Burlington, Vermont 7/26-7/28/13

Last minute plans lead us to Burlington, Vermont. We actually went on a recommendation of a client who suggested if we like our hometown we’d love Burlington. And we did!

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.

Since lunch time was approaching we decided to hit the farmers market literally a block away. Again, lots of things to taste, touch and see. Kids had fun playing in a crazy tree on property. However, of course it’s a Farmers Market they didn’t want anything to eat there. So we plugged in the waterfront into the GPS and drove towards it. Only to be detoured by a MASSIVE farmers and artist Market. We found some parking, walked up to it. So many things to see and buy but the kids wanted to eat.

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.