Burlington

As I was downloading pictures from our boat trip, I came across a bunch of pictures that I took last week when I accompanied Marc up to Burlington. As you might remember from this post Marc's company has an office up in Burlington and occasionally he has to go up there for work. I have been lucky enough to be able to join him for both of these trips which means I get to spend the day exploring Burlington.

On my last trip I explored Oakledge Park which has both the earth clock and the forever young tree-house. I also made a trip to Costco and explored Church Street. This time around I knew I would be returning to Costco because heck, what's a trip to Burlington without a trip to Costco? I also had to run an errand for Marc, but the rest of the day was mine, all mine.

My first stop was Lake Champlain Chocolates for a tour of their chocolate making facility. It was really interesting to see their small factory and learn more about the process the chocolate goes through. This is a picture of their entire facility from the viewpoint of their store. To the right there is a long machine that can make and package 50,000 pieces per shift. This is usually where they make their bars of chocolate. On the left we could watch workers hand painting and molding chocolates. .

The lady here is hand painting the frog molds behind a wheel of white chocolate. She would dip her finger into the chocolate, smear it onto a specific part of the mold and then repeat. I think the guy behind her was in the process of boxing truffles.

After sampling the chocolates I headed out to Costco for some shopping and lunch. I didn't realize that Costco offered an Italian sausage sandwich at their snack bar but they do and it was absolutely delicious. Afterwards I had a few hours to kill before Marc was done with work so headed to the edge of Lake Champlain. Near Marc's office they have swinging bench seats you can sit on and admire the water. I did this for a good 45 minutes with this view.

Then I walked along the bike bath around parts of the lake. I did this for the rest of the time that I had before I had to pick Marc up. It was such a beautiful day.

After collecting Marc we headed out of town to meet up with Marc's cousin Christine and her husband Dave for dinner. They are the relatives who probably live the closest to us but, with both of our busy schedules, it's been hard to find a time to get together. Thankfully we were able to coordinate schedules and enjoyed a delicious meal together at the Harrington House Inn.

Side view mirror view as we were leaving Burlington