I’ve been thinking about where you could visit Vermont and truly leave your car behind.  In fact, you could visit this place even if you didn’t have a car.  One such place would be Burlington, Vermont.  Burlington just happens to have two nice hotels right downtown within easy walking distance of the waterfront, Church Street Marketplace, and public transportation.  There is a new Marriott Hotel and a newly renovated Hilton right next door.  You could take a cab from the airport and then be all set for a short or long stay at one of these places.  There are shops and restaurants galore in downtown Burlington.  You could rent a bike and take a ride on the lakeside bike path.  You could even rent a canoe or kayak at the Burlington Boat House and explore Lake Champlain.  If you want a bigger adventure, you could take a Lake Champlain Ferry across to New York state to explore.

I have two secrets for you today!  Skiing in March is great.  We have our best snow and the temperature hovers around the 30’s.  Second, my ski area, Bolton Valley, has some great deals.   If you buy season passes for next year, you can begin using them this year.  Full passes for a family of four are only $1,199 – for the whole family! This mountain is about 30 minutes away from Burlington, has good snowmaking, and has over 40 trails.  Check them out!  Now I am going to end this post and go skiing myself!

Watching paint dry is boring.  Watching ice melt is exciting!  At least at Joe’s Pond in West Danville where they don’t actually watch the ice melt, they bet on when it will melt.  Jules Chatot, who was the president of the Joe’s Pond Association back in 1988 took a guessing game among friends to the next level by starting a contest that has grown to having 9000 participants from around the world.  The ‘unofficial” web site of the Joe’s Pond Association explains how Jules and his friends started the contest – “They placed an old electric clock (now estimated to be at least 40 years old) on Homer and Elsie Fitts’ deck, tethered it to a cinder block wired to a wooden pallet placed 50 feet or more out on the ice just off the fishing access by the Fitts’ camp, and there it was—the perfect solution to inevitable arguments about when the ice was actually out of all the nooks and crannies and coves of the pond. When the block went down, the clock stopped, and that was it—the “official” ice-out time. Whoever guessed closest to the date and time the clock stopped won the contest.” You can buy tickets for this contest until April 1st.  This is spring time excitement in Vermont!

Today was the last day of skiing at my local ski area – Bolton Valley.  It really was a great day of skiing with temps in the high 40’s.  Lots of people were out to take advantage of the last day.  Some were in shorts, t-shirts, and even in costumes.   Don’t worry if you still want to ski as the big ski areas will stay open through the rest of this month.  It’s not too early to think about ski passes for next year.  A family of four can ski at Bolton Valley for around $1200 next year.

Considering that I was skiing a few weeks ago, it was a nice treat to be walking in Waterfront Park in Burlington with 80 degree temperatures.  This beautiful little park is at the bottom of College Street right at the lake front. With restaurants, the Echo Lake Aquarium, and the Burlington Boat House, this is a great place to start exploring Lake Champlain.  My wife and daughter joined me for brunch at the Skinny Pancake, a creperie with a wide assortment of sweet and savory crepes. We then took a walk along the waterfront.  This was a nice way to celebrate a real spring day in Vermont (even though I still have a big pile of dirty snow blocking my basement doors at home).

Spring is in full swing in Vermont.  I think any time is a great time to visit Vermont but there are a few things you should think about before planing some outdoor activities at this time of year.  If you are planning on taking a hike, you should know that most hiking trails are closed until Memorial Day. Lots of snow in the mountains means trails stay wet.  Hiking on wet trails leads to more erosion.  The Green Mountain Club does have some recommendations for hikers on their web site.

Wet trails is one reason for staying out of the woods, another reason is black fly season.  If you don’t live in the North East, you might not know about these little buggers who really have annoying bite.  Black fly season last from Mother’s Day until Father’s Day.  To avoid black flies you should avoid the woods.  Wearing a hat and long sleeved shirts helps too.  I know this advice might not entice you to visit in May or early June, but you really shouldn’t worry.  Just plan your activities and you will be fine.

What would you like to know about visiting Vermont?  This is what I was thinking about as I did a mini-interview of a farmer for my Farmer’s Market podcast episode.  My Secret Vermont is your travel guide so tell me what you would like to have in it.  Do you want me to visit a farm, a fancy bed and breakfast, a lake, a mountain?  Let me know and it will be part of this web site and my podcast!

Just a quick post this time. I just posted a podcast about watching baseball games while visiting Vermont.  Here are the baseball links from the show:
Vermont Mountaineers
Vermont Lake Monsters

My green tip for the week was about buying bio-diesel in Vermont.  That link is:
Vermont Biofuels Association

This week I talk with Jonathan Wahl of Vermont’s Green Mountain Club.  Click the podcast link on the left to hear more.  Hiking is a great way to visit Vermont.  There are easy hikes and rigorous hikes.  You can take a day hike or hike the state from end to end.  The Green Mountain Club is a great source for all kinds of information about hiking in Vermont.  You can also visit Jonathan’s web site to hear his own podcasts about hiking in Vermont. (photo credit to longdistancehiker on Flickr)

Scenic Drive from Bennington to Manchester Vermont is a Podcast
Bennington Battle Monument  After a little delay, my day job as a school principal is getting busy!  I recorded the Secret Scenic Drive from Bennington to Manchester as a podcast today.  Click on my podcast link or on the podcast player to give it a listen.  Are there more places you would like to drive to?  Drop me an e-mail and let me know – you can be part of My Secret Vermont! (photo credit to WalkingGeek on Flickr)