#champlain islands

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Two Heroes Grill & Tiki Bar

Bike Ride to Tiki Bar Map

Bike Ride Destination

I make a point of reaching a destination on my bike rides. Often that destination involves a meal or a dessert. I need to reward myself for the exercise. This time, my journey brought me 14.5 miles round trip between The Green Cottage in Grand Isle, Vermont to Two Heroes Grill & Bar in North Hero. Most of the journey was relatively flat. The few slopes along the way were gradual. Of course I was riding in temperatures around 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Warmer temperatures could lead to a sweaty ride.

North Hero, Vermont map

The ride down Pelots Point Road is especially nice with plenty of vistas to absorb along the way. I had many clear chances to see the southern end of Isle La Motte, another Champlain Island that’s particularly nice for biking.

North Hero Marina

The road went from paved to gravel the last quarter mile. Soon the North Hero Marina sign welcomed me.

North Hero Marina Sign

Arriving at Two Heroes Grill & Tiki Bar

within seconds the marina and the moored boats were visible. It’s such a beautiful view of the Lake and Carry Bay.

North Hero Marina

I took the path that cars would take to the non-members parking lot. From the lot to the Tiki Bar, it’s a short walk. I just rode through on my bike.

Tiki Bar Has Take-out

The outdoor eatery is very welcoming. I chose to sit at the bar, but their are high top tables, regular tables and 2-person booths available too.

Tiki Bar Covered Seating

Two Heroes Grill and Tiki Bar Menu

The Grill & Bar is open 7 days a week in the summer from 11am until 9pm. I overheard that they also have live music on Saturdays. Check out photos of their 2018 menus:

Tiki Bar Dinner Menu

Tiki Bar Menu Appetizers

Tiki Bar Appetizers

I ordered the chicken on croissant sandwich with fries. I was happy I was served a real piece of chicken and it was perfectly marinated and grilled. That along with my iced tea made for a delicious lunch. The view enhanced my meal.

Marina View While You Eat and Drink

Beverages with a Little Kick

Others around me enjoyed drinks from the bar, a nice selection of beer on tap and the frozen margaritas and pina coladas.

Beer Taps at Tiki Bar

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Jet Ski Adventure Around North Hero, VT

Jet Ski Adventure

I can’t let a beautiful day go to waste on Lake Champlain. With a full tank of gas in my jet ski, I left the dock at The Green Cottage in Grand Isle, Vermont on my quest to circumnavigate the Champlain Island town of North Hero.

The Water Route

Circumnavigate North Hero Map

I decided to execute the tour in clockwise manner. I knew that I’d stop along the way to collect photos or just to admire boats, mountains and wildlife. I’ll share some of the landmark photos with you as I describe my tour.

The Cut at Bow and Arrow Point

I started heading west to exit The Gut of Lake Champlain. I had to go through the cut formed where a railway line used to travel through the Champlain Islands. In fact the Colchester Causeway Bike Path, which has a bike ferry, is part of this same former railway. In our area, The Gut of Lake Champlain is separated by a cut in what was once this railroad bed.

Cut Leaving the Gut

I understand that when this was used as a railway, a T-bridge rotated to allow boat traffic through. Today, the cut is clear with Grand Isle to the south and Bow and Arrow Point to the North.

Looking Back at the cut into The Gut

The Broad Lake

We refer to the area of the Lake between Vermont and New York as the “broad lake”. You will often see bigger boats in this area.

Sailboat on Lake Champlain

On my excursion, I saw plenty of sailboats. Many were too far away for my Iphone camera to pick up. I moved in a little closer to capture this Canadian sailboat around the southern tip of the Champlain Island town of Isle La Motte.

Cut into Carry Bay

I know that it’s 7.5 land miles one way from The Green Cottage to North Hero Marina, so I’m guessing I traveled about the same by water to reach the cut into Carry Bay. The marina sits on Pelot’s Point which is the south side of the cut.

Sailboat Enters Carry Bay

I was patient as this sailboat decided to enter the Bay from the North even though it arrived at the cut from the South. It was a big boat and even running by motor, I think the skipper didn’t want to play games with the wind from the north.

