More of Burlington

Today we decided to get up and get going. We had a lot of little things we wanted to do, including shopping (gifts for family, etc.). After another great breakfast at the B&B, we drove downtown and parked, then hit Church Street. For those who've never been, Church Street in Burlington is a 4-5 block-long pedestrian street in downtown, with all of the major shopping and dining within several blocks of that street. Great place to people watch, especially with all of the eccentric types hanging out in Vermont.

Had lunch at Leunig's Cafe - sort of a french bistro, and enjoyed a duck confit salad along with a pint of Leunig's Ale (which is really just Long Trail Hit the Trail Ale). More shopping after lunch, then we stopped for a quick pint at a local, slightly seedy joint called JP's Pub. We stopped to try the Long Trail Blackberry Wheat on tap, which we'd not seen elsewhere. Back to the car, then up to the B&B.

Dana decided to chill out for a bit, but I was ready for more beer exploration. I drove back downtown and stopped in front of the American Flatbread. I walked in to find no one ... they don't serve any food after 2 and before 5pm. However, the bar was open, so I came in to try the limited beers on tap (by limited, I mean they happened to only have 4 of their Zero Gravity beers, rather than the usual 9-11). There were plenty more taps and bottles to sample if I chose. So, I had samples of Zero Gravity IPA, Fruehfest, D'Kinna Bock, and Old Schtick. All of them were very nice and I would have loved to stick around for the tapping of the schwarzbier and the Friday cask - however, I had one more place I wanted to visit before leaving town...

I got in the car and drove to South Burlington (close to Shelbourne) and took the 4pm tour of the Magic Hat Brewery. There was only me and two other people on the tour at 4pm, and it didn't take very long - though I got some interesting history and some pictures. Afterwards, I retired to the tasting room and sampled several beers on tap that, unfortunately, aren't available in bottles here in western PA. Several good ones I got to sample included the Braggot made with honey and chamomille, the Single Chair Ale, and the Roxy Rolles. I picked up a hat, too.

Had there been time, I wanted to stop by Switchback Brewing and check out their operation. But alas, it was 5pm and time to head back to meet my wife and make dinner plans. We decided on a neat Indian place up by the University (UVM) and I got some really spicy chicken tikka masala.

Tomorrow - it's time to go home, but I'll be leaving with a few extra pounds of weight brought on by great beer and food from Vermont, many memories, and a cooler filled with bottles that I bought at stores during our trip!