Once again we made our annual pilgrimage to our camp on Lake Champlain in Vermont, but this year we flew the kids up early to visit their grandparents so the wife and I could enjoy a few days in downtown Burlington.

For those of you unfamiliar with Vermont, it's pretty magical. Technically there are no cities, although Burlington does swell to over 50,000 residents when college is in session. So, checking in to the Wyndham, the ONLY downtown hotel, we were treated to this standard city view from our room window. (!)

The next morning we awoke to  rush hour (this street was totally gridlocked),  
 
so we decided to walk.

The place to go in Burlington is Church street. The entertainment can't be beat, although you need to watch who you talk to.  Slackwire Sam was a class act. For a street performer, he was top notch.

Most of the  locals were more interested about who was looking at them, but not all of them. One of this things that amazed me (coming from Northern Virginia, the holy land of franchises), was the vibrant  local  business scene. Vermonters are still as independent as they were 230 years ago.  

The wife and I enjoyed the local food as well as the color (This was one of our favorites) , but there's nothing that can compare to the joy of publicly reading Foreign Policy Magazine 600 miles from Washington!!