{"id":15113,"date":"2011-01-04T04:19:01","date_gmt":"2011-01-04T09:19:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jasonangeliniphotography.com\/blog\/?p=15113"},"modified":"2015-04-07T14:24:31","modified_gmt":"2015-04-07T19:24:31","slug":"a-minivan-and-1500-miles-our-christmas-vacation-part-three-burlington-vt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jasonangeliniphotography.com\/blog\/2011\/01\/04\/a-minivan-and-1500-miles-our-christmas-vacation-part-three-burlington-vt\/","title":{"rendered":"A Minivan and 1500 Miles: Our Christmas Vacation (Part Three – Burlington, VT)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Continued from Our Christmas Vacation Parts One<\/a> and Two<\/a><\/em>:<\/p>\n

**DISCLAIMER:\u00a0 The pictures in this blog post are a mix of ones from Jason\u2019s camera and from our point and shoot.
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When Jason and I first started planning a winter family vacation we knew we needed to see snow.\u00a0 We love the cold weather and snow!\u00a0 We had been to New Hampshire a few years ago but only Jason had been to Vermont.\u00a0 He had photographed a wedding there and he loved the whole area.\u00a0 We decided to go see Vermont and we pulled up a map of the state on the internet.\u00a0 We weren’t all that concerned with finding the towns with the best tourist attractions.\u00a0 We just wanted to play in some snow!\u00a0 We started calling hotels in various towns in Vermont asking if they usually had enough snow on the ground to make a snowman the week before Christmas.\u00a0 If the place told us that there was no way to know, or that they did some years but not others, we would call a hotel in a place further north.\u00a0 Finally we called a hotel in Burlington, Vermont and the guy who answered said that though it was of course up to God they almost always had enough snow to play in around Christmas time.\u00a0 That was just the answer we were looking for and we decided on Burlington as the last stop in our trip.<\/p>\n

We were flying from Vermont back to Florida so the car ride from NYC to Burlington was the last long one of the trip.\u00a0 We spent most of it singing Christmas carols and A Charlie Brown Christmas<\/em> on the portable DVD player.\u00a0 We drove through beautiful snowy scenery and it made the trip go by quickly.<\/p>\n

Sunset in Burlington is just before 4:30pm but it seems like it starts getting dark around an hour before that.\u00a0 It is like the evening starts at at quarter til 4 in the afternoon!\u00a0 We arrived at the hotel after dark and there was definitely snow on the ground!\u00a0 We didn’t want to drive around exploring on the dark snowy roads so we picked up some dinner to eat at the hotel and spent more time together as a family.\u00a0 My sister said everything was perfect and she loved Vermont but the one thing she had hoped for was to see snow actually falling and not just on the ground.\u00a0 When we woke up the next morning it was snowing hard and it kept snowing the rest of our time there.\u00a0 It was beautiful.\u00a0 I could watch snow falling for hours!\u00a0 We got all bundled up and headed out to play in the snow.<\/p>\n

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Jason had recently photographed Emily and Ted’s wedding and they live in Vermont.\u00a0 When they heard we were going there Emily was nice enough to send us a ton of ideas for things to do and see in and around Burlington.\u00a0 It was so helpful and we used it our whole trip!\u00a0 She had recommended Battery Park as the best place to romp around in the snow and enjoy a pretty view of the lake and mountains.\u00a0 It was perfect!\u00a0 There was a play ground and a covered stage and benches overlooking the lake and best of all a ton of snow!\u00a0 Playing there with my family was my favorite part of the entire vacation.\u00a0 I think it was a favorite for all of us!\u00a0 It was exactly what we wanted out of our vacation.<\/p>\n

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Jason tried to convince my sister to put her tongue on the pole.\u00a0 Even after watching A Christmas Story just a few days early she was still about to do it until I told her not to!<\/p>\n

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Let the snowball fighting begin!\u00a0 Kids or parents, cold or not, our motto was Snow No Mercy!\u00a0 It was a Snownihilation!<\/p>\n

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Our oldest kept trying to walk far away but after a few tries I had some distance to my throws!<\/p>\n

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Just because they are down doesn’t mean they are done!\u00a0 Snow No Mercy!<\/p>\n

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Little brother running up to help out and rescue his big brother:<\/p>\n

