Tour de Fat 2015

Each summer New Belgium Brewing holds a series of events around the country where they celebrate music, bicycles, and of course beer.   The Tour de Fat event in Fort Collins is just plain silliness as you can see:

Weekend in Burlington/Waterbury VT

We absolutely love getting up to Vermont during the summer.  Not just for the scenery but for the fantastic local beer offerings and amazing food.   Our first stop is always the Prohibition Pig in Waterbury for lunch.   Above you can see their pretzel knots with spicy mustard, paired to a fresh DIPA.  Followed by "The Pro Pig" (local ground pork patty, applewood smoked bacon, chopped pork BBQ and slaw.  So bad but SOOOOO amazingly good at the same time.  As a special bonus, the Pig now has a small brewery behind the pub where you can get super fresh local craft beer in growlers or crowlers.

Having devoured all that meat goodness the day before, we decided to put some miles on the bikes and followed the Island Line rail trail along Lake Champlain and out onto the Colchester Causeway.  This is a flat, well maintained route with beautiful vistas and plenty of spots to stop and rest or stick your toes in the Lake. 

We finally had an opportunity to stop in at Nectar's for their famous gravy fries.  Wowza!  These things were smoking hot and just melted in your mouth.

The only true way to wrap up a Vermont weekend is some fresh scoops at Ben & Jerry's Factory on a warm Sunday afternoon.   hint: they usually have flavors that are only available at the factory so make sure you check the menu board!

The Hills are Alive!!

Our Spring trek to the Green Mountains for a 5k around Stowe included some VT craft beers, Austrian hospitality via the Trapp Family Lodge, and visits with cows and lambs

Great little spot in downtown Waterbury - Blackback Pub.  The afternoon app special was grilled shrimp wrapped in smoked bacon along with a house made bacon mayo and local veggie garnishes.   Insanely good.  The glass of Lawson's Finest Liquids Super Session wasn't too bad either.

On this visit we chose to stay at the Trapp Family Lodge up the hill from the town of Stowe.   The setting is really like that of the Austrian Alps (though the mountains are a tad smaller).  It was so fun to realize we had a group of sheep and lambs grazing right outside our room!

Good night:  chocolate martini with some warm apple strudel - Good morning: fresh cinnamon roll

Hops plants winding their way up to the back deck of the Trapp Deli/Bakery.  Visitors can also purchase beer from the Trapp Brewery just down the hill from the benches.

 these locals were not interested in our race

CraftBrew Race at Stowe VT

fans along the race route