I'll be heading up to enjoy some time off and check out the local cider fest in Mt. Holly for the second week of October. Plan on hitting up some parks and probably a dairy for some of that Vermont Cheddar. Anything I absolutely must do or see while I'm up there?
If you are in the area Hemmings is a nice stop. Try the syrup.
If you have the time for a bit of a road trip, drive up to Waterbury and go to the Prohibition Pig. It's a nice drive, and they have a ton of incredible beer on tap. If you're into beer, it's totally worth it.
As a bonus, the Ben and Jerry's factory is up there and the tour is pretty fun.
Montpelier is a kinda cool town too. Not what you'd expect from a state capital - it's tiny. But if you find yourself there, and again, are into beer, stop by the Three Penny Taproom.
Hemmings is pretty cool, but the museum and offices were closed when I got there. The gift shop is basically an old gas station that's still used as a gas station.
Ben & Jerry's is cool, and they have good ice cream (obviously).
There are miles of great driving roads up there. Just pick a direction and hit the gas.
Burlington can be fun. I have a good friend that lives up there and he took us for a little tour a few years back when we were visiting. Tons of great places to eat and drink up there, including the excellent Vermont Pub and Brewery. There was also a bar that was Simpsons-themed, and they had Dollar "Duffs" when the Simpsons was on TV, and they had some of their own homebrews that were great. That was pretty cool. +
Now I want to go back to Vermont... thanks!
Try the North East corner.
I made my first trip to Vermont this summer, specifically to Burlington. I did some hiking sampled the cider beers, went to Ben and Jerry's, hiked up camel hump, and stopped at Magic hat for a beer. It is beautiful country up there.
Buy pure maple candy. Watch out for the sneaky places that cut it with cane sugar.
Gary
Dork
9/23/15 1:27 p.m.
Visit the Long Trail Brewery.
http://longtrail.com/visit-us
and ...
Take a drive up Mount Equinox. The VSCCA holds a hill climb there every August. The road is open to the public (for a small fee as I recall). It's a great drivers road and the view from the top is spectacular.
http://www.equinoxmountain.com/skylinedrive_index.php
Lotus 7 sans front fenders going up the mountain at speed:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Qzw4IGtv4rQ
But I'd recommend visiting Long Trail after the drive up the mountain, not before!
In reply to Gary:
I'll second Long Trail. One of the more fun brewery tours I've done. And they have some good beer there that they don't distribute outside of Vermont.
logdog wrote:
Buy pure maple candy. Watch out for the sneaky places that cut it with cane sugar.
This!!! the real stuff is very expensive but Ohhhhhhhh so good!!!!!
Mt. Philo hillclimb is October 16-18
Gary
Dork
9/23/15 2:54 p.m.
cmcgregor wrote:
In reply to Gary:
I'll second Long Trail. One of the more fun brewery tours I've done. And they have some good beer there that they don't distribute outside of Vermont.
Double Bag is my favorite.
I do love me some good brews, so I'll try and hit up as many of these as I can. Thanks guys! I've never been further northeast than DC so this should be fun.
Thanks for the tip on the Philo HC, I was looking for something like that.
Drive the App Gap from rte. 116 to rte. 100. Stop at Mary's The Inn at Baldwin Creek for a burger. Farm to table. Mack is an incredible chef. If near Middlebury stop at Woodchuck Cider on exchange street, or Otter Creek Brewing. Get a sandwich at Costello's Italian deli in the Marble Works, then sit near the falls and eat it. Go to Stowe and drive to the top of Mount Mansfield, then hike to the highest point in Vermont.
I was also going to suggested Mt. Equinox. Be sure to stop and give your brakes chance to cool down a bit on the way down. You can hit Equinox and Hemmings on the same morning. I've driven route 7 from Burlington back home to Connecticut and it's a nice trip. I also drive 91 top to bottom this morning. It's beautiful but there's not much to do along the way. If you are on 91, you can cross the river into New Hampshire from almost every exit.
Sit in the wooden rocking chairs at the Welcome Center in Guilford/Brattleboro. Seriously. They are insanely comfortable. They're made of wood and rope.
I hear there are some killer breweries up there. Drink beer!
Some of the best breweries in the country, if Beer Advocate is to be believed. Which.....eh.
If you get up into the Northeast Kingdom (which is beautiful, but pretty far from your base of operations) go to the Hill Farmstead brewery. They have like 15 of the BA top 250, which is absurd considering their production.
Sorry for all the beer-related suggestions. If you can't tell, I really like beer - and Vermont! I don't go up there much in the summer though, mostly just for snowboarding in the winter.
You could go apple picking for a real New England fall type activity - but then you'll have a bunch of apples that you presumably don't want to fly back to Florida.
I'd say to go to the Whippi Dip in Fairlee, but I am not 100% sure if they are going to be open that late.
Stop by the Welcome Center on 1-91. It's worth stretching your legs and they have rotating art displays and tourist books.
If you enjoy fishing, try to catch some trout while you're there. Or pike. Lake Bomoseen has some big ones.
You won't be far from Lake George, NY. Depending on how much time you're going to spend, driving around that area is pretty neat, and Fort William Henry is worth a visit- it was the fort that was featured in Last of the Mohicans.
One thing to keep in mind is that many of the towns have a speed limit of 25 MPH and they view you as a source of revenue. The troopers do the same. They are all just waiting for somebody with out of state plates to get in a hurry so they can afford to plow snow this winter.
+1 on Hill Farmstead brewery. You'll have to find it on tap. There is almost none available outside Vermont. It's worth the search.