Re-arranging a day because a tour was sold out - Burlington-style

You know me, I like to get everything sorted, reserved, paid for well in advance of our travels.  This makes things easier from a budgeting perspective and from a logistics perspective.  It can also be risky if there aren't good cancellation and modification policies in place, so I make sure to check those details before booking anything ahead of time.  I like to do the ahead of time reservations, too, because I want to get the time slots that work best for us.

With our trip starting in just two weeks, I've been going back through the details and purchasing the tickets for the first half of the trip.  So far it's been going well - that is, until today when I went to book our Burlington Trolley tour for 9 AM on the full day we'll be in Burlington - and there was only one seat left!

I had carefully crafted our day in Burlington to maximize our time there.  We were going to get an early start with the trolley tour at 9 AM, walk up to Church Street Market for a while, then take the Spirit of Ethan Allen boat tour on Lake Champlain at noon.  Following this, we were going to drive up to the Ethan Allen Homestead and Museum to catch their last guided tour of the day (at 2:30 PM).

But with the trolley not being available at 9 AM, I had to shift the whole day based on when the other trolley times were, when the boat tours were, and when the Ethan Allen Homestead and Museum is open and touring.

It took a bit of doing, but we were able to shift things so we'll go to the Ethan Allen site first, but with a later start since they don't open until 10 AM.  The first tour is at 10:30 and lasts an hour.  We'll have to hurry from there to get to Church Street for lunch at a place that comes with good reviews and gluten-free recommendations.  Fortunately there is a parking structure nearby so we can park and then just walk to eat, and then it's just a 15 minute walk down to the lake for the 2 PM boat ride.  We've been told that whatever else we do in Burlington, don't miss a tour on Lake Champlain.  The boat ride gets back at 3:30 and we've scheduled the 4 PM trolley tour - thankfully, the trolley tour leaves from the parking lot that's nearby where the boat dock is, so we should be able to make it.  It lasts an hour, so we'll be back at the car by 5:30.  Still some daylight as the sun doesn't set until 7:12 PM that day.

I hope we'll have time to stop by Lake Champlain Chocolates Flagship Store on the way back to the hotel.  They are open until 9 PM.  And I want to also make a detour to go see the World's Tallest Filing Cabinet if there's enough daylight.  If not, I guess a Google Maps image will just have to do.

This is why I like to plan ahead; it's much easier to re-arrange things while there's still time than having to do it on the fly.

We have a couple of other things planned for the afternoon we arrive into Burlington, but you'll have to wait until we get there to find out what they are!