Another Burlington Weekend [beer and cider included]

Why yes we were up in Burlington again for what seems like the millionth time this summer but we do love it and this time it was to meet up with family. My younger brother is starting a course at Yestermorrow Design/Build School so my parents swung over to Burlington after dropping him off to see us [aka the grandkids] before heading back to NY.

 

We, admittedly, have never been to Citizen Cider on Pine St. even though we pass it every time we come to Burlington and this time we decided to stop. We may have also only stopped because Declan was asleep so managing one kid at a restaurant/brewery is muuuch simpler than two so it was also out of convenience. Don't get me wrong, we love cider but we are first beer lovers so we are picky cider drinkers. Our problem with ciders is that we feel like they all taste the same even when they say they are all vastly different. Let me just say that Citizen Cider is a beer drinkers cider [they may or may not hate that I just said that] and each one tasted vastly different from the rest and I honestly liked each one and even loved a few. We always chose Citizen when we get cider at the store but usually just their flagship [which is amazing and we do get it very often] but we will for sure be venturing out and trying each and every one of theirs. They will also be on our "must stop while in Burlington" list from now on too!

Slept the entire time...

 

An open, family style tasting/restaurant room with some tables outside too.

 

We stayed the night at the Marriot [my dad travels for work and has points or else we'd be AirBnbing it] which by the way is an awesome location right next to Hotel Vermont on the water. On our way back to Rutland we stopped at the ReUse materials store on Pine St. [they have an actual store and a materials store] and found my dream sink for our new house. We also got all the hardware for our kitchen cabinets [$1 a piece I may add] and a few other things that would have cost us a couple hundred dollars brand new and instead cost us $20 and are exactly what I wanted. Below is our 1962 Kohler cast iron white enameled sink with drain tray that I love.

That's enough typing..below are some pictures from the weekend where we stopped at [in no particular order, just as I can remember them] Burlington Beer Co., Citizen Cider, Once Upon a Child Consignment shop, ate at American Flatbread, had a family run on the bike trail, and of course walked Church Street while eating pizza larger than our heads. Enjoy!


Burlington Beer Co. is a family favorite with tons of old school games that the boys love.

Finn pretending to be a beer maker - I have to brag that he knows the beer goes through a masher, aka the mash tun :)

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!