ECLT: 2nd Stop, Burlington!

After the epicness of Albany, The Hub and I along with our friends David & Tessa, decided to head up to Burlington, VT for the night.  Because, why not?!  Burlington is a really cool town and I'd actually been there a few times in a past life when Vermont was part of my sales territory, but I'd never really set out to properly explore it like a tourist.  So we drove the few hours up to Essex, NY and took the ferry over to Burlington.  'Cause ferries are cool. We were only planning to be in Burlington for Monday evening and part of the next morning, so we decided to make the most of it.  Unfortunately, Mother Nature had other plans.  It started raining.  And raining.  And raining.  David and Tessa, who live in Portland, were all, "This is great, guys!  Who cares about the rain!  We've properly equipped with our fancy North Face raincoats that every true Portlandian has and carries with them at all times!" And I'm all, "Umm, I have my pashmina and flip flops?"  I was jealous.  Real jealous.  I was definitely not prepared for this kind of weather.  It was clear that I needed to get some type of outerwear immediately, if not sooner.  So after a quick stop in American Apparel and the generous donation of an umbrella from our hotel concierge, we were on our way to explore Burlington in the rain! Burlington is your typical, quiant college town like Austin, Madison, or Boulder.  To me, it's most like Boulder but way less pretentious (no offense, Boulder).  The main drag, College St. is filled with really cool boutiques with funky clothes and unique home goods.  We didn't have a lot of time (or money) for shopping, so we focused on the next best things:  booze and food.  But first, we had to fuel our tired, cold bodies.  We stopped into Speeder & Earl's for some coffee from probably the friendliest barista in Burlington.  Seriously, she was so nice and offered us all sorts of suggestions for where to eat that evening.  After we'd been properly caffienated, we hopped over to the Red Onion Café to grab a quick snack that would hold us over until dinner.  Although the staff at this place was waaay less friendly than at Speeder & Earl's  (mostly too-cool-for-school college hipsters), the food was fantastic!  It's a small shop with the biggest sandwiches you've ever seen (on fresh bread stacked about 5 inches high) and homemade soups and salads.  I had a small salad of mesclun greens, strawberries, walnuts and feta, The Hub ordered a really yummy Turkey Noodle Soup, and David and Tessa split the Curried Tofu Cabbage Salad.  It was just what we needed for the next part of our trip.   Finally, it was time for dinner!  After we realized our first choice, Saigon Bistro, was closed, we decided on The Farmhouse.  It ended up being an excellent choice.  Since there was a bit of a wait, we headed to the bar downstairs and snacked on their delicious cheese plate and beers.  Once upstairs, Tessa and I ordered a really nice, local Vermont wine (which I'll be telling you about tomorrow!) while the boys continued working their way through the extensive beer list.  For dins, I ordered a really tasty Smoky Portobello White Bean Burger with House Fresh Mozzerella, Arugula and Basil Pesto that was absolutely enormous.  The Hub was still a bit full from earlier, so he had two salads:  Kale & Arugula and Radish Salad with Arugula and Pea Shoots.  David and Tessa also ordered the Kale & Arugula Salad, hot Tomato Soup and the Lamb Burger special (which looked, oh so good) and Veggie Burger respectively.  It was a meal that really hit the spot.   The next day we woke up and, gasp! the sun was shining!  We met up at Muddy Waters (which felt more like a lodge in the SW than a VT coffee shop) for some morning coffee and took a stroll around town before we had to head out.   Burlington, thanks for the good food, drinks, and peek of sun.  But we could done without the parting gift. Next stop, Providence!