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Burlington, VT

Burlington. Oh Burlington.  I could give you an excruciatingly detailed rundown of the time I spent in town, but I think I'll stick with the highlights: the food, the thrift stores, the water, the walkability of downtown, and the fantastic atmosphere.


If we ignore the weather, and the public transit (which is great but not big city great) Burlington could very well be the city for me.  It's friendly and cozy but still quiet and solitary when the mood strikes.  It's young and green, and while there is some great shopping, it's not the streets and streets of high end designer shops that have grown so tedious over the last couple of months.




Yes, there's the expected number of outdoor and activewear shops, but they're interspersed with restaurants, thrift stores, and bookshops.  Downtown isn't 5th Ave or San Fran's Union Square and I love that about it.  Despite not intending to do any serious shopping, Burlington had the best shopping of the summer.  The thrift shops were a total steal, and the bookstores had some of the best curated collections I have seen in awhile, not to mention the food.  I didn't dine in anywhere, Burlington is more of a slow food city, but I did peruse the the farmer's market and made a repeat visit to the coop which I'm absolutely in love with.

 


Aside from the shopping, I had a great time walking around.  We split most of the first day between downtown and the water, but the second day we ventured farther out in search of the world's largest filing cabinet.  And for the record, Becca, despite how much I know it would delight you, it wasn't my idea.  We did eventually find it, but more importantly wandering down Pine St we found a lot of really great shops selling everything from used clothes, to used and recycled furniture and home decor to some of the most unique and amazing smelling bagels I've ever come across.






In short it was an amazing trip.  If the above isn't enough to convince you, check out The Big Nazo Band who we were lucky enough to see twice at the Festival of Fools.  If you were wondering, yes, moments of audience participation/parading were both thrilling and slightly terrifying.

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