Our Vermont Weekend: Take 2

On the road again this past weekend but this time all the way up north to Burlington. It's a 1hr 45min drive straight up Route 7 and is super easy. We almost always make it a day trip and thankfully the boys (usually) fall asleep both ways.
[ There is info on a new brewery so keep reading through my shameless Credit Union speech. ]
We planned our trip around the inaugural meeting for The Credit Union Young Professionals of Vermont that I helped my friend and mentor plan. I'm a typical millennial and want my career to have meaning, I'm not just in it for the money to pay bills [a little bit of a lie since our student loans are hell]. My time away from my family has to be for good reason and working for our Credit Union does just that. Not to get all philosophical but credit unions are for the people, they are a co-op and are there to help the community and especially the underbanked.
There's my shameless plug for the day and on-to the pictures of my kids that the grandparents will love :P

A group of the smartest, hardest-working women and the future of our Credit Unions!

The newest brewery just opened up in Burlington so we had to stop in and try it. Foam Brewers is right on the water, just down from Skinny Pancake and totally makes me wish we lived closer and had a nanny that could chase after our kids as we sat and drank beer. It seems to attract a younger crowd but seeing as it is a bit of a college town that's to be expected, although it did make me feel especially old :(

 

We topped off our day with a quick visit to Echo Aquarium - also right on the water and .25miles from the brewery. We're members so we love to just stop in for a half hour, look at some fish and then head out and we never feel like we wasted our entrance fee. FYI - if you're a member you also get free entry into a ton of museums around the country including the Boston Kids Museum, the Boston Natural History Museum, Syracuse MOST, and 3 different museums in Ithaca as well. It's so worth it and one of the best kept secrets there is.

 

Well that was our weekend. This weekend we have an open house to sell our tiny home in the city in hopes of a little more land for our kids and dog to run around on. Wish us luck!

Our Vermont Weekend: Take 1

This past weekend was a perfect example of how much there is to do within a short distance of Rutland. As New Yorkers we rarely made trips more than 20 minutes away and when we did we would have to spend the entire day there because 30 minutes was far - ha!

As Vermonters we've learned that although you don't have to drive far for everything, there is a lot to do throughout the state and traveling 1.5hrs in one direction to spend 3hrs at a museum or to go to a brewery and then turn around to come home is not that big of a deal. It was something we had to get use to but now we love to drive and discover new places around the state.

So here's our weekend:

Enjoying the Wonderfeet Kids' Museum in downtown Rutland. A serious gem that our kids absolutely love no matter how often we go. Be warned that there is a high probability your kid will throw a tantrum when you say it's time to leave but no worries, no judgy mom here!

We then headed to downtown Middlebury (a 45min drive north on Rt.7) in hopes of finding new sneakers for Finn at the kids consignment shop, Junebug. We didn't find anything but the boys napped the entire drive there so win!

We stopped at Woodchuck Cider on our way home, which is located in Middlebury as well. Otter Creek Brewing is also right down the street and is newly redone but we've been there a lot so decided to keep going.

We decided to stop at Drop-In Brewery which is again in Middlebury and always has something new on tap to try. We got a Maibock that is very different from the ever popular VT Double IPA and although strong is a must try!

Sunday we headed to Manchester, VT which is about 45 minutes South on Rt. 7. We were still in search of new sneakers for Finn which we eventually found at the Famous Footwear outlet. Manchester has a lot of great outlets and we also love the Northshire Bookstore as well. We had a quick lunch and then headed home - a short trip but we like that we found what we wanted locally instead of buying online.

 

 

So in two days we drove 3hrs and visited two very different Vermont towns. Vermont can offer more than expected if you live like a true Vermonter and learn to travel your state. When we first moved here Tom would have patients that told him about a great restaurant 45 minutes away and we thought they were crazy to travel that far for a meal. Now we travel 1hr45minutes for a brewery so I guess we're the crazy ones now.

 

Cheers!

Why We Love Vermont

At the top of Deer Leap drinking a beer - our first VT hike.

I know the blog is about Rutland but I wanted the first post to be about why we love Vermont and how, no matter what (losing jobs, changing careers, any other unplanned life event), we would choose to stay in Vermont.

Vermont is a way of life. My husband and I are both Ithaca college graduates which is located in Ithaca, a very liberal, forward thinking city in upstate New York and before moving to Vermont figured that it was like a big Ithaca. In general it is, which is probably why we love the state so much but it's even better than Ithaca, something we didn't think was possible.

