March 2-8, 2011 Burlington, VT

We drove North to Burlington, VT to visit Sona-another close childhood friend of Sonia’s. The weather was getting colder and colder with each mile we drove further North. By the time, we got onto I-89 N, it was snowing, windy and icy road conditions—not ideal driving conditions, and certainly not for Loaf. Jason white-knuckled it for 40-50 miles while Sonia entertained him with random stories about Sonia and Sona’s childhood...Jason was only mildly amused but Sonia was greatly amused and getting excited to see her good buddy Sona.

By the time we arrived in Burlington at Sona and Lucy’s (Sona’s sweet black lab), it was 10:30 pm.  We were cold, tired and happy to be out of the van.  We had a glass of wine and talked…far too late into the night. The first night is always the latest night. The excitement of seeing each other since the summer kept us up for too long. We forced ourselves to go to bed knowing that we’ll all be together for the next 4 days. 

Our original plan for travelling in the New England states was to pick up Sona and Lucy then go to Maine and loop counterclockwise back to VT.  We collectively decided to cancel that plan because recreation is limited to skiing and/or snowshoeing this time of year….and we can do that Vermont!  Instead of driving the Loaf in snowy conditions and racking up a big fat gas bill (now at $3.89/gallon!! Geez!! Anyone want to donate to the Loaf Love Tour’s gas fund?…haha), we’d stay locally and enjoy Vermont.  Sona has a 12 year history here in Vermont and loves this place. She was happy to show off what Burlington has to offer…in hopes of us moving here some day. The community, the local organic food, the array of microbrews, some nightlife…mostly we were just glad to be with her.

Thursday, Jason and Sonia went skiing at Bolton Valley Ski Area in Bolton, VT-about 45 min drive from Burlington.  It was a sunny and cold 12 degree day—no new snow overnight, but we could ski in the Green Mountains. The mountain was more like a hill to us…we are spoiled skiing in the Cascades.  It was interesting to look out at the views of bare hardwoods all around us with the occasional evergreen tree dotting the landscape. This place would be lovely in the fall!!  Fast, carving snow on mildly steep slopes,  we skied the afternoon and went home to meet Sona after work. A fun day despite not having ideal ski conditions…it was nice to get out though—work off some of those calories we’re storing from our overindulgent week in PA.  Farm to Table was a beer and burger joint we went to that evening for dinner. So many incredible local brews to choose from.   Jason had a burger and was very satislfied with the taste, quality and quantity. Sona and Sonia split some amazing veggie burgers—good texture and flavors-not like biting into a cardboard box. Our first meal was excellent.

Friday, we had a leisurely morning and then went cross country skiing at Sleepy Hollow Nordic Center about 45 min away. Another cold and sunny day outside!!  Good glide and not too icy—well groomed. We spent 3 hours skiing around various trails…just enjoying being outside. Dinner-homemade beet and carrot burgers and salad—eating good, local food…gotta love that!

Saturday—Mardi Gras parade. It was a little strange celebrating Mardi Gras in Burlington, Vermont. It was far from New Orleans style despite all the Made in China beads. We didn’t see anyone lift their shirts to properly earn the beads—too cold and windy outside for that nonsense.  People-watching was very entertaining as we walked along Church St and onto Main St alongside the Parade.  An interesting variety of floats—the Love Machine was a psychedelic blue school bus with a bubble machine was a favorite. The transvestites on another float were pretty outrageous too.  We ducked into a little bar to catch a local blues/jazz trio at just the right time to get the best seats in the house…the last 3 barstools in the back facing the stage—a perfect place to warm up, dry out and listen to Myra Flynn’s beautiful vocals. We took the scenic walk along Lake Champlain home—cold, windy and frozen. The Adirondack Mountains to the west were barely visible in the fog and drizzle. The Lake was gorgeous though. Burlington is the smallest city in the US but the largest city in Vermont, population 40,000 according to a travel magazine we picked up. Sona says its 200, 000….that’s a little bit of a difference. Who to believe??  Burlington is lovely though…downtown offers shopping, dining and nightlife. There aren’t huge tall skyscrapers keeping more of a towny feel vs a city.  Neighborhoods are small streets lined with tighly packed in houses…thereby knowing most of the neighbors again making it more of a community vs a city.

We got in several XC skis over the weekend and then it dumped about 20 inches in Burlington Sunday afternoon to Monday morning. Snowdrifts were crazy.  I-89 was closed due to snow drifts and hazardous driving conditions. The city of Burlington was basically shut down—many businesses and all schools were closed for a snow day!!  We had an army of 6 people snowblowing, shoveling and moving cars around on Monday morning. Once we coulod get out of the driveway, we had to get out to ski in the fresh snow for a while. It was so deep in places, but everything was snow white and beautiful again.

Tuesday we departed from Burlington to downhill ski at Mad River Glen, Vermont’s steepest ski terrain. Their motto is “ski it if you can.”  MRG is the only skier owned co-op and resort in North America. They have the last single person chairlift in US.  Surprisingly the line moves pretty fast. The ski hill was packed with powder hungry skiers (snowboarders not allowed)  and got chowed up fast turning the runs into mogul fields by late morning. Fortunately, the snow was still soft and forgiving because it was only 12 degrees and sunny! Talking to some of the locals, days like this are very rare and this will probably be the best day of skiing all year!!  Yeah man, we hit it on the right day!!  We left MRG to drive South and West towards Buffalo, NY. We stayed in a hotel  that night when we got tired of driving. Thanks Sona for all your hospitality and showing us all the goods Burlington has to offer.