Vermont

Went to Vermont this weekend. Here are some good places to go...

Ben + Jerry's factory tour
The tour is $3 for adults. Nothing fantastic to write home about but you get a free, decent sized sample of the flavor of the day. Our flavor was "American Pie"--now our new favorite flavor-- it it was like eating apple pie with vanilla ice cream, but without all the bulk. Chocolate Therapy is also a good flavor for chocoholics like me. The line to buy ice cream always looks long, but it's worth standing in line for 10 minutes! Plus it should be fresher than your grocery store freezer, so just do it! I never realized how cause worthy Ben & Jerry's company is. Kudos to that! Much better than the annoying singing at Cold Stone.



Cool road signs
Do drive around Burlington and take in the cool signage reminiscent of European road signs.




Leunig's Bistro & Cafe
Located on the corner of Church & College St on the Marketplace in Downtown Burlington, it was very Parisian bistro like, with delicious food for a $15-$30 price range. Loved it because they had my two favorite beers, Hoegaarden and Stella Artois, not to mention the Crab Cake Rissole with mandarin orange slaw was fabulous (and I'm usually not one for slaw). Just crispy enough on the outside and not too fishy on the inside. The grilled steak frites was pretty good too, with a thyme seasoning on the steak...a nice and unique paring.
Check out the menu if you like here.

Penny Cluse Cafe
Located at 169 Cherry Street in Downtown Burlington, they have the best gingerbread pancakes ever! Expect a 45 minute wait for a table(the pancakes alone are worth it). The home fries aren't exactly what I expected (looked yellowish in color like tumeric was put on them), if you're looking for something crunchy, stay away from these!

You can get the recipe for their gingerbread pancakes or see a menu at their site here.

University Inn & Suites in South Burlington
At 5 Dorset St, in South Burlington. It was more 2 star than three star. The side entrances to each of the buildings have a card swipe reader, but none of the doors actually lock (in some cases the lock has been removed completely), so it's a false sense of security. They say they keep it unlocked so staff can come and go easily. I say that's a load of crap. I understand that crime isn't as bad up north near Canada...maybe you don't need to lock your doors, but I like to be prepared for a worse case scenerio and lock up just for safety's sake.