Author Archives: Diana

About Diana

Canadian-Vermonter, Texas transplant. Cowboy boot wearing, maple syrup connoisseur, music lovin', wine and micro-brew drinkin', two-steppin' traveler who loves finding all the hidden gems the world has to offer. Come join me on the ride!

Beer, More Importantly – Switchback Brewing Company

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I love beer. I love breweries. I love touring breweries. I love the smell, I love the science, I love the trying out the samples! If you are living or even planning on visiting Vermont a brewery stop must be put into the schedule. Vermont is so blessed to have so many breweries, it’s somewhat crazy. I’ve had the luxury to visit most of them, however we must start off with my favorite – Switchback Brewing Company.

Keep an eye out for this when you are out and about:

A few years ago my friends and I were out in downtown Burlington and we came across “Switchback” which was only on tap at the bars. We couldn’t find it in the stores, we knew it was being brewed in Burlington so I decided to do a little research. I dug around, turned out you could get a tour but you had to schedule one in advance. I got a group of about 6-7 of us together off we went.

When we arrived, we found the brewery to be in an old warehouse / packing house (I believe for McKenzie hot dogs). We were greeted by the mastermind of Switchback who gave us a tour of his facility and we learned a little more about him and the company. Most interestingly, he received his masters from UCLA in beer brewing. The man is a genius.

Switchback was founded in 2002. Their main goal was to create the highest quality beer in as few resources as possible. We visited Switchback around 2006-2007, we’ve got to think back to what Switchback was around then. Switchback was kicking off, becoming more and more popular. They couldn’t keep up with the demand and were making beer around the clock and were running out of space in the building. He told us that they did distribute bottles at one point however they were putting on the labels by hand and the job was just too much. They decided to stick to selling kegs only and promote their brand strictly thru word of mouth.

Since our tour, Switchback has grown quite a bit. They now offer tours ever Saturday and carrying multiple brews. The first brew was the Switchback Pale Ale (my favorite). This is an unfiltered ale that is so smooth and refreshing (I’m kind of hating that I decided to write about this because I’m starting to crave) with a hoppy flavor and a slightly fruity taste. Yum – delicious.

Switchback has also created a few other brews, Switchback Porter (December 2002), Roasted Red Ale (November 2007) and Brown Ale (August 2010). I’m going to be honest and say that I’ve only had the Pale Ale (when I find something I like, I stick to it!) but I would definitely love to try some of their other brews.

When you are in a college town and there is good beer, word spreads really fast. That’s the case with Switchback and now the good word has spread throughout the country. Everytime I go home, its on my list of must have’s and there is nothing like being in Burlington with a good group of friends and an ice cold Switchback. (And if the people from Switchback ever read this, can you please send me some Pale Ale?!)

Bolton Valley Resort

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In honor of the dumping Vermont just received… and I wish I could fly home this second to enjoy it all!

I lived in Vermont my entire life (well, all up until I decided to move when I was 23 – crazy). Anyway, one would think that growing up in Vermont and having access to all that powdery goodness I would’ve started snowboarding or skiing at a young age, but I didn’t – that was my brother 🙂 I was the one that could be found snowmobiling any night of the week with my dad and his friends. Then college came and my senior year I decided to give snowboarding a go.

I went to Champlain College, they had a deal with Bolton Valley. The first time I went, I borrowed a board from one of my friends, bought some cheap boots from a second hand sports store and crossed my fingers. We skipped right over the bunny hill and went right to the top of the mountain. Two hours later, I made it back down to the base. Yea, that’s right, two hours. I was on my butt for most of the trip down, went flying over the side of the bank, went flying head first, probably cursed a little, laughed a little too. The worst part was having my friends sit and wait for me but they are so awesome they just kept encouraging me the entire way. At the end of the day, I was addicted and ready to go back for more.

Snowboarding isn’t easy. Personally, I think skiing would be a lot harder, I guess it’s just all up for preference and I would rather have both my feet strapped into one board. I ended up getting seasons passes, going up with my friends every weekend, going by myself every second that I could get, even calling in on the days where the powder just came down. There is NOTHING like a good powder / blizzard day.

Overtime, my “skills” improved from “lack of” to being able to link my turns. Looking back, we had some wicked times at Bolton. They provide night riding which is something that not a lot of resorts offer. They are super close to Burlington, making the perfect day getting up early to hit the mountain and then hitting up Church Street later that night. It’s where we decided to try hitting some jumps and rails, trying to ride in the woods (and getting stuck in waist deep powder) and sticking to the left side of the mountain. (This was the side of the mountain where no one seemed to go (for some weird reason but we were so thankful), where it was always ungroomed trails. There is nothing like carving the first trail in untouched snow.

Bolton is a great small resort. Good food, good atmosphere and if you are from the area you will typically run into someone that you know and the lift ticket prices are decent. There are lessons for all skill levels and ages (don’t worry the five year olds will make sure to show you up!).

Dixie Chicken, College Station, TX

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The Dixie Chicken. Maybe you’ve heard of it in a Robert Earl Keen tune, maybe you drove through College Station or heck maybe you even went to A&M. Frankly, I thought I should check it out while I was in town.

Anyway – I like to try to get a feel for places I go to, so when we heard Robert Earl Keen talk about the Dixie Chicken as well as a recommendation from a friend, we decided to check it out. First, we walked in and the atmosphere was definitely awesome, definitely Texan.

Here is the front of the building…

…the entrance…I love the swinging doors!

…the walls were covered with old signs. Very vintage.

In the back of Dixie Chicken is the place where you can order food – hamburgers, chicken strips and chicken fried steak (we are in the south), fries and other southern appetizers (stuffed jalapenos and fried okra) and they even had beef jerky on the menu. I asked Sy what I should get, his friend said the cheeseburgers were good. The woman in front of me turned around and looked at me like I was an alien (probably because I wasn’t wearing maroon), she then told me that this is the place to go whenever I’m in College Station. Ok, I started to feel a little better about this place. I opted for a cheeseburger, fries and a chocolate shake.

After being told it would be a 45 minute wait (it didn’t end up being that long), I though man this is going to be a damn good burger. Well one would think. Others would like to think this is a damn good burger when I’m drunk as all hell. My cheeseburger was charred – burnt really. I could feel the crunch of the burger as I would take a bite. “Where’s the ketchup?” The fries were honestly pretty tasty. The chocolate shake, or semi-melted chocolate ice cream left something to be desired to be honest however when I found the piece of clear plastic in my shake, that was it for me.

The Dixie Chicken should only be known as a watering hole, and maybe a place to eat when you won’t remember the taste of the food later.