American Traveler

Thursday: New vegetarian Lauren loves Quizno’s veggie sub as her roadfood choice of the day. Nice room at the Hilton Garden Inn on South Broadway in Saratoga.

Friday: Shrink-wrapped cinnamon bun and black coffee for breakfast. Took Mom to lunch at Uncommon Ground in Saratoga. She had gumbo. Lauren had carrot soup and a salad. I went for the tuna salad on Jalapeno bagel. Yum! We made the mistake of taking Mom to Ocean State Job Lots on the way home. But she wasn’t the one who was the problem. It was Lauren, and well, i suppose me too. We walked out of this dollar-store-on-steroids $111 lighter. The whole store was snickering as Lauren and I bickered over what to buy and what to leave behind. Best purchase: two down pillows for $10. worst purchase: all of those (albeit somewhat healthy) snacks. Then it was on the road to Vermont—with a stop at the Lake George outlets: Polo Ralph Lauren; Gap; J. Crew; etc…

Arrived in cloudy Burlington around 6:00 and headed straight for the Hilton. Never stayed there; knew it only as what it used to be: a Radisson. Normally, I go cheap when staying in town, out in the ‘burbs somewhere, but decided to do it up this time. Glad i did. The view Lake Champlain from our room was spectacular. I had spent some 20 years in Burlington, but never saw it quite like that. Met Zea and Nick as Asana for dinner. I had the tuna steak and a salad. it was delish. Then we went to Red Square to hear one of my old time favorites, the Grippo Band. Spent many a winter night listening to them with Shep. Emme and Shawn met us there and we stayed for a couple of fantastic sets.

Saturday we played tourists. First, Shelburne Farms for a Sheep demo, then Magic Hat for a brewery tour, then Champlain chocolate where we stumbled into a chocolate tasting. Met the kids at the Inn at Essex for a drink, said good bye to Emme and Shawn who were headed back to Boston; then back to Burlington for Dinner at a waterfront Mexican Place, name of which escapes me. Oh, wait, I almost forgot: Breakfast at Penny Cluse.Wow. Had an omelet with local ramps and goat cheese, home fries. So good!

Finally, Sunday, we ended the weekend at the ultimate Vermont tourists facility: The Ben & Jerry’s factory. It was, as one of the guides said, a mooooo-ving experience.