#1 Ranking...

Twenty-four years ago, when we moved to Madison, Wisconsin; Thom saw a ranking on the most outdoorsy cities to live in.  Burlington, Vermont was first on the list and Madison was second.  That's the reason Thom was interested in seeing Burlington. 

Today, we spent about 5 hours walking around Burlington.  We both clocked about 9 miles on our fitness trackers.  We started in downtown Burlington, where we found parking at Perkins Pier Lot.  Burlington sits on the edge of Lake Champlain.  I did not know that Burlington was a major shipping city in the past. Lake Champlain is the 12th largest freshwater lake in the United States and through the use of canals became a shipping lane to the Great Lakes from the St. Lawrence seaway and eventually to Albany and New York City.  As you look across Lake Champlain to the west, you see the Adirondack Mountains of New York.  

 

The lakeshore was beautiful with boardwalk, trails, parks, and piers.  We next walked up the hill from the lake to Church Street, which is a pedestrian street lined with shops, restaurants and small business.  At the top of Church Street, sits the First Unitarian Universalists Church, which was built in 1816. 

Building on the historic registry near Church Street

Church Street Marketplace -- Pedestrian street

First Unitarian Universalists Churhc

We continue our walk to Intervale, which is an agricultural community at the edge of Burlington.  At one time this land was use as a garbage dump, but the land has been reclaimed and they are working to restore the flood plain area and its fertile soil.  In addition to farming, the Intervale has become a year-round recreation destination, with walking and cycling trails during spring, summer, and fall, and a groomed cross country ski trail system in the winter months. We walk one of the trails that took us along the river, where there are interpretive signs, gardens, green house, and a poetry path.

Buildings at Intervale

                                                                  The pond at Interval

Poetry Path

Greenhouses

Greens being grown in the greenhouses

The old farm house converted to office space at Intervale

As we left Intervale, we walked up a large hill to the campus of the University of Vermont. We walked along the historic buildings of the campus. It is a beautiful campus that sits up on a hill that looks down to the lake and has a view of the beautiful mountains. The student population at UVM is approximately 13,000 undergraduates.

The Campus of UVM

We started walking back toward the pedestrian street to grab a bite to eat and then we walked to the trail and the boardwalk along the lake before traveling on to our next location. Our destination tonight is Glen Falls, New York to have dinner with a couple that moved last spring from Madison. Jim was in Thom's running group.

The trees along the trail were a beautiful gold

The mountains in the background

The boardwalk along the lake

The lighthouse in Lake Champlain

Adirondacks in the background

Interesting sculpture on the Amtrak Station

We took a scenic route along Lake George and the lake was very beautiful. There were many resorts and small towns along the lake, but everything is closed for the season. When we got to Glen Falls, we had dinner at a small family owned Thai restaurant and the food was excellent.