Carry Bay and the Alburgh Passage

Immediately upon entering the cut into Carry Bay, North Hero Marina is on the right. If I wasn’t on a mission, I might have stopped in to visit Two Heroes Grill and Tiki Bar. The atmosphere and food are always enjoyable.

North Hero Marina on Pelots Point

Instead, I passed by this big sailboat and cruised the Alburgh Passage heading north. In the scheme of the lake, this passage is “narrow”, but two lanes of boat traffic can easily cruise in both directions without causing issues to each other or those on shore. The passage is marked by the town of Alburgh, Vermont on your left (west) and the Champlain Island town of North Hero on your right (east).

Riding the Alburgh Passage

The town of Alburgh is a peninsula town — it’s surrounded by water on all sides but the north. On the north side, it’s adjacent to Canada! The only way to get to the town of Alburgh, Vermont without going over a bridge or riding a boat is through Canada! Pretty cool, huh?

Bridge to Alburgh, Vermont

As I approached the bridge to Alburgh, I noticed a whole slew of bridge jumpers! I’m pretty sure it’s illegal, but I can understand how the kids enjoyed this exciting way to cool off.

Kids Jumping Into Lake Champlain

You can click the photo to watch the You Tube Video or go to our Vacation Rentals In Vermont YouTube Channel to see this and our other videos.

Maquam Bay

There were plenty of side places that I wanted to stop along the way, but not knowing how I would do on fuel or how much time my entire journey would take, I limited my one side adventure to Maquam Bay in Swanton, Vermont. After passing the northern tip of North Hero, I headed eastward. This large bay is shallow throughout. It’s a perfect place to hang out because the lake floor is soft sand — perfect for your feet! I was not surprised to see all the boaters and jet skiers hanging out when I arrived.

Maquam Bay, Swanton, VT

I noticed plenty of boats pulling tubes in the area too. I guess this is a nice spot to take a break for those rough riders.

Tubing on Lake Champlain by Maquam Bay

The Journey Southward

I could see where I wanted to go in the distance — a tall tower on the southern end of North Hero. Everything looks close until you attempt to reach it! I know it takes about 20 minutes by car to reach North Hero State Park at the northern tip of the town. I’m guessing it took me that much time or longer to travel the “inland sea” to reach the Grand Isle-North Hero Drawbridge, the east entrance to The Gut.

The inland sea is the area of Lake Champlain that is bordered by mainland Vermont to the east and Vermont’s Champlain Islands to the west. There’s lots of Lake to explore in the inland sea, but tall boats have access only through The Gut and the drawbridge from the broad lake.

Drawbridge and Ladd’s Marina

Back into The Gut and The Green Cottage

Ladd’s Marina is just on the east side of the drawbridge. It’s our quick destination for fuel fill-ups. Many of our guests have rented boats from the Marina too. They have sail boats, a pontoon boat and a variety of fishing boats. Less than a mile away from The Green Cottage, they’re extremely convenient!

Within minutes of passing under the drawbridge, I was arriving back at our dock at The Green Cottage. My whole excursion took 1-3/4 hours and a half tank of gas. Maybe next time I will take a few more side trips!

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Steamship Pier Bar & Grill

Bike Ride Destination

Andy and I couldn’t resist enjoying a bike ride in the Champlain Islands on a beautiful, sunny June afternoon. We always like to reward ourselves for exercising. (Snicker!) This time our reward was lunch at the Steamship Pier Bar & Grill in North Hero, Vermont.

Steamship Pier Bar & Grill City Bay View

The Menu

Steamship Pier Bar & Grill Menu

I’ve developed a love of fish tacos after enjoying so many different versions at all the restaurants nearby our Beach Delight vacation rental in Fort Myers Beach, Florida. I heard that the Steamship Pier Bar & Grill had fish tacos on the menu. Although there were plenty of other sensational menu options, my choice was made before I arrived.

Andy, on the other hand, doesn’t stray far from his safe food – a salad.

We both enjoyed soft pretzels with cheese sauce as an appetizer. Unfortunately, they were so tempting, we scarfed them down before I realized I missed the photo opportunity!

