Burlington, VT
During late fall, as Thanksgiving approaches, the weather's steadily getting colder and the trees are looking more and more bare each day. Having forfeited a break over summer, I decided to take off the week of Thanksgiving and go on a sojourn up north, taking in Burlington (located in Vermont), Buffalo, Niagara Falls, and Syracuse, these latter three being in upstate New York. As a workmate commented, these places were a somewhat "random" selection, but ultimately the thing they all had in common was that they were all about as different as you could get from Atlanta - in terms of climate, scenery and attitude. I've been sitting on 350 or so photos from the week away, and have been meaning to post some of them up ever since I got back, now well over a month ago.
The state of Vermont is one of several that make up part of the "region" in the very north-east of the U.S. known as New England. Vermont is fairly rural and well known (aside from being the home of Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream) for its "foliage" season - that period during the fall when all the leaves are changing colour. Hence, during this time of year, Vermont attracts plenty of visitors who come to see the rich reds, golds and browns, that are particularly spectacular in this part of the country. As the cab driver told me on the way from the airport, locals think of the fall as having two parts: "foliage" followed by "sticks and twigs". My visit fell right in the middle of the latter, which funnily enough, didn't detract from the area's natural beauty.
Burlington is really a college town, and if not for the younger folk attending the university, would be even more sleepy. It sits on Lake Champlain, at the foot of the Appalachian Mountains. The nice thing about the city centre covering such a small area is that this makes Burlington very pedestrian-friendly - a nice change from Atlanta where a car is pretty much crucial in order to get around. Having said that, I was grateful for the sturdy walking shoes I'd bought for the trip - if I was relying only on my runners, I definitely would have gone for several sixers during my stay. Although there's certainly a degree of romance to waking up and seeing all white outside your window, then trotting out on the footpath all rugged up like a snowman, snow sure does make things slippery, but pretty nonetheless.
With its many bars, coffee shops, restaurants and the Church St Marketplace at the centre of town - the latter being completely closed off to traffic, perhaps about the same size as Bourke St Mall - Burlington is a nice place to unwind and explore on foot.
The University of Vermont, located at the top of Main Street, is an interesting precinct to check out, in part because of the neat rows of fraternity and sorority houses in the area, not to mention some of the beautiful old buildings on the campus itself. Before coming to the States, I always thought the whole fraternity/sorority thing was some sort of myth, and not nearly as important as it's made out to be in all those B-grade college movies of the '80s - looking at some of these palatial dwellings made me shudder - all I could think of was how much effort it'd take to clean up such a big place after some wild frat party...
Last April, a girl I used to work with was visiting Burlington scouting out potential places to work after finishing her degree. Being someone who liked to be amongst a hub of activity, she was worried that Burlington would be too quiet. Having been there, I can see her point. It is a sleepy town, but I guess if you're in search of some peace and quiet, this would suit you just fine.
The state of Vermont is one of several that make up part of the "region" in the very north-east of the U.S. known as New England. Vermont is fairly rural and well known (aside from being the home of Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream) for its "foliage" season - that period during the fall when all the leaves are changing colour. Hence, during this time of year, Vermont attracts plenty of visitors who come to see the rich reds, golds and browns, that are particularly spectacular in this part of the country. As the cab driver told me on the way from the airport, locals think of the fall as having two parts: "foliage" followed by "sticks and twigs". My visit fell right in the middle of the latter, which funnily enough, didn't detract from the area's natural beauty.
Burlington is really a college town, and if not for the younger folk attending the university, would be even more sleepy. It sits on Lake Champlain, at the foot of the Appalachian Mountains. The nice thing about the city centre covering such a small area is that this makes Burlington very pedestrian-friendly - a nice change from Atlanta where a car is pretty much crucial in order to get around. Having said that, I was grateful for the sturdy walking shoes I'd bought for the trip - if I was relying only on my runners, I definitely would have gone for several sixers during my stay. Although there's certainly a degree of romance to waking up and seeing all white outside your window, then trotting out on the footpath all rugged up like a snowman, snow sure does make things slippery, but pretty nonetheless.
With its many bars, coffee shops, restaurants and the Church St Marketplace at the centre of town - the latter being completely closed off to traffic, perhaps about the same size as Bourke St Mall - Burlington is a nice place to unwind and explore on foot.
The University of Vermont, located at the top of Main Street, is an interesting precinct to check out, in part because of the neat rows of fraternity and sorority houses in the area, not to mention some of the beautiful old buildings on the campus itself. Before coming to the States, I always thought the whole fraternity/sorority thing was some sort of myth, and not nearly as important as it's made out to be in all those B-grade college movies of the '80s - looking at some of these palatial dwellings made me shudder - all I could think of was how much effort it'd take to clean up such a big place after some wild frat party...
Last April, a girl I used to work with was visiting Burlington scouting out potential places to work after finishing her degree. Being someone who liked to be amongst a hub of activity, she was worried that Burlington would be too quiet. Having been there, I can see her point. It is a sleepy town, but I guess if you're in search of some peace and quiet, this would suit you just fine.
posted by yossarian | 10:11 AM
2 Comments:
Wow those sorority houses certainly look respledent and I also shudder to think of the destruction after frat parties or initiation rites. Weird!
The little town centre looks deserted! What a shame. A perfect place to retire, just not too close to those sorority houses. They look amazing though .
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