A beautiful summer weekend let Burlington show off the best of its transportation options. Where to begin? The biggest thing that jumped out at me was the bike lanes. They were plentiful. As a bike commuter I am always on the lookout for bike lanes. Always. There are not enough bike lanes in the world. It is truly amazing what a small stripe of paint can do to empower bicyclists and soften the attitude of a driver.
In downtown Burlington I spotted, for the first time, a sign that said ‘One Way, Except Bicycles’. There was a bike lane on several of the one way streets allowing bicycles to ride against the flow of traffic. Very cool idea. Great to see lots of people out and about using the bike lanes.
Burlington is also very pedestrian friendly. Church Street, which goes right through the downtown area, running parallel to Lake Champlain, is car-free. Interactions between pedestrians and cars were casual; most drivers kept their speed reasonable in anticipation of frequent stop signs, crosswalks, etc. Most everything that is downtown Burlington is walkable, although with all of the hills there are definite advantages to having a bike.
We were leaving Burlington and continuing on to Montreal. We took the
ferry across Lake Champlain to Port Kent, New York. The ferry costs $5 per person and runs (during the summer) almost every hour. The dock is located a five minute walk from Church Street, just south of the aquarium. There is a restaurant on site and a small park adjacent to the dock. The ferry ride takes about an hour and is quite peaceful. On a clear day you can see great views of downtown Burlington and the Green Mountains, or look towards New York and the Adirondacks. There are bathrooms and a gift shop on board - complete with candy made out of maple syrup (the real deal, not fake Aunt Jemima), etc.
Entry into New York is without fanfare. Just the dock and a paved ramp up to the road. At the top of the hill is a small covered platform to wait for the train. The only amenity was a pay phone. We boarded the train and continued our journey north. The Adirondack goes from New York City all the way to Montreal. It takes four and a half hours to get from Fort Kent to Montreal. At $22 per person, the cost is very reasonable, and the journey is fun. The rolling hills and corn fields of upstate New York fly by. The most painful part of the process is sitting at the border for an hour while Canadian customs makes its way through the train inspecting passports, luggage, etc. And then you’re in Canada.
