I didn’t realize that Burlington, Vermont in the summertime was straight-up heaven until I was an adult.
We visited every year to see my grandmother, but usually in autumn—its own form of Vermont heaven—and winter. In the summers, my sister and I went to camp in New Hampshire.
In 2010, though, we had a last-minute summer family reunion in Burlington, and I was overwhelmed with the city’s glory. The famous green mountains encircling the endless blue of Lake Champlain, the late summer evenings drinking local microbrews in the golden light, the gentle hikes past red barns just outside the city center—there was so much beauty, I was stunned.
I returned to summertime Vermont this year, again. We spent a weekend there while summer gave its last hurrah, with temperatures in the 90’s. Instead of staying in Burlington, we were with my aunt in Hinesburg, a rural town next door where neighbors are separated by vast tracts of green farmland and loamy woods.
Since this was a family affair, there wasn’t quite enough room in my aunt’s house. My sister Hillary and I were exiled to a cottage on the adjacent property… Lucky us! The cottage was airy, cozy, filled with sunshine. It lacked internet (or any 3G coverage), but that was fine. We spent the time talking, reading, taking pictures. We woke up at dawn just to catch the golden light over the green fields. In the middle of such a quick trip with so many family members to see, it was a delight to have so many lovely quiet moments with my sister.
Our cottage.
There was also time to jump into Lake Champlain. After a summer sweltering in Istanbul, this was one thing I was most looking forward to. Lake Champlain is the sixth-largest freshwater lake in the U.S. (just behind the Great Lakes), making Burlington’s beach that much more impressive– the water stretches out, out, out, onto the mountains, out to New York. I tried to teach my cousins and aunts and uncles simple sentences in Turkish as we splashed.
When my grandparents moved from the Bronx to Burlington in the ’50’s, my grandfather was convinced that Burlington was heaven on earth– away from the city crowds, with mountains and woods and beaches and birds to watch and gardens to tend. More than half a century later, I think I understand. This whole weekend felt like a gift.
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