I tried to find different bike trails in the area, but had a
hard time making a decision on which to choose.
It came down to just biking right around the Econo-Lodge where we found
a park. There was also a trail which was
close by, but it was more like a small path than a bike trail. We made a couple rounds of the park and then
headed back to the motel to get cleaned up and have some breakfast. I am so glad I bought instant espresso to add
to the weak coffee provided and I learned that you can microwave egg
whites. We are saving a lot of money by
eating breakfast out of the cooler. The
travel kit of spices my sister got me is coming in handy as well…thanks, Ams.
The breweries today may have tours if the brewers are on
site, but there are no guarantees. We’ll
see.
What a day! We headed to Olde Saratoga Brewing Company first. The website said that they opened at 11, but they did not open until noon. I am glad we did not get there any earlier. We showed up at quarter till noon, so only had a short wait. We also were not the first ones there; one couple was waiting when we arrived. When they did open the doors, we were impressed with the look of the place, but the server was grumpy. Apparently, they got a new head brew master recently, who does not allow tours, so many people show up and are disappointed and he has to deal with them. They do give free tastings, so Ty and I were perfectly happy. We’ve seen so many breweries; we are okay without touring every single one. Ty wore his Dogfish Head t-shirt, which spurred conversation with a group of people. We told them about our adventure and they told us about the breweries they have seen. That’s what I am looking for on this adventure; people to talk to about different beers and what breweries have good things to offer. We ended up buying a growler of their IPA for only $7. I was happy that they were more than willing to fill growlers from other breweries for no extra charge.
What a day! We headed to Olde Saratoga Brewing Company first. The website said that they opened at 11, but they did not open until noon. I am glad we did not get there any earlier. We showed up at quarter till noon, so only had a short wait. We also were not the first ones there; one couple was waiting when we arrived. When they did open the doors, we were impressed with the look of the place, but the server was grumpy. Apparently, they got a new head brew master recently, who does not allow tours, so many people show up and are disappointed and he has to deal with them. They do give free tastings, so Ty and I were perfectly happy. We’ve seen so many breweries; we are okay without touring every single one. Ty wore his Dogfish Head t-shirt, which spurred conversation with a group of people. We told them about our adventure and they told us about the breweries they have seen. That’s what I am looking for on this adventure; people to talk to about different beers and what breweries have good things to offer. We ended up buying a growler of their IPA for only $7. I was happy that they were more than willing to fill growlers from other breweries for no extra charge.
From Saratoga Springs, we headed to Middlebury, Vermont. I was very excited to get to the border, since
I’ve never been to Vermont. We had good
luck with traffic because most of the bad traffic was going in the opposite
direction for some reason. We passed an
outlet mall, and we were very happy to get passed that as soon as
possible. The drive was gorgeous the
entire way…although a little long to Middlebury. The check engine light is still on even
though we have used a fuel additive and the bad Canadian gas should be out…still,
the car tends to shudder when the air conditioning is on. Due to this, we are trying not use the AC
unless we start to collect pools of sweat.
We found the Drop In Brewery easily and were very happy to
use a restroom. The girl working there
was great! She really knew her brews and
told us about a Vermont Passport, which is a little document that you get
stamped as you travel to the different Vermont Breweries. If you reach 4, you get a beer opener magnet,
at 10, you get a “Drink Vermont” t-shirt, and if you get to all 27, you get a
collector’s set of Vermont “Beer Gear”, whatever that is. We decided to accept the challenge, but they
only had one passport left. We
originally thought we would visit 6, but with the incentive of a t-shirt,
decided to squeeze in a few more. What
added to the challenge was the fact that we were not going to be in Vermont for
long, and mostly on a Sunday. This made
our adventure for today much longer than expected. She told us about some places that we should
really check out in Burlington, which is where Magic Hat is located and we
planned on going to tomorrow, but instead found ourselves there tonight.
