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Burlington, Vermont – Home of Champ
- Kayla Marker
- Jul 20, 2022
- 3 min read
If you read our blog from last week, then you already know that we’ll be talking about Lake Champlain’s very own Loch Ness Monster, Champ or Champy! But before that, I’ll tell you how it came to be that we ventured to Burlington.
Dakota and I went to Plattsburgh, New York to visit my friend Emily. She showed us around Plattsburgh and parts of the Adirondacks (ADK). Because we decided to cancel the rest of our East Coast Road Trip, we decided that one of our days with Emily we would all venture over the lake to Burlington for the day.
To get to Burlington, there are two options. One, you can venture north on I-87 practically all the way to Canada and cross the border into Vermont (from NY), or you can take the ferry from Plattsburgh. We decided to take the ferry, and it was my first time on one, ever! Now, it’s a bit expensive, so if you have to travel this every day for work it’s a bit ridiculous, however for the day it made much more sense to do this than to drive extra, we don’t have any time to waste! The ferry was neat, and a bit nerve wracking. You are packed on there like sardines. Emily was telling us stories she knew from other people who had been on it in the winter when the waves were crashing onto the ferry – no thanks! Luckily though after about 15 minutes we were back on land.
Burlington is a bustling college town that sits right off Lake Champlain. We first walked around Church Street; basically, their main street that is a few blocks long and is lined with shops and restaurants. And, in true city-fashion, much of it all was too expensive for our wallets. But its nice to dream! We accidentally parked at a 30-minute meter, so we had to go back to the car and move a few streets down. It really all worked out for the best because we were closer to the waterfront where we spent a lot of time.
The Burlington waterfront is a little busier than Plattsburgh, and in my opinion more scenic because you are able to get the Adirondack mountains in the background while looking at Lake Champlain. We spent some time walking around down here, watching the water, people watching, and we even found the Lake Champlain Science Center that was on the recent Expedition X episode we watched about Champy. This is really geared towards kids, but we had a fun time walking around the outside and admiring all of the Champy themed items, even though they are a bit commercialized.
No one is really sure what Champy is, or if it even exists at all. Lake Champlain once used to be connected to the Atlantic Ocean, so many think that something that would originally be in salt water got stuck in the lake. Some people believe it belongs to the alligator family (??) or the dolphin family (??). I truly have no idea. But a lot of people seem to think that they have seen it and it is real. A lot of people see waves bigger than they have ever seen in the Lake that could have only come from Champy. A lot of people believe that Champy is nocturnal and that’s why no one ever sees it, or that he is a bottom feeder and perhaps that is why it is never seen. Who knows, but it is fun to think about! Do you have any ideas on what Champy is? If you do, let us know in the comments!
After we had our fix of Lake Champlain, we walked back to Church Street where we grabbed a quick lunch and spent some more time going in and out of some shops, one of them being the Lake Champlain Chocolate Company. Emily and I got Maple Shakes, because well, what else would you get in Vermont!
Our last stop in Burlington was to Dankin Farm to get our final maple fix before leaving and heading back to the ferry. Dakota and I got maple candy, maple drops, maple cotton candy (I’m probably forgetting something!) That maple cotton candy was to die for! All of it was so amazing and I’m still drooling – I mean thinking, about it.
We headed back to the ferry and back to Plattsburgh where we enjoyed our last night before hitting the road again. Even though our time in Burlington was short, we had a great time eating all things maple, and looking for Champy.
With Safe Travels and Love,
Kayla & Dakota
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