Steamship Pier Bar & Grill Fish Tacos

Steamship Pier Bar & Grill Salad with Chicken

              After enjoying lunch under the cover of the big tent, we strolled the pier to enjoy the sunshine and the spectacular view of City Bay. We’ll be back to the Steamship Pier Bar & Grill on another bike ride this summer!

This outdoor restaurant is only about 4.5 miles away from The Green Cottage vacation rental in Grand Isle, Vermont.

Steamship Pier Bar

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Ice Cream and Creemees

  I’m just back from a 7.5 mile bicycle trek. My goal was to get some good exercise in a fun way. And as a reward for all my efforts, my trip had to include a stop for ice cream. Is that snickering I hear?

Yes, I love ice cream and consider myself a connoisseur. My first memory getting ice cream from a scoop shop was when I was 6 or 7 years old and it was from a Baskin-Robbins. That’s where I learned about “samples”. And that’s how I got hooked on pralines and cream. You can probably imagine that a child that young who appreciates pralines and cream really has a palate for ice cream.

My first real job was my dream job! I worked at an ice cream shop and I mastered my craft quickly. Even at 16-years old, the owner would leave me to run the shop alone on weekday afternoons. I took my responsibilities seriously and found that quality control was my forte. That was my favorite part of the job!

I can only imagine that with my upcoming high school graduation, the owners felt they had no choice but to sell the shop knowing that I was going away to college. (That’s what I tell myself.) The new owner was putting in his own ice cream shop in our shop’s place. The new owner was……drum roll, please….. the first Ben & Jerry’s franchisee!

In preparation for the new owner’s business and before the business changed hands, he would come in to work with me to get a feel for the ice cream profession. How cool is that?!? Of course when I returned to the shop after it was converted to a Ben & Jerry’s Scoop Shop, it looked nothing like my ice cream shop and they certainly didn’t do anything like we did. I was disappointed that my mark didn’t show, but I still hold the glory knowing I was the first trainer for a Ben & Jerry’s franchise!

Now back to my “bicycle story” (isn’t that how this post started?). We are in Ben & Jerry’s territory but you aren’t going to find a scoop shop in the Champlain islands. When you’re here and if you have the time I certainly would recommend a trip over to Waterbury to visit the Ben & Jerry’s Factory. Although I do adore their ice cream, you will find other sources to please your taste buds all within 9 miles of our vacation rental homes. Four of the five I’m going to tell you about are within 5 miles. My gist is…you can have ice cream or a creemee within minutes if the mood strikes you!

I’ve mentioned “creemee” and it occurs to me that not everyone may be familiar with the term. In other places, you might hear this cold treat called “soft serve”. A creemee, or creemie, is dispensed from a machine into a cup or cone in a spiral fashion, getting narrower towards the peak. Oftentimes these machines hold 2 flavors that can be served separately or twisted together in a single cup or cone. (Don’t I sound like the expert!?!?!)

Here’s my list of local ice cream/creemee stops and what you’ll find there:

Kim’s Snackbar – About 3.5 miles south of us on US RT 2. Kim’s doesn’t sell hard ice cream and only sells two creemee flavors – chocolate, vanilla and the two swirled together. But you can have a creemee with sprinkles/jimmies, in a float or as the base for your sundae or banana boat too. They have hot fudge, pineapple, caramel and strawberry sundae toppings. Kim’s also sells milkshakes – chocolate, vanilla, mocha, coffee, strawberry, raspberry and creamsicle. I’ve never had one of their milkshakes but I’m guessing that they are creemee-based.

The Outhouse  – About 2.5 miles south of us on US RT 2. They have business hours Thursday-Sunday. The Outhouse only sells hard ice cream from Kingdom Creamery of Vermont. Their sundae toppings include hot fudge, peanut butter and maple! Their float flavors include creamsicle.