We planned on biking to Otter Creek from Drop In, but with the
new time constraints and the road conditions, we decided to drive. It was only 2.2 miles away, but I’m glad we
drove, since the street signs were really hard to follow, due to their absence
in several key places. Otter Creek did
not have free samples, but we were able to get six 4 ounce samples for $6.50,
which we shared. Yes, people, I do not drink
full pints as we are on this journey…that would be ridiculous! Ty on the other hand, would enjoy that very
much, but I reel him in and make him share little tasting glasses J Otter Creek has the best Wheat beer I have
ever tried! It did not taste like a
typical wheat, but instead had a subtle cinnamon flavor which I enjoyed. The other beers were okay. For a beer by beer analysis, you can find us
on Untappd. My username is Swil and Ty’s
is teddysalinger. They also had more passports, so I got one as well so I could
get my own t-shirt.
After Otter Creek, we headed back to Drop In so I could get
the passport stamped, and so that Ty could get some of the beer he wanted and
should have just bought in the first place. Then, we were going to check out
Fiddlehead, but upon recommendation of the Drop In chick, decided to go to
Bobcat Café and Brewery.
It was only a 5 mile detour from our original plan. We were able to get $2 samples of a few of their beers, which were pretty tasty. I enjoyed their Brown Ale, which had more bite than normal. The people there were also very nice. So far, people from Vermont have been very friendly. Ty has been collecting stickers from all the places which carry them and ended up getting one for free at the Bobcat. Most of the stickers have been free, but they charge a dollar. Ty asked for a sticker after we paid our bill and was reaching for his credit card, but the bar tender told him not to worry about it, and just gave it to him.
It was only a 5 mile detour from our original plan. We were able to get $2 samples of a few of their beers, which were pretty tasty. I enjoyed their Brown Ale, which had more bite than normal. The people there were also very nice. So far, people from Vermont have been very friendly. Ty has been collecting stickers from all the places which carry them and ended up getting one for free at the Bobcat. Most of the stickers have been free, but they charge a dollar. Ty asked for a sticker after we paid our bill and was reaching for his credit card, but the bar tender told him not to worry about it, and just gave it to him.
Next, we got back on the road to go to Fiddlehead, which was
the brewery I was looking forward to the most. We got to the brewery, which is
attached to a pizza place that is byob, so many people buy beer from the
brewery and then head over to the pizza place for food. We were disappointed to
find out that they only had two beers on tap at the time. They had one weak
Summer Ale and a decent IPA. Overall, not too impressive, but Ty got a couple
of stickers, so it was not a total loss; although he had to pay a dollar for
each one.
We then headed to Burlington to check out a few of the
places before turning in for the night. First, we went to Vermont Pub and Brewery,
but their menu and prices were so good, we decided to head to Zero Gravity
Brewery which is in a flatbread shop that got all of its ingredients from local
farmers. While the food smelled great,
we are not really pizza eaters, so we didn’t want to order food there. The IPA was okay, but Ty really enjoyed both
their cask IPA and a Peated IPA. I
thought it was disgusting, but then again, I do not enjoy peated scotch, so I
guess it is to be expected. We did enjoy
the company of some of the locals as well as some fellow travelers.
The Vermont Pub and Brewery came next, and I was so happy to
have chips and salsa as an appetizer and then we shared a flight of eight of
their brews. Overall, the beers were okay,
the best was the Plymouth Rock ESB, which was a collaboration between them and
Drop In, which we visited earlier. I had
a salad which was very reasonably priced and Ty had a chicken wrap. The wrap could have been more flavorful, but
was adequate to feed that belly full of beer.
Next came the fun part of finding accommodations for the night. We thought we might camp, but were hesitant
due to all the rain we have encountered as well as the absence of an air
mattress. We don’t want to wake up sore
and have to be on the road all day, so we stopped into a few places to inquire
about prices for rooms. The first place
looked quite shady. We could not find the
front office, and it appeared as though people lived in the facility. It also looked as though you could rent it by
the hour, so we decided to keep going.
Also, one of the vehicles in the parking lot did not have any windows,
but rather, a towel covering the window, so I think we made a good
decision. We saw on our way into town that
there were several options open to us, and we settled on the cheapest we could
get. We ended up finding a clean room
with a queen sized bed for $60. We got
free ice and free wifi, so I guess it worked out fine. We did have a lot to write about after
all.
We look forward to what shenanigans we will encounter
tomorrow on our quest through Vermont and into New Hampshire.
What a day!! Vermont sounds great.
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