There’s more to Vermont than Ben & Jerry’s??? Oh, yes!!

We finally made it to Vermont after two more one-night stops in New York. When we planned this part of the trip, we made reservations wherever we were going to stay three nights or longer. Sometimes there are several driving days between those reservations and those are the spots we either call a day or so in advance or just cross our fingers and roll in hoping there will be an opening.

We really lucked out for one of our nights – Selkirk Shores, a NY State Park on Lake Ontario, was a gem. We pulled in without a reservation and they hooked us up with a lakefront space that gave us awesome views of the spectacular sunset. The park also had miles of trails for both hiking and mountain biking.  On travel days we’re usually on the road by 9am, but we opted to spend a couple hours on the trails before leaving so squeaked out just before the 11am check-out time. Really wish we could have stayed longer – a week would have been nice! Lol.

Excellent trail system at Selkirk - we needed more time to do them all!

Forest fungi - it looks like coral. :)

View of Lake Ontario from our front window - hard to beat!

The sky was on fire at sunset.

Spectacular colors.

One of the reasons I picked our campground in Waterbury, VT was its proximity to the Ben & Jerry’s ice cream factory (ok, it was the only reason!). Turns out there is a whole lot more going on here!  In fact, Ben & Jerry’s was a bit of a bust – maybe my expectations were too high. We strolled through the grounds and the Flavor Graveyard which was cute. The factory tour was fun – about 30 minutes long – you see a video, get to look at the production line and machines. Get a sample of ice cream (Vanilla – really??? How boring is that.) and then exit to the gift shop and scoop shop. But, they were out of the “limited edition” flavor I had my heart (or at least my taste buds) set on and they don’t carry all their flavors at the factory scoop shop. Sigh. I had high hopes for a daily pilgrimage – but once was enough. We found lots of other options to take up the slack though. :)

Ben & Jerry's - Vermont's finest!

Do they deliver???

Since these are the old stomping grounds of my friend, Elizabeth, I had a list of area “must do’s”.  First on the list was a cider donut at Cold Hollow Cider Mill. Oh yeah, she nailed that one. We went twice! We seemed to nibble our way through the area – ice cream, local cheese, chocolates, maple syrup (maple everything, really. Lol) but the cider donuts were a favorite.

Fresh hot cider and a cider donut- these were a hit!  Thanks Elizabeth!

We’ve been working hard to get in our five miles a day (or more) to offset all the good eats. Rog did a mountain bike ride on the Perry Hill Trail – about 17 miles of rocky, rooty thrashing on the single track. I opted to browse the local antique shops and take a much more sedate walkabout in Stowe. We met back up for the Waterbury Farmer’s market – it was fun to buy our mandatory Vermont maple syrup from the family who made it. :)

Creekside trail at the campground - we need the steps! Lol.

Rog about to tackle the Perry Hill Trail in Waterbury, VT - roots and rocks galore.

Stowe was a picturesque little town.

We decided to spend Friday, our last day here, in Burlington. I am not an architectural buff, but I have to say the city is beautiful. So many cool old buildings in many different styles. I swear this bank really needed a “Gringott’s” sign out front and a dragon curled around the tower. Lol.

Don't you think this Burlington bank would be right at home in Diagon Alley?  Lol.

We strolled down Church Street, which is a pedestrian only street lined with shops and had lunch. Then grabbed our bikes and headed for the Island Line Trail. The trail is another of those “rail to trail” paths that I love! The path is fabulous – it runs along the water, through some wooded areas, and crosses Winooski River – but the highlight is the Colchester Causeway. You ride for 3 ½ miles on a marble causeway that was built to connect the Lake Champlain Islands with Burlington. There are great views of the mountains in the distance and you get to ride right out to the middle of Lake Champlain. Totally cool!

The entire trail is 28 miles roundtrip, we did about 22 of those. We started at Waterfront Park and rode all the way to the “cut” which is a 200-foot break in the causeway where there used to be a swing bridge. Local Motion runs a bike ferry so you can cross, but we used that as our turn around point. Of course, again with all the great water and mountain views – I was ogling the rocks. They built the causeway out of these HUGE blocks of marble. Big chunks of gray veined white marble just piled on top of each other. Miles of it! I was in awe.

Crossing the Winooski River bridge.

Rog heads out onto the causeway across Lake Champlain.

At the cut - a 200 ft. break in the causeway.

The local bike ferry will shuttle you across, but we opted to turn around here.

Huge slabs of marble used to build the causeway.

Miles of gorgeous rocks! 

After the ride it seemed only right to reward ourselves, so we crossed another “must do” off our list and had a Vermont Maple Creemee (soft serve maple ice cream). It’s a local favorite and for good reason. Yummy! We sat on the waterfront and enjoyed our Creemees and the view and then headed back to camp to prep for our departure in the morning.

Burlington waterfront.

Teeny, tiny little lighthouse.

Adirondack Mountains in the distance, but no sign of "Champ" the local version of the Loch Ness Monster. 

We have a two-night stay in Hanover Maine where I’ll get the domestic goddess chores out of the way. On Monday, 8/19, we head to Acadia National Park for eight nights. Everyone we meet raves about how beautiful it is. We’re looking forward to it!

Note – I’m not sure what kind of cell reception or internet connectivity we’ll have there, so if we disappear for a while blame it on Verizon! Lol.