GoodAdvice

I'm heading to Burlington next week for two weeks for work. I'll be working most of the time. But I'd appreciate any advice regarding good restaurants, things to see/do, maybe some towns around Burlington to see if I have some free time. Towns with the typical New England "feel."

dfrostnh

If you want a scenic drive, head north and then drive down thru the Champlain islands. There's nothing much except nice country. You can be back in Burlington for lunch. Many people enjoy the Shelburn Museum south of Burlington. You can easily spend a day or two. Continue south to Middlebury, a very pretty college town. If you have time, head over to Brandon. It's a drive from Burlington but an interesting little town. East of Burlington you could head over to Boyden Valley winery. There's brewery tour in Burlington you can take. See what events are taking place, you might want to stay in town. My husband would vote for a ferry ride across the lake and back. Ausable Chasm on the other side is nice if you want to pay to walk thru a gorge.

bm

dfrost gave you some great ideas. For restaurants:
A Single Pebble is a must. Be sure to order mock eel, Ants on a Tree, and Budda's Beef. Sounds weird, but trust me.
American Flatbread has great flatbread pizza. Vermont Pub & Brewery has good beer and pub food.
Go to the Red Onion and get the Red Onion Sandwich for lunch.
Go to Nectars for Gravy Fries.
Al's French Frys for a greasy-spoon meal.
I've heard breakfast at Penny Cluse is excellent, thought i havent had the pleasure of trying it yet.
Check out www.highergroundmusic.com Maybe there is a show there that you would be interested in.
The brewery tour dfrost mentioned is Magic Hat. They are located just of Shelburne Road in South Burlington.
If you have any more questions, please post!

escargot

The area around Burlington of Addison County, Vt (Middlebury, Vergennes, Bristol) is lovely. I fyou have time, you can drive from Burlington to Middlebury in about 40 minutes, Middlebury area being more quaint than Burlington, although latter is also lovely town.

Middlebury - a small New England town, tiny common & downtown flanked by the old MIddlebury Inn, small main street with quaint shops, views of Green mtns and Lake Champlain, Frog Hollow arts and crafts (worth walking through, usually amazing work by local artists/craftsmen) some clothing outlets a bit out of town (geiger, nordic sweaters and the vermont soap company factory and outlet where you can buy great soaps and creams on the cheap, the bars that are "cut wrong" are all thrown in old wooden bins and boxes)

coffee and lunch spots and a few nice restaurants next to the falls, ( which you can see by peeking between the shops on the side of Main st that abuts the falls, and you will hear them !) There is Otter Creek bakery, good coffee and deserts, pastries, some small salads, etc - yum and walk behind it to the falls and cross the bridge to the Marble Works ) - and for an amazing sandwich , go to Noonie's in the Marble Works overlooking the falls - there is also Otter Creek Brewing Company if you want to do that our;

there are great photo ops and 'typical' new england feel vistas - on the drive towards Middlebury from Burlington, you pass farms, galleries (where often you can see blacksmiths at work, glass blowers, etc) arts and crafts stores, covered bridges, alpaca farm, flower farm, winery, and many historical musuems and sites along Rte 7 and some on the lake side - (Sheldon Museum w/ mansion, exhibits and an incredible restored 200' steamboat that seeing the woodwork alone is worth the walk through) , Lake Champlain Maritime Museum (replica, full size of revolutionary gun boat Philadelphia II, historic musuem), you can ferry across Lake Champlain, - (about 20 min from Middlebury) to Ft. Ticonderoga (for you, they can catch some sun on the Lake ferry;

Burlington has the Church St. Marketplace, huge pedestrian shopping area w/ enough stores and cafes to keep you busy if time for shopping

you mighth want to check out who is performing at Flynn Ctr for Performing Arts in Burlington.

Good web sites we used to consult: www.midvermont.com and vermont.org

We like Sweet tomatoes Trattoria in Burlington, Starry Night cafe in Ferrisburgh (on way to Middlebury) and Dog Team Tavern, Mr Ups, Fire and Ice, Storm Cafe (which I think has the best food) all in Middlebury.

