A nice mid-morning start to today’s activities after an in-room breakfast of cranberry nut bread, yogurt and a cup of lukewarm hot chocolate.  Beautiful weather again today with temps reaching into the mid 60s, clear and sunny skies, and very little wind.

We began our activities in the Burlington “Free Library” to check city directories and other documents for any information available on Mom’s ancestors.  She reviewed the newspaper article on the death of her great great grandfather, hoping to find a location for the train-wagon accident so we could drive there.  No luck, but we did find another newspaper article on the death of his son who was also killed by a train.  Trains didn’t seem to be a good omen for that branch of the family.

Our next stop was Winooski, where Mom took several photos and we located and stopped at the city hall to check their records for info on Mom’s family who lived and worked in the town.  What courteous and helpful employees in the City Clerk’s Office!  We were escorted into the records vault, given a briefing on what records might provide info, and then were left alone to check the books.  Again, no startling revelations, just more info on the extended family.

We did our daily picnic lunch in a nearby city park, and then drove north via Interstate 89 about 25 miles to the town of St Albans where some relatives lived and worked.  We found one of the streets where relatives had lived so drove by and took photos of one of the houses.  We had a heckuva time finding the local Chamber of Commerce to get a town map, but Mom succeeded after stepping into an occupied office around the corner and down the hallway from the Chamber office and asking for help.  We got a map and directions to City Hall, where we were able to review a death certificate to verify an address and some other vital information on a relative.  Then we walked a couple of blocks to the city library and checked their historical/genealogy holdings.  Again, no surprises, just more info on extended family.

We took the scenic route (Vermont Route 7) back to Burlington.  It was lined with cool style homes, some that have been there for a LONG TIME.  Really neat and clean and nicely maintained, and more trees, trees, trees.  On a couple of hills along our route immediately south of St Albans we had a couple of nice views of the bays along the east side of Lake Champlain.

Dinner tonight was Italian fare.  We ate in a restaurant called “Three Tomatoes Trattoria,” which was located on a pedestrian walking/shopping area (similar to the Walkplatz in Wiesbaden, Germany).  We shared a mixed salad and then I had veal meatballs and linguini in a tomato sauce while Mom had ravioli with meat sauce (Bolognese sauce).  We also shared a basket of sliced Italian bread and olive oil/chopped garlic clove for dipping.  The food was yummy and filling, and Mom took lots of hers home.