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Snow angels:<\/p>\n

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It was my sister who got too cold first.\u00a0 She took our daughter into the car to warm up and soon after we all headed back to the hotel to change into dry clothes and eat.\u00a0 It had snowed so hard that there was almost a foot of snow in the hotel courtyard so after lunch we went outside there to play in the snow even more!\u00a0 Well, most of us did.\u00a0 We tried building a snowman but we couldn’t get past the base layer.\u00a0 Not only because we don’t have great snowman building skills but also because it was just too tempting for our preschooler to kick and knock over!\u00a0 Jason didn’t have his camera this time so the snow ball fight between him and I soon became a fierce snow battle complete with tackles and throw downs!\u00a0 I won of course, and despite what Jason would say it has nothing to do with the fact that he didn’t have any gloves on.\u00a0 Covered in snow head to foot, we headed inside.<\/p>\n

It was still snowing that night and once it got dark it was really cold!\u00a0 But we headed out to see Church Street, another recommendation from Emily and from all the online travel guides for Burlington.\u00a0 It is a downtown walking area with lots of shops and restaurants.\u00a0 The “streets” (though it is a pedestrian area closed to traffic) had garland and wreaths hanging in the air and there were lined with trees covered in tons of white lights.\u00a0 At the end of the street there was a big Christmas tree.\u00a0 It was definitely a Christmas scene!\u00a0 We had forgotten our point and shoot at the hotel so we could only get pictures with the cell phone which of course does not come out well in the dark, so here is a picture from the Church Street Marketplace website, www.churchstmarketplace.com<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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We walked the whole street and checked out some of the shops before we went to dinner.\u00a0 Emily said that the “ultimate, right here right now, this is what Vermont is all about, family dining experience” was at the Farmhouse Tap and Grill<\/a>.\u00a0 We are so glad she recommended it to us!\u00a0 The building used to be a McDonalds but was renovated by local designers and craftsmen into what they called a gastropub.\u00a0 They pride themselves on supporting local farms and using locally provided foods and almost everything on their menu was free range and grass fed.\u00a0 Their menu changes depending on what is in season and they list the farms where they get their food right on the wall in the restaurant.\u00a0 We ordered root beer and even that was brewed at the restaurant!\u00a0 Even the cheese on the kids’ grilled cheese sandwiches and mac and cheese dishes came from local Vermont farms!\u00a0 My sister had the corn cakes with mushrooms, wilted greens, and a buttermilk herb vinaigrette.\u00a0 I don’t know how they made something as simple as corn cakes taste so good but it was incredibly yummy!\u00a0 I tried to talk Jason into the rabbit just for some adventure but he settled on a venison burger.\u00a0 I am at all adventurous with food so I had a local grass fed beef burger.\u00a0 On the menu they even tell you which local farm your beef and cheese are coming from!\u00a0 I love that.\u00a0 The food was great, the atmosphere was great, and we got to experience some of Vermont food culture.<\/p>\n

Our flight the next day did not leave until that evening so we got an early start and set off to visit a few places just outside of Burlington.\u00a0 It was still snowing and we enjoyed the beautiful views as we drove.<\/p>\n

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Our first stop of the day was the Ben and Jerry’s factory in Waterbury.\u00a0 Ben and Jerry’s started in Burlington, Vermont in 1978 and is now international.\u00a0 But 70% of all of their production is still done in their two factories in Vermont.\u00a0 Supporting local Vermont family farms and using natural ingredients are important to their company.\u00a0 They use only cage-free eggs, the cows are not treated with growth hormones, they are fair trade certified, and they work to responsibly and sustainably source their ingredients and promote environmentally conscious business practices.\u00a0 We took a tour of the factory where their company really began and learned about their mission statement and how they put that into action.\u00a0 We didn’t find out until after we had already paid for the tour that the production room was closed for the holidays but we still got to see it.\u00a0 And most importantly the tour ended in the Flavoroom where we got to sample one of the new flavors, Peppermint Schtick!\u00a0 It is a limited batch available only in scoop shops and only until they run out because they are not making more.\u00a0 They told us that it was peppermint ice cream with fudge covered peppermint candy pieces and a peppermint swirl.\u00a0 I don’t like peppermint and there are only a couple flavors of ice cream in general that I actually like so it did not sound good to me.\u00a0 I almost didn’t even try it but I did and I loved it!\u00a0 It was the perfect ice cream for winter.<\/p>\n