A&B – About 2.5 miles south of us on US RT 2. The owner of A&B bought Island Homemade Ice Cream a couple of years ago. The ice cream is produced just a couple of doors away from A&B. Island Ice Cream is sold in pint containers in A&B. A&B also sets up a stand outside the store on weekends to sell scoops! I’m not sure if they have a consistent schedule. Just know if you have that hankering for maple bacon or pink grapefruit Island Homemade Ice Cream, you can always grab a pint in the store. They also sell all the delectable toppings that you can take back with you so you can build your own creations. Because the ice cream pints are block hard frozen, I always put the container in the microwave for 10 seconds so I can scoop it out at home. FYI, pink grapefruit ice cream is really, really good!

Hero’s Welcome – About 4.5 miles north of us in North Hero on US RT 2. The store is open every day so I expect that the ice cream counter is open every day. The ice cream area is well hidden. It’s directly across the store from the deli and only manned if there are customers. They have creemees and they have hard ice cream. It’s been a while since I got my fix there so I can’t tell you if there are more than chocolate and vanilla creemees or the brand of ice cream they sell. I don’t know if they offer any toppings either. But if you’re there to enjoy a deli creation for lunch, you might as well grab a cone before you leave!

Seb’s Snack Bar – About 9 miles (15 minutes) south of us in South Hero on US RT 2. Seb’s sells Hershey’s hard ice cream and 4 flavors of creemee – chocolate & vanilla and black raspberry & maple. The flavors joined with an ampersand can be twisted together in a single cone or cup. The list of Hershey’s flavors they sell is incredible! My favorite Hershey’s flavor is cappuchino crunch. You need to be aware that Seb’s prices are a little steeper, but their serving sizes are huge! Common sense would indicate that you should share…but I really don’t think common sense has anything to do with ice cream! Seb’s has sundaes and shakes and jimmies and chocolate dip. I absolutely love maple creemee dipped in chocolate! This is why Seb’s, although 9 miles away, is on my “list”!

If you find that you just adore Hershey’s ice cream, you can buy it packaged at Keeler Bay Variety Store which is about 10 minutes south of our vacation rental homes. Put it this way, you’ll pass Keeler Bay Store on your way back from Seb’s.

That’s my short list. There are other ice cream and creemee options if you head further north through the Islands or south off the Islands, but my guess is that you won’t make it that far without stopping at one of these places first!

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The only one...

Only one in the entire state of Vermont and it’s only a mile away from our vacation rental homes. Without it, tall boats wouldn’t be able to sail or motor between the broad lake and the inland sea of Lake Champlain. What is it?

Drawbridge sign in The Champlain Islands

It’s a draw bridge!

Save

The “draw bridge season” ended on October 15. The traffic signal should shine green 24 hours a day until next May 15…unless repair work is planned on the bridge.

The bridge has been having its issues. In summer 2015, there were several times when the bridge got stuck in the open position. This is great for tall boats, but the cars on the only throughway through the Islands were not happy!

In early 2016, the drawbridge operations changed from every 30 minutes to every hour to minimize draw bridge movement. By the end of the season, it seemed that they were back to their 30 minute schedule.

There are changes coming. The Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) is holding a meeting Tuesday, November 15 in North Hero to share the preferred design alternative and probable construction approach to handle this quirky draw bridge. The last I heard is that it would be maintained as a draw bridge.

The impact of the draw bridge is minimal if at all to us and our guests since the major places we visit regularly are on the Grand Isle side of the bridge or to the south of us. It’s easy for us to plan trips to the north and ensure that we miss the scheduled draw bridge openings. In fact, I wasn’t even aware that the draw bridge got stuck in 2015 until I read about it in our local paper even though the bridge is only one mile north of us and the bridge was stuck open for a couple of hours!

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Icicles in The Islands

I woke early this morning to rain pelting our windows with a constant tap, tap, tap. As the sound diminished, I eventually fell asleep again. When I finally got up for the day, I looked out to see a gentle snow falling and icicles hanging off the rails on our deck. The temperature changed so quickly that those raindrops led to a major icicle display.

I was entranced and felt a need to collect some photos of this beautiful scene. I expected peaceful silence as I went outside. Instead I heard the clicking of ice covered tree branches hitting each other as the ever so slight breeze passed by. The whole aura was mesmerizing.

Icicles by The Green Cottage on The Gut of Lake Champlain