I like lists. I have ADD so lists help me write down my thoughts in the random order they tend to come out without babbling on (just kidding I still babble). To do lists are my jam and are the sole reason I have never been fired from a job because without them I'd be lost. With that being said here is a list of why we (maybe just me but I think Tom agrees with most) love Vermont:

Traffic doesn't exist. I mean it does but nothing like the traffic we were use to living in Utica, Ithaca, Syracuse or Rochester ,New York. Even in Burlington it's not bad although native Vermonters may disagree.

Mountains are everywhere. You can go for a walk in "the city" of Rutland and no matter where you turn you see gorgeous mountains. Now, go for a hike and at the peak there are endless mountains that will take your breathe away, it's like nothing you've ever seen before.

This picture was taken from a window at our first apartment in Rutland on Main St.!

The people. I'm sure there are other places in the country, hell I'm sure other places in the northeast that have nice people. But it honestly seems like the entire state is pretty damn nice. No matter how much someone has or doesn't have they are always there to help you out any way they can and they never expect anything in return. Every business we go into, everyone is always so nice even when you walk in with two young kids. And on the kids note, no one has ever made us feel bad for bringing our kids with us just about everywhere we go. They come to breweries and go out to dinner with us and not once has anyone given us a hard time, in fact they usually seem to treat us even better (maybe it's the gigantic bags under my eyes that make them feel bad).

 

The beer is kick ass. I know my husband agrees with me on this one and we love the beer here. Not just the beer but the beer community and businesses and everything that goes with it. We are now certified beer snobs thanks to the amazing brews that can be found all over the state. Our favorite? Foley Brothers Fair Maiden Double IPA, and Zero Gravity is our favorite brewery as a whole. There will be many more posts about beer and breweries and our love of beer and breweries.

The Vermont Pub & Brewery in downtown Burlington.

Local food, everywhere. Just about every restaurant uses local ingredients whether vegetables, breads or meat. I'm pretty sure the only time we've eaten at a chain restaurant since living in VT is when we've been given a gift card to Applebee's but even then we just went to the bar which happened to have local beer on tap. Our only gripe with Vermont is the lack of Mexican food in the Rutland area. There's a few decent ones in Burlington but as a whole the state seems to lack good Mexican restaurants (someone please email me and prove me wrong, tell me every Mexican restaurant I've missed!).

Family friendly jobs. Ok so maybe we've just been blessed with wicked cool companies, but before I had kids I was scared about the ramifications on my career. At every job I've always been told to put my family first, I've had great maternity leave and I was even hired while pregnant by my current employer (I know they can't legally discriminate but still they didn't even bat an eyelash). When Finn was born my then employer let me come back 30hrs over 3 days so I could stay home with him 2 days a week until he turned 1. I could go on but you get it.

Nothing to do with jobs but the breweries are also family friendly!

It's runner friendly. Ok when I first moved to Rutland I was pissed at its lack of paved trails and over abundance of hills. Now my race times thank me as those hills make my races so much easier. I love passing people on "hills" at races - I need to make a shirt about running Vermont hills, maybe "in Vermont we run mountains," it's a jumping off point, I digress!

Most local 5k's allow strollers and sometimes dogs so it's a family affair!

The size. Vermont is small but I love that. We can take a day trip to Burlington and it's no big deal. You can take a day trip to just about anywhere in the state from central Vermont. None of the cities are all that big, even Burlington is small compared to the cities we're use to. There are people who love big cities, we are not those people.

Chittenden Reservoir near Mt. Top Inn 

It's location. Vermont is pretty centrally located in the northeast. From Rutland, at least, we can get to Boston or Portland in 3hrs. We've never been but you can also get to NYC and Montreal pretty quickly as well. We've taken the train to NYC from Albany which was cheap and easy but driving is much quicker, but again traffic!

Lake Champlain in Burlington.

Skiing, duh. I am not a skier. Tom is a skier and learned to ski about three years ago and of course picked it up super quick and is super good. I, on the other hand, have no want or need to ever learn to ski. I hate heights and I hate the cold. I know, I live in Vermont but I hate the cold, I love the snow and mountains but from the lodge drinking a beer! I do however want the boys to learn to ski at a young age since everyone who skis loves it and being 15 minutes from the best mountain in the east, Killington, we'd be stupid not to. And I also secretly hope they'll be good and will go to Killington Mountain School and travel the world - I'm not a helicopter mom I promise!

Taken by my husband at Killington.

So there's our short list. We could go on but studies show most people won't even read through that entire list, so stay in suspense until the next list.

Vermont isn't for everyone, but if you like amazing beer and nice people and hate traffic then it may just be the place for you.

Hiked to the top of Pico Mtn.