I flew out on Wednesday morning and spent pretty much the whole day traveling. There are definitely no direct flights form Salt Lake to Burlington so I had a layover in Newark and there was lots of weather there. I didn’t end up getting in until 12:30am. So my trip in Vermont really starts on Thursday!

Day 1: We stayed the night in a hotel in Burlington since I got in so late. Because we were in town we went to breakfast with my brother at Sneakers in Winooski. Apparently it is usually very crowded but we got there just at the right time and I was really glad we went because they had some amazing vegetarian options. I feel like there are often only a couple of veg options on menus but there were so many options! From there we dropped my brother at his class (he goes to UVM) and went to Church street to check out Crow Bookshop (of course). On our drive to Middlebury we stopped to taste maple syrup at the Dakin Farm store (so delicious and I highly recommend it). My uncle works at Middlebury College so we met at the school to see his office and then his house. We all drove to Snake Mountain for an absolutely beautiful hike. The drive was gorgeous and the hike was even more spectacular. We drove back to town and had dinner at Two Brother’s.

Day 2: Our second day started with pastries from Otter Creek Bakery and homemade breakfast. We spent the day driving around and stopping at orchard’s for cider donuts and apples. Vergennes was the first top (such a quaint town) and then we went to Boyer’s Orchard (amazing donuts). We drove around the countryside for a while longer, enjoying the foliage and stopping at more orchards. From Bristol we took a drive up 17 toward Mad River Glen to really see all the leaves in full color. It was truly beautiful. We stopped back in Bristol for lunch at Bristol Cliffs Cafe. I think Bristol is the town I would want to go back and explore a little. It is tiny and would only take a couple of hours but the shops were so cute and we had to kind of rush back since my dad had a meeting at UVM. My mom and I checked into our hotel and then went down to the shop, Common Deer, to meet up with my brother. The rest of our family (uncles, cousins) met us at Foam for drinks. It is close to lake Champlain and the sunset was beautiful. I also just highly recommend Foam because they have a great atmosphere (and music!), lots of beers and some great local ciders. We ended the day with dinner at Daily Planet.

Day 3: We drove down to Perkins Pier in the morning to see my friend who was working a boating event. It was very random but I actually really enjoyed it! We stopped for breakfast at The Spot before really starting our day (great breakfast plus not too expensive and the breakfast burrito was amazing). The next stop was Shelburne Orchard for more fall adventures. This is by far the orchard with the most to do (of the ones we went to). There was bourbon tasting (so good), gorgeous views of the lake, donut ice cream sandwiches, tons of pumpkins and much more. We started with the bourbon tasting and then went to pick apples (they also have such a big picking area). Just before leaving with tried their cider donuts. From there we drove back to Burlington to watch the men’s UVM soccer game (fun to watch but I won’t talk too much about it). After refreshing at the hotel we headed to my brother’s fraternity house for their family weekend social. We finally made it to dinner at Bleu Northeast Seafood. That dinner was so fun and both the food and the service were probably the best of the trip.

Day 4: While the whole trip was amazing this was the day I was definitely the most sick. My mom and I met a friend of mine at Feldman’s Bagels for breakfast. They have a little bookshelf that made my day. We spent the rest of the morning/afternoon walking around downtown Burlington with my brother. There are some amazing stores. We ate lunch at The Farmhouse Tap and Grill (number one favorite place for brunch and right in Burlington). My mom’s flight was in the evening so we said goodbye to her and I drove to my friend’s house in Addison. That drive as absolutely gorgeous! I would really do it just for the drive. She lives right on Lake Champlain so while she had a dinner I got to enjoy the beautiful views!

Day 5: My last day in Vermont! Ahh I was so sad to leave. It is just such a beautiful place with so much local food and drink. I had a delicious breakfast with my friend before driving back to Burlington. I stopped along the way to pick up some things from Dakin Farm Store and to check out the Vermont Flannel Company. It was pretty so rainy! I headed back to spend some time with my brother before flying back to Salt Lake. I was able to eat at the Skinny Pancake in the airport before flying out. It was good but they hype gave me pretty high expectations so it was not my favorite.

Vermont is amazing and I definitely recommend visiting when you can! I would love to go back even without the foliage.

❤

Erin