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After the tour was finished we walked through the hall of the Top Ten Flavors and found our favorites.\u00a0 Then we stopped at the Scoop Shop to enjoy more ice cream!<\/p>\n

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After we left the Ben and Jerry’s factory we headed for another of Emily’s recommendations, a scenic drive to a covered bridge.\u00a0 Emily had warned us that the bridges were tucked away and the roads could be adventurous but we decided to give it a try and luckily the drive wasn’t bad at all!\u00a0 Holmes Creek Bridge is right on Lake Champlain and we stopped by the lake to take in the amazing view of the snow on the shore of this massive lake with freezing cold waves and the Adirondack mountains in the background.\u00a0 Wow.\u00a0 The historic covered bridge, the snow, the mountains, the peacefulness…THAT is Vermont.<\/p>\n

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The boys fell asleep during our drive to the bridge and when we left it was time to head to the airport.\u00a0 We drove right past the Vermont Teddy Bear Company Factory and Jason decided to run inside to see if there was anything there we could do that wouldn’t take much time.\u00a0 The next tour didn’t leave for a half an hour and they said it lasted around a half an hour as well.\u00a0 Other than the tour Jason said there wasn’t much to do there that you couldn’t do at any Build a Bear so we posed for a few pictures and left to catch our flight.<\/p>\n

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We had planned enough time to drop off the mini van, check our bags in, go through security, and have time to get some dinner before we boarded our flight.\u00a0 But when we went to check in we found out that our flight was delayed by hours and there was no way we’d make our connection.\u00a0 The only way to get us home for Christmas Eve was for us to catch an earlier flight which we barely had time to make and then connect in another city to a second flight with barely any time in between.\u00a0 We also had to quickly rearrange our luggage because one of our bags was one or two pounds over weight and after already having to pay for every single checked bag we refused to pay an additional fee for one or two extra pounds!\u00a0 Taking off kids’ coats and shoes and getting 6 people through security with camera equipment, portable DVD players, a stroller, a stocked diaper bag, and multiple carry ons is already stressful and now we were in a time crunch!\u00a0 But we made it in time to board the plane and we even got to sit near each other.<\/p>\n

We were all starving by the time that flight landed but we had to run to catch a connecting flight.\u00a0 There was no time for food and though Jason didn’t want to stop at the bathroom I was not going to risk having one of the kids need to go when the flight was taking off and we couldn’t get out of our seats.\u00a0 That was our only stop yet by the time we got to the gate they had been holding the flight for us.\u00a0 They rushed us into the plane letting us know that the plane was full and there were no seats for us or any room for our carry-ons.\u00a0 I was so proud of the kids for how terrific they were on that flight!\u00a0 I was tired and hungry and grumpy so I expected all of that from them too!\u00a0 Worse, Jason wasn’t sitting with me so I thought I’d be dealing with all of that and not have any help.\u00a0 Though they gate checked most of our carry ons our oldest had been holding his aunt’s DS so he played that for the entire flight.\u00a0 I had a portable DVD player in the diaper bag and that kept our middle son busy while I played with our daughter.\u00a0 We got back to Florida without incident and soon we were back home.<\/p>\n

It was wonderful to have time together as a family without the distractions of everyday life.\u00a0 That time and the memories you build is what a vacation is all about!\u00a0 We hope everyone else had a Christmas season filled with moments that will be your own terrific new memories as well.<\/p>\n

And we already miss the snow! \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Continued from Our Christmas Vacation Parts One and Two: **DISCLAIMER:\u00a0 The pictures in this blog post are a mix of ones from Jason\u2019s camera and from our point and shoot. When Jason and I first started planning a winter family vacation we knew we needed to see snow.\u00a0 We love the cold weather and snow!\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42,229],"tags":[35,1017],"class_list":["post-15113","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-our-family","category-travel","tag-point-and-shoot","tag-vermont"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jasonangeliniphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15113","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jasonangeliniphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jasonangeliniphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jasonangeliniphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jasonangeliniphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15113"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/www.jasonangeliniphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15113\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44219,"href":"https:\/\/www.jasonangeliniphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15113\/revisions\/44219"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jasonangeliniphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15113"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jasonangeliniphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15113"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jasonangeliniphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}