January 1. A new year. National Hiking Day.What better way to start off the year than with a summit attempt of Mt. Mansfield, VT?

I have an answer. Relaxing in Burlington!

That is just what I did. Rather than summit Mansfield in snow and high winds, I decided to rest and enjoy the day. I developed several hotspots (pre-blisters) hiking yesterday. They need time to recover lest they become full blown, which inhibits hiking and other activities upon my return home (namely soccer on Monday).

So I spent the day in Burlington.

First, was breakfast at… Handy’s Lunch. The name is a little confusing. They certainly do serve breakfast. The food was pretty decent. I had eggs, bacon, home fries, and toast. The place was packed with locals filling themselves up for the cold day. The toast and bacon were both really good. Everything got cold quickly, or I probably would have rated it higher. There was a local news reporter making rounds asking how everyone felt about Donald Trump coming to visit (in a few days). Politics…. oy. I enjoyed some coffee to combat the cold weather and did some reading. When I left, it was snowing.

I like the snow (minus insane worst-weather-in-the-world-winds) so I took a little walk along the lake in Battery Park and the Waterfront area. It was a little cloudy but there was a decent view of the Ariondack Mountains across the water.

After the walk, it was time to eat/drink again.

I headed to American Flatbread for lunch. They carry numerous beers from Zero Gravity Brewing in Burlington, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I particularly enjoyed the VT Haze IPA. I hung out for a solid 2.5 hours having a few drinks and snacking on a very tasty flatbread. I finished reading Into Thin Air, which is about the disasters during the 1996 Everest climbing season. Don’t worry Mom, I am not interested in climbing it.

I found a few other interesting spots. Namely, the world’s tallest filing cabinet.

And a nice little park along the beach. The sky actually had some blue. The first I have seen of that in days. It was quite beautiful.

I went back to the hotel to watch some football and then to take a short nap.

For dinner, I headed to the Farmhouse Tap & Grill. They had a fantastic beer selection. The best I have seen since Boston (or perhaps Williamstown). It was a nice walk through downtown to get there.

 

I had the Main Beer Co MO (IPA), Lawson’s Finest Liquids Sip of Sunshine (IPA), and Founders Porter. All were fantastic. 4+/5 rating. For food, I went healthy and had the Kale and Arugula salad (very good) and the Cheddar Ale Soup (could eat a ton of it). I’d highly recommend Farmhouse Tap & Grille if you ever make it to Burlington.

Then, back to the hotel to pack up and prepare to head to Boston in the morning. I am considering pushing it to get there in time for the Arsenal vs. Newcastle soccer match at 10 AM, but we shall see how it goes.