I am partial to Middlebury, we spent four years going there to visit our child at college - but I think it is a good spot for a typical New England feel town and if you go into any of the stores alone the tiny main street, you can grap the area town map with all these spots on it.

if you go, drive or walk up the hill to the campus and see the views from there - they are magnificent and if at night, and it is clear, the stars are amazing from the hill.

If you have limited time, but can do the drive to and from Middlebury, perhaps with at least an hour in Middlebury, I think you will get that typical new england feel that you mentioned.

bm

Escargot...great advice. EXECPT, sad to say, you can't go to the Dog Team anymore. It burned down a couple months ago.
OH, and it's the Shelburne Musuem with the boat and different buildings. THe Sheldon Museum is a small museum in Middlebury.

escargot

Bm - sheldon/shelburne, i was typing so fast as I was on my way out the door - thanks for picking up on that in case goodadvice was interested that mistake of mine certainly could have added to the confusion !!

And no go - Dog Team burned? can't believe I didn't hear/read about it - what a shame ! - that was sort of an 'institution' for many of those parent weekend dinners when we'd have large groups of families going out to eat together - thanks for letting me know -

bm

The Dog Team burned back at the end of August. The owner of the restaurant perished in the fire. There has been a lot of speculation about the cause of the fire, but nothing official has come out of it. We drove by shortly after it happened...it's so sad. There is nothing left except for the sign.

bm

PS. If you go to the restaurants website, you can read about the fire and post your memories.
http://www.dogteamtavern.com/

Pausanias

A second vote for A Single Pebble. Try the dry fried green beans. They're at 133 Bank Street.

escargot

thanks bm, I did go online last night and found the links and forwarded them to my daughter - likely it's making the rounds today ! so sad.

sandypo

Escargot recommends driving through the Middlebury/Vergennes area and its a good idea, but be very careful driving through Vergennes, it's a very small town but a BIG speed trap. The entire town. Make sure you follow the posted speed limit. My brother in law is a deputy sheriff in St. Alban's and Vergennes cops are famous for stopping and ticketing everybody -- its how they make a lot of their budget. Be warned.

celfan

One of my favorite restaurants in the Burlington area is in Bristol (40 minutes)- the Bobcat Cafe. Just take 116 south. Its not too far from middlebury, which is worth checking out.

Although I'm not really a museum guy, I went to the Shelburne Museum a couple of weeks ago and really enjoyed it. Great circus collection exhibit-blew me away.

I may have ordered the wrong items, but I thought Single Pebble was terrible.

boovt

Great resturants south of Burlington..
(if you do go to Middelbury)
Starry Night south of Shelburne, Bearded frog in shelburne, Black sheep in vergennes, Fire&Ice in Middelbury.
Flat bread pizza in Midd open only Fri & sat night, have the best wood fired pizza I have ever had!
If the weather is nice, go down to the waterfront in Burlington. Great place to walk.
I also agree with the post of going north to the Champlain Islands. Just really pretty area. If you do go north, stop at Heros welcome in North Hero.
Have fun, and welcome to Vt!

cynstalker

Popping this to the top to see if there's any new info anyone has to share about Burlington. We'll be heading up in early September for a couple of nights. One night we will for sure be eating at the Inn at Shelburne Farms, but we're looking for the rest of the time. Oh - we may also be going to the Tavern at the Inn at Essex for chicken wings.

Thanks!

LJ

Libby's Blue Line Diner is always good for a donw-home diner meal.

gailw

Does anyone know about a new hotel in Burlington, near or beside the old Holiday Inn, facing the lake?

cynstalker

Marriot has a new hotel - Courtyard Burlington Harbor. Haven't seen it yet.

bm

The two hotels downtown wiht lake views are the Courtyard by Marriott (brand new) and the Hilton (formerly Radisson & Wyndham). The Hilton recently went/and or is undergoing major renovations.

zootsi

If you are at all into cycling, the Causeway trail along and into lake Champlain is unforgettable. There is a non-profit bike rental and info shop, Loco-Motion, right on the downtown waterfront that will give you free maps and rent you a bike.

gailw

Thanks for the hotel info. Also the bike trail -- just bought bikes and looking for good places to use them off-road.