Leaf Peeping in Vermont

After a great trip to DC, I headed up north to visit my friend Emily in Burlington and do a little leaf peeping. I had never heard of leaf peeping before this trip and while I still think its an odd expression, the leaves are LEGIT and I had an awesome time.
My first day was all about those leaves so we headed out for a hike outside of Burlington. It was the perfect day with blue skies, warm weather and brilliant colors. Only one problem is that I'm a total klutz and rolled my ankle pretty bad on the hike- a popping sound when your ankle turns is not the best sign. I was a determined leaf peeper (saying that as much as possible in this blog post) so we soldiered on which wasn't hard to do with that stunning scenery around us. After getting our fill of leaves, we stopped for a quick bite to fuel up at Prohibition Pig - great design, delicious food and tons of good beer options. After getting back into Burlington, we took a walk along the shore of Lake Champlain and grabbed a tea at the very cute Maglianero Cafe (conveniently staffed by a very cute barista dude) before I gave in and laid on the couch with my foot up. Emily's sweet and adorable cat Omar was willing to keep me and my swollen ankle company on the couch if I kept the belly rubs coming.

Emily had to get some work done on my second day but insisted I visit Shelburne Farms  and I'm so glad she recommended it! After a delicious brunch at Penny Cluse Cafe, I headed out to the farm. First off, the barn is stunning and full of cool architectural details. The animals are adorable and I could not get enough of the little calves Nancy and Nellie - I mean those faces (pretend I know how to insert the heart eyed smiley face emoji here). I even got to milk a cow! And right next door you get to see how they make cheese- it's a working dairy farm after all, pretty cool to see plus they have a bunch of delicious cheese samples mmm :-). After I got tired of playing with the animals (JK- I would never tire of that, but families with small children wanted a turn and it would be rude to hog them all), I headed out for a walk around the property. It was a peaceful walk (the light rain kept others away) and the best part was walking along the water near the inn- seriously pretty. After I got back into Burlington that evening, the rain really started coming down but eased up enough to walk downtown for a delicious dinner at Pizzeria Verita with Emily.

Not a headless turkey- he was just resting or scratching is back but this 'headless' pic made me laugh so blog worthy it is!

I only had a few hours on my last day, so I spent it wandering around Church Street Marketplace and grabbing a bite to eat at The Farmhouse Tap & Grill.  Then I headed on over to the gorgeous University of Vermont to catch my Megabus to Boston (for only $7!!). I loved my quick Vermont trip thanks to my awesome host/guide Emily and can't wait to go back!