My Van Life: Day 34
Thursday, August 12, 2021
Burlington, VT - Portland, ME
I’m not sure if we got the best night’s sleep considering we closed our eyes at 2:30am this morning but nevertheless we slept. At this point that’s all I can ask for. Since we arrived when it was dark last night not only did we not really get the chance to see the rest stop but we didn’t really see much of the surrounding area either. Well imagine our eyes when we woke up this morning to find not only a stunningly beautiful rest stop but an absolutely beautiful Burlington, VT!
I did a little bit of research on those must-see destinations in the Burlington area (aside from Ben and Jerry’s of course) and found that numerous activities seem the most fun for fall shenanigans and not so much summertime vibes. I mean farms, fall foliage, maple everything, flannel, it’s a fall kind of town for sure. Speaking of flannel, we did drive into the little downtown area and checked out The Vermont Flannel Company. It’s a small store located on Church Street which is quite similar to a 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica except smaller and the icky, touristy vibes aren’t as strong.
Despite the 90 degree temps your girl picked up the CUTEST flannel and I cannot wait to show it off this fall and winter when the temps finally do cool down. They have an incredible selection of flannel and I would definitely recommend making a stop here when in Vermont. I mean it's The Vermont Flannel Company - you kind of have to!
Today was a bit of a complicated day as I had nothing but meetings. Meeting after meeting after meeting. While we shopped a bit in the morning before my West Coast teammates were even up, we had to find somewhere to post up for a while pretty quickly. After driving aimlessly for a bit we ended up stumbling upon Burlington High School which had a big wide open, multi-tiered parking lot. When we first arrived this morning there was a decently strong breeze but that quickly died off leaving us sweating once again. As you know, I hate being in places where I feel like I don’t belong or am not allowed (it's the rule follower in me) and while not a single person bothered us after working there for 6+ hours, I just had this pent up nervousness. I hate it! I want to allow myself to relax because even if someone does come up to us and say we can't be there, we pack up, we leave, end of story. But I get so anxious about it I’m on edge the entire time a car or person or anything goes by. I’m trying to get better but I’m not sure it’s working just yet.
After our work day we went back into town for the crowning jewel of the day – Ben and Jerry’s!! The shop itself is SO cute and it’s on that sweet little shopping street (Church Street) as I mentioned but I have to say, flavor wise we had more and better options when we were in Napa, CA at the shop there. Plus, the size of the scoops compared to the Napa location – I mean come ON! Give me a full SCOOP, people! Nevertheless we checked that one off the bucket list. Apparently the original B&J’s doesn’t exist as it’s been torn down but the present scoop shop is just around the corner from the original location which is still pretty cool. The Waterbury Ben and Jerry's Factory was closed for tours and the gift shop (ugh, the best part!) but that’s okay, we likely wouldn’t have been able to visit with Coco anyway.
We spent a little time walking around downtown but it was SO sticky and humid (I really had faith I was going to be escaping it this far east) that we headed back to the car after ice cream was finished and we were ready to bounce back into the AC. After work and ice cream we decided to make the drive to Portland, Maine! Surprise surprise it’s still hot as heck here and there’s still a heat advisory. Can I get just a LITTLE break here, people? I’m looking forward to opening my eyes in the morning though. I think it’s going to be just as spectacular as opening our eyes yesterday in Burlington, VT.