Burlington, VT

October 21, 2004 5:15 PM

Spending the weekend in Burlington, Vermont. Any suggestions on getting off the beaten path / weird museums / tours / cool pubs appreciated.
posted by yoga to Travel & Transportation around Burlington, VT (8 answers total)

Radio Bean coffeehouse has good coffee and [I've heard] free wifi. Muddy Waters is a good mellow coffee shop right by the Church Street ped mall area. Here's the local indie paper good for the calendar section. Both the Fletcher Free Library and the UVM libraries have internet access, FYI. If you go to Fletcher Free, go to the second floor and check out the last days of the Brautigan Library which is on its way someplace else. "off the beaten path" depending if you have a car or not, there are local and less-local options in the area. There's a local bus that is fairly cheap and easy that you can use to get around the city and environs. I'll spell out a few, email me if you'd like more local info.

- the Intervale area in Burlington has some neat stuff going on. Fun for a walk, good for interesting local agriculture initiatives, some historic buildings.
- Vermont Whale
- the causeway park trail is good for biking or a long flat hike with some good views of the city and the lake and some weird sculptures
- there's going to be a terrifically geeky blogger get together in Randolph VT [about a 60 minute drive East] on Saturday morning at 10 which will be sort of amusing since to the best of my knowledge, with the exception of meetups, it's one of the first blogger shindigs in the state.... ever.
- If you like museums, UVM has a good assortment, the Fleming is the biggest and pretty worthwhile
- there are ferries running across the lake, not cheap but a nice way to take in the city and see the lake.
- North of Burlington [need car] is Grand Isle County and some lovely seashore and island areas. Good for walking, hiking, biking.
- South of Burlington [may need car] are a few neat towns like Charlotte, Vergennes [haunted opera house tour this weekend] and Shelburne. The Shelburne Museum always has good exhibits and is now showing a quilt exhibit and something about kids pedal cars. Also nearby is Shelburne Farms which is a really striking building with some interesting historical exhibits and tours.

The weather is good lately, crisp and pretty clear, but it's been dropping in to the thirties at night so bring something a little warm if you're out at night. Sadly, I know nothing about pubs except that the Three Needs and the Vermont Pub & Brewery have very good beer. Here's a local pub list.
posted by jessamyn at 6:26 PM on October 21, 2004 [3 favorites]

boy, I really need to get out more
posted by evening at 6:32 PM on October 21, 2004

Whenever I visited my grandparents in Barre, I used to go to daytrips up to Burlington. There was a great record store called Pure Pop, and a greasy spoon called Mae's (I believe) that I used to haunt. I don't know if either are still there, but they're worth a visit.
posted by jonmc at 7:26 PM on October 21, 2004

I can vouch for the Vermont Pub & Brewery as a fine place for beers and food (from the local pub list jessamyn linked above). I'd link to Magic Hat Brewing but I think they have one of the worst sites a brewery could devise. However their beer is terrific and you might even be able to score a tour. (I did a tour when they first started and at that time they had all of a few rooms and people getting growlers filled at 10 a.m.)
posted by TomSophieIvy at 9:17 PM on October 21, 2004

oh man the memories!
I grew up in Vermont and lived in Burlington for a couple of years as a teen.

My favorite place was called The Chickenbone, back then it was basically a biker bar, last time I went it was a yuppie must-go-to place. Was I saddened!

It's now called Captain White Place.

:( that's me, even sadder now.

The link contains a lot of the highlights of the city, btw.
posted by kamylyon at 9:23 PM on October 21, 2004

Response by poster: Thanks, all, especially the link bounty from jessamyn! Very helpful. This is my first trip to the NE (outside of several Boston visits) - I'm really looking forward to it.
posted by yoga at 11:05 PM on October 21, 2004

Hopefully it wont snow on you :)
posted by kamylyon at 12:03 AM on October 22, 2004

Pure Pop is still there and right around the corner from the Three Needs. If you like really good record/CD stores it's the best. Up where I live [colder than Burlington] it snowed last weekend, but I haven't seen snow since.
posted by jessamyn at 5:56 AM on October 22, 2004