I
can barely ride to the corner on a bike. But it’s nice to see that people use
alternative methods for getting around, keeps traffic light and environment
clean.
What we liked about
Burlington: Everything, really I don’t think there was anything we didn’t
like
What we liked about
the Doubletree: It was super clean.
What we didn’t like
about Burlington: We didn’t stay
What we didn’t like
about the DoubleTree: Full size beds, 2 fat people, make for bad night
sleep.
