Need Ideas/Input on Burlington/Stowe Trip

Hey everyone!
Going camping with the girlfriend in Little River State Park next week. Already have the brewery plans pretty much figured out. What I'd like to know is what restaurants (this might include some of the breweries/brewpubs listed) do folks suggest ? How about sight seeing and touristy things?

Bonus points for vegetarian friendly/vegan friendly options.
Bonus bonus points for ideas that won't break the bank. We're both dealing with student debt to varying degrees.


For those interested
Here's the list of places I've drawn up that we might go to. (A * means it's been strongly recommended)

Switchback Brewing
Queen City *
Citizen Cider
Zero Gravity *
Foam Brewers *
Simple Roots
Four Quarters
Farnham Ale and Lager
Magic Hat
Fiddlehead
Burlington Beer Company
The Alchemist *
Idletyme
von Trapp
Prohibition Pig
Hill Farmstead *
Hermit Thrush (Hitting up on the way home to Mass)

Tree House (Hitting up the new brewery on the way home)


Thanks everyone! You guys were super helpful with my trip to Portland last summer and I hope I can return the favor someday with my own advice and experience! Maybe I'll update this later with my summary?

 

Hey everyone!
Thanks for all the posts. Vermont was great. We weren't able to get to all the spots I listed but here's where we ended up going.

Zero Gravity - Got a flight. I don't think I'm a fan of a pale ale on cask, but it was nice to see something different going on. My selection of beers maybe didn't do this stop justice.

Queen City - This was my last stop in Burlington, immediately after Zero Gravity. The number of taps available was impressive as was the interesting decor. The beer was okay.

Citizen Cider - This place was great. I don't do ciders much but the girlfriend does. That said, there were a few on the list that impressed me. We also ordered a side of fries with their aioli and cider ketchup. Sweet baby Jesus, that was good.

Foam Brewers - Unfortunately I was only able to grab one beer from this stop as they don't do flights. The IPA I got was one of their pilot batches. Juicy as hell in traditional NEIPA style. Would have loved to try more.

Burlington Beer Company - Somehow I forgot to go here and I feel dumb looking at this list and realizing that...

The Alchemist - I've had Focal, Heady, and Beezlebub before but it seems like they taste different fresh from the tap. I could be wrong on this but I enjoyed the free samples and walked out with 2 4-packs of Focal. They were out of Heady unfortunately.

von Trapp - We stopped by here due mostly to proximity to Alchemist. I am not personally a big lagering fan but since being surprised at Dirigo Brewing on my last trip to Maine, I'm willing to try more. The beers were good, pretzels were great, and the beer hall was awesome. Got to talk to some really friendly locals and stayed out of the rain. I can't say enough about the view from the tap room.

Prohibition Pig - Came here twice. First day we went to the Brewery building as the dining room was full. We didn't have the full menu but all I needed were tacos and beer. Tacos were great. Loved the variety of hot sauces. Enjoyed the double IPA (Bantam I think was the name). Went back later in the week because we were hungry and it was an easy stop. I got the Waterbury Patriot burger subbing the patty for the Korean BBQ Tempeh and the Bahn Fire burger again subbing the patty for the Korean BBQ Tempeh. Quality of this food was great. The problem I had was the sandwich was quite small and came with no sides. At $14, I would want more than just a small sandwhich. We split a side of potato salad which was good but again a small portion for the $4 it cost us. So, were I to go again, I would stick with just the tacos in the brewery side and skip the dining room.


Hill Farmstead - The white whale! Had a great time. It's nice that they give you free samples. However, I wouldn't advise this unless you plan on spending all day at the brewery. This isn't a complaint - I knew ahead of time that you need to wait at HF. After spending some time sampling, we decided to grab some pours so as to save time (it was a lot of waiting - again, this is fine. There were a ton of people). I grabbed the Dharma Bum. Unfortunately, a person a few steps ahead of me got the last bottle of Damon. I really wanted to try that one. Spent more money than I'd like to admit in the retail shop but left with at least one of everything they were selling so I should have some good beer for some time! I hope I get to go here again. My advice is to get there early, make a day of it. We brought picnic fare and ate a sandwich on the walk from the car back to the bar after putting our beer in the trunk.

Hermit Thrush - We went here on the way back to Massachusetts and I'm glad we did. I was shocked at how small the building was. We got a sampler of all 6 beers on tap and they were all great. Bar staff was friendly and we talked about the beer making process. They then suggested we go to Whetstone down the street for some grub and a couple more brews.

Whetstone - Visited because of the suggestion by Hermit Thrush staff. We both two different house IPA's (might the imperial) which were pleasant. The food was good. My only complaint here was the wait time for the food to come out and they forgot an item we ordered. No biggie - got that item to go. Get the pub chips with sauce!

Tree House - Went to the new Charlton location on the way back home in Massachusetts. Unfortunately, they were only doing can sales with no tastings. It's a shame because I'd love to spend some time getting pours in that beautiful new taproom. But I came to get beer, and I wasn't leaving without. So after standing in a VERY long line, I was able to purchase 2 cans of Eureka (w/Mosaic), 3 cans of Green, and 9 cans of Doppelganger. I've only tried Dop and Eureka so far but both were quite very good/great. I'd love to go again for pours but it might be a while as it's quite busy.