An Olfactory Tour of UVM
Greetings, all, welcome to fall in Vermont! As the foliage comes to a glorious peak, we can all marvel at the sights to be seen… But don’t cut your sensory experience short! The University of Vermont has some excellent smells to be smelled, and we’ve highlighted them here. Join us, please, for an Olfactory Tour of UVM!
We’ll begin our tour on Redstone campus, where students wake to wafts of Simpson Dining Hall’s kitchen concoctions. This is a prime olfactory location throughout most of the day and on any day of the week, but if you’re really in it to win it, we’d recommend you visit on tater tot day.
Now before we move on toward Athletic, we offer a “challenge by choice” feature of the tour, where you have the option to branch off and have a good whiff of Vermont’s finest smells: cow manure. UVM houses dozens of cows (and other animals) at the Paul Miller Research Center on Spear Street. If this is your favorite part of the tour, we recommend you check out UVM’s CREAM program!
(Note: if you’re looking to avoid the smell of manure altogether, then you should probably leave Burlington in early spring, when farms down at the Intervale spread and turn their fields with the stuff. It’s great fertilizer!)
Let’s move on along the Redstone path. As it slopes upward by the Catholic center, we find an excellent view of Vermont’s tallest peak, Mt. Mansfield… but enough of that, we’re not here for the sights. Onward, toward Central Campus, where the air is a bit tangier, tinged with the smell of hand-sweat of the hard working students of UVM.
The path takes us straight to the doors of the tunnel, which on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays hosts the captivating scent of decorated grilled cheeses, emanating from the UVM FeelGood stand. Layered on top of this cheesy base-aroma we sniff apples, maple syrup, fresh greens and a host of other exciting additions from genius’ behind UVM FeelGood. (PSA: they’re now accepting Cat$cratch!)
As we move on toward the Davis Center atrium, we enjoy a quick blast of Brennan’s popcorn-y perfume, coming from a poor college student’s favorite snack, “favorite” because it’s free.
Let’s climb up a floor to the Marketplace and take a deep, deep inhale of Ben & Jerry’s house-made waffle cones. Pro-tip: you can upgrade to a waffle cone for free on Fridays after 2pm!
Onward, to our most diverse leg of the tour: the University Place food trucks. Here we have Pam’s Deli, Ali Baba’s, Lucky Chinese and more offering students a new olfactory flavor every dozen steps.
We’re nearing the end of our tour now, as we follow our noses northward to Trinity campus. If you time it right, this could very well be the best part of the tour, because there’s a donut factory behind Trinity. As the sun sets, the sky turns pink to match the sugary savor in the air as the Koffee Kup bakery pumps out donuts, pastries and breads for tomorrow.
And with that, we conclude. Thanks for coming along this olfactory adventure, and may your noses be ever-filled with that which makes you happy!
P.S. – We want to know your favorite smells around campus, too. Let us know! Tag #uvmsmells on your social media posts.
