Burlington, Vermont & Sudbury, Massachusetts

Note:  This is a "blast from the past" post as we work our way backwards to catch you up on our previous destinations.

Visited Oct. 10-13 (Burlington, VT) & Oct. 14-16, 2020 (Sudbury, MA)

By Janell

This is the final leg of our "New England in the Fall" adventure (something I had always wanted to do), which we explored with Marty's sister, Mary Hronicek. 

 

This is Burlington:

 

Burlington, VT is a "college town", and Church Street is the hub of its shopping district. People-watching there is probably not an uncommon pass-time, but usually it's probably people-watching-people. Marty spotted this husky peering down at the sidewalk sale from the second floor window. Since we saw her there on more than one occasion, it's probably safe to say it's a favorite hobby of hers!

The husky is peering from the open window, fourth from the right

 

 

We pedaled the Island Line Trail section of the Burlington Bike Path, which goes alongside Lake Champlain. This path includes riding along the causeway. We took the Local Motion bike ferry across "the cut" to South Hero Island; riding 23 miles in total. It was a fun adventure!

 

 

The three of us are just starting out on a brisk autumn day

The start of the causeway where we pedaled out to "the cut"

Why "The Cut"?

Before the Island Line Rail Trail was a bike and recreation path, the Island Line Railroad ran along its length from Rutland to Montreal. A swing bridge was built near the north end of the line to allow the train to cross the gap in the Causeway. Employees lived in a house at the base of the bridge to open and close the bridge to boat traffic as needed, allowing it to pass through to and from Mallet’s Bay and Lake Champlain. When the railroad was dismantled the bridge also came down, leaving a 200-foot gap in the Causeway. This gap came to be known as “the Cut.” 

Waiting for the bike ferry to cross "the cut"

 

Mary had opted to turn around at this point and not take the ferry.

 

Our ferry is here! Let's go!

Somebody was just as excited as we were to ride the ferry!

 

We didn't stay long at South Hero. We pedaled around a bit, munched the snacks we'd brought, and then headed back to the ferry.

 

Our snack spot

 

The return ferry

Pedaling back to Burlington on the causeway

 Back in Burlington

 

 

A pretty view of Lake Champlain from the bike trail

 

The next day we took an afternoon cruise aboard the Spirit of Ethan Allen III on Lake Champlain.

 Those are some hardy souls out on the bow! We were inside the vessel enjoying cocktails.

 

 

Later that evening Marty won at Blokus with a perfect game! (Meaning, he was able to use all of his blue tiles.)

 

After we'd wrapped up our stay in Vermont we headed back to Mary's home in Sudbury, MA, a suburb of Boston. We spent just a few days there before leaving New England.

Sudbury's been around a long time! The zip code is 01776 - how cool is that?!

 

The Hroniceks have two kitties, Ziggy and Zoe. Zoe is a shy one, but here's Ziggy:

I was working on our Shutterfly album and left my computer unattended for a short time. Apparently Ziggy loves Shutterfly albums, and understandably he wanted to help me with the Sudbury page!

Once Zig's work on the Sudbury page was finished, he moved on to help Marty with his work - ever the helpful kitty!

 

The Hronicek's neighbor is very creative with her Halloween decor (she also teaches Taekwondo).

It was time to head south before the cold weather really hit!