Weekend with the Parents

Sorry for not posting when I said I would.  I'm a bad bad blogger.  Oh well.  Who reads this thing anyway?  

I was a bit too busy to post over the weekend because my parents collected me on Friday and we set off for a whirlwind tour of Burlington and the surrounding area.  The first day was really amazing...we stopped off to look at Shelburne Farms.  It's this GARGANTUAN estate built by a man who had married into Vanderbilt money (you know, the family with the railroads).  You walk into the Farm Barn and it feels like you're entering the courtyard of a medieval castle, complete with turrets and a bell tower.  It was utterly gorgeous.  The first thing we did was get a snack...a veggie platter with fresh little carrots, baby beets, and radishes from their garden, homemade hummus, their fresh baked bread, and Shelburne farms' cheddar.  "Wow," is all I can say about that.  After we finished, we went and looked at the animals, including a colossal brown swiss cow.  I could have sworn she was part elephant.  I am going to have pictures of lots of these things, but I haven't received them yet.  

We drove around some of the property and saw this Hummer:

Which made us laugh.  

For dinner that night we ate at American Flatbread in Burlington...it was delicious.  They use all local and organic ingredients whenever possible, so I felt good about throwing my veganism to the winds.  We buy their pizza at Whole Foods, and it was really exciting to eat at the actual restaurant.

  

Saturday was the Burlington Farmer's Market, and it was AMAZING.  There was a ton of produce, especially strawberries and lovely greens.  I bought some rainbow chard and garlic hummus (from a vendor called "Chick Peace").  Then we met this guy, Dylan, who is a sort of family friend type dude...it's complicated.  Anyway, we know him, and he has an organic vegetable farm called "Digger's Mirth."  Isn't that a great name?  Doesn't that just invoke images of the earth laughing up vegetables?  I like it.  Dylan took us to the farm and gave us a little tour.  It was beautiful, and really interesting.  And he gave me some adorable little carrots!  I took some pictures...

  

We had reservations for Black Sheep Bistro in Vegennes, because it was highly recommended by Hannah and Greg.  It was far away but worth it.  There was a lot to see on the way down and the town of Vegennes is very quaint.  I got curried asparagus soup and a spinach beet salad.  Mmmm.  Oh, and Ben and Jerry's for dessert!  Cinnamon Buns ice cream in a kid cone.

For breakfast today we went to a crepe place called The Skinny Pancake.  The place was very cute, and had the potential to be delicious, had I not ordered something vegan.  Who orders something uncheesy in a crepe place?  That was dumb.  Ah, well.  I'll know for next time.  

And then it was time to go!  

And now I'm watching the Olympic Trials, angry that I'm not at home in the stands.  Grrrr.