Day 38/60: Burlington, Fleming

The Fleming Museum of Art at the University of Vermont has just about the least amount of art of interest of any museum we have sought out. They had a very illuminating photo of Andy Warhol in drag, a wall drawing in white crayon on black wall by Sol Lewitt, a very nice portrait of a black man cooking at a wood stove by Thomas Hovenden, two full length portraits of women by Sergeant, a Norman Rockwell called The Baby Sitter.  Otherwise there was a big show of a local contemporary artist that I hated; a smattering of oceanic, African, Native American and Asian art.

We wandered around for a couple of hours, before we started to think about lunch. On the internet at home, Dan had found a place that he wanted to try called Pauline's, a few miles out of town. We really liked this place. Dan had a crab cake and fresh beet salad. I had meatloaf with tangy barbecue sauce on the side, a small salad and fresh mixed squash. Both dishes were delectable. Toward the end of the meal, Dan asked the waiter about fishing. Turned out fishing was his main avocation and they had quite a conversation about fish and waterways. Then Dan got interested in a ferry, or is it a bridge? There used to be a bridge across Lake Champlain to New York, but it became unsafe, so it was shut down, and replaced by a car ferry. A year or two ago the new bridge was opened and the ferry suspended.

When we got back to the motel about 3:30, we both tucked in for a long winter's nap. When I awoke about 5:00, I staggered through the freezing cold to Starbucks, across a big parking lot, and got a double tall latte. Buoyed by all that caffeine, I washed and dried my two pairs of cold-weather pants and some other stuff. Then I ironed my pants, a pair of pants for Dan, and some other stuff. I felt very proud of myself. Dan spent a long time on the phone working the point systems; he negotiated one free room, and one is in process. Then he washed a load of socks and underwear, but demand on the guest laundry was so heavy that he was unable to dry them. Then he got a bite to eat at the nearby restaurant. We watched the second Presidential debate.

It was crazy to come so far north at this time of year. I am lashing myself for signing on to this. However, our huge and sprawling Best Western is packed. Almost everywhere we've been, even fairly remote places, the motels have been fully booked: conventions, conferences, family reunions, work groups. It was good that we booked well in advance.