To celebrate our recent-ish 40th birthdays and our June anniversary, Brian and I took a multi-day trip without our kids to northern Vermont last week. We took a roundabout route to get there in order to make a couple stops, then spent 3 nights in Burlington and took the scenic route home. We had a wonderful time exploring and I have so much I want to share that I’m breaking my favorites into 2 parts. This post contains my favorite stops from our routes to and from Burlington.
Click here for my Burlington-specific highlights.
Things We Did
Simon Pearce in Quechee – The amount of beautiful – and incredibly expensive – glassware available for purchase at Simon Pearce was very impressive. I don’t think I’ve ever been in a room with so much glass. We most of our time in the workshop space below the store, watching the staff hard at work. I’ve always enjoyed glass blowing and seeing the items from the store being created was fascintating.
Quechee Gorge Village shops – While enjoying our visit to WhistlePig, I noticed these shops on the tourist map and we decided to make a stop. The series of interconnected stores includes The Vermont Antique Mall, the Quechee General Store, and the Vermont Spot Country Store, among others. We spent longer here than planned because there was so much good stuff to look at.
Quechee Gorge & the Visitors Center – Quechee Gorge was a beautiful spot to stop on our roundabout drive to Burlington. The visitors center was recently renovated and had lovely facilities and information available. We walked down the hiking trail along the gorge, saying hello to the many other folks and dogs we passed. I’d recommend a good pair of walking shoes for this, which I definitely wasn’t wearing, but I made it. Then we walked back up to the road and enjoyed the impressive view of the gorge from the bridge.
Shelburne Museum – With 29 buildings on 45 acres of land, there was no shortage of things to see at the Shelburne Museum. We spent over 3 hours there and didn’t come close to seeing everything. The stories behind each building and the collections they contained were all interesting – a general store, jail, lighthouse, bird decoys, hat boxes, American art, European art, textile art, contemporary art. One of the temporary exhibits happened to be art and textiles by Dahlov Ipcar, one of my favorite artists. The other highlight of our visit was exploring the Ticonderoga, a 220-foot steamboat that once traveled Lake Champlain but is now a centerpiece of the museum.
Food & Drink
Tuckerbox in White River Junction – Brian discovered this incredible Turkish restaurant that was on our route to Burlington. The décor was great (we enjoyed browsing at Little Istanbul Gifts before leaving town) and everything was so delicious. Another great opportunity to eat dishes that aren’t readily available at home. I adored my Spice Roasted Chicken wrapped in lavash, but the highlight was definitely the baklava we shared for dessert.
WhistlePig Tasting Room in Quechee – All our detours on the way to Burlington stemmed from the fact that we were going to the WhistlePig tasting room. It more than met our expectations. We had a lovely experience sampling a variety of their products by ordering 2 flights, then purchased a bottle in honor of Brian’s 40th birthday.
Le Marché in Shelburne – After leaving the Shelburne Museum, Brian and I needed to grab a late lunch to eat on the way home. We saw Le Marché on the map and checked it out. It was packed, which is always a good sign, and we picked up delicious sandwiches and French sodas for the road. A wonderful way to end our vacation.
Click here for my Burlington-specific highlights from this trip.
