9/13/18 Burlington, VT - Brewery Tour

It appears that we can't get enough of the Island Line. Lake Champlain is so picturesque and the trail so available from our campground. Today we've decided to spin out onto the lake causeway one more time and then head south to visit breweries near the trail.

On the southern end of the Island Line, there is a Stonehenge replica created by a local Stonehenge expert, described as an exact scale model.

Triker among the stones...

And some boulders turned into art a bit further down...

Once we reach the southernmost reach of the Island Line today, it's on to the breweries... We selected three breweries based on trail proximity. However, travelers need to be flexible. We had planned to start at Magic Hat Brewing, the only one near the trail that ships beer to California. The last mile or so is down a busy highway that Google Maps shows as having a bike lane. Unfortunately, Google Maps isn't aware of road construction and so the busy highway was squeezed down to narrow lanes and no shoulder. 

We opted for plan B and head to the next brewery on our list, Switchback Brewing Company, where we eat our PB&J in their taproom along with a flight. Leslie gives a trike test ride to a husband and wife from upstate New York. The wife has balance issues as a result of her MS and was very excited about the trike as a way to stay active. 

Based on the map, Zero Gravity Brewing is also within striking distance of the Island Line. We find that it too is on a narrow busy street, so we opt for a run down the sidewalk on the other side of the street where we discover ANOTHER brewery, Queen City Brewing, so we pop in for a quick flight and a hot pretzel in their parking lot/beer garden.  

Since Zero Gravity Brewing is nearly directly across the street, we meander our way over there to enjoy ANOTHER flight of beer, along with some free popcorn and a couple of rounds of Qwirkle. This time Paula wins one and Leslie wins one.

Lucky for us, trikes do not require balance. We decide that we should move on before dark, and  climbed back into the saddle. We had intended to stop at Foam Brewers on our way back since they are smack dab on the trail. However, we were forced to admit that three flights should probably be our limit and we rode on past and back to North Beach Campground.

Burlington certainly loves its beer.