I could almost hear train whistles, even though the tracks were gone. I’d just left the northern border town of Richford, Vermont, heading west on a one-time branch of the Central Vermont Railway. Freight trains once hauled milk and feed along this route–but now the old right-of-way has been reborn as the Missisquoi Valley Rail […]
Truly fantastic cheeses, of all types and from the milk of several species, are made in the Green Mountain State, but cheddar is our choice for the most New Englandy of the lot. Most of the credit goes to the fine cow’s milk from which it’s made, but also to the strong backs of the […]
William Tecumseh Sherman looks as though he hasn’t slept in 36 hours. His brow is sagging and creased, his eyes are swollen, and it’s unclear whether the scraggly beard on his chin is something he grew intentionally. His tie is noticeably askew, but, so the story goes, when Augustus Saint-Gaudens asked him to straighten it, […]
By the time Joe Decker lumbered to the finish line at last year’s PEAK Death Race, an ultra-endurance competition in Pittsfield, Vermont, he was clearly ready to stop moving. Over the course of 28 hours, Decker, a 40-year-old Californian whom Guinness World Records had once labeled “The World’s Fittest Man,” had jumped, run, and lifted […]
BEST FREE WEEKEND FUN Market Square Summer Series, Bennington Dance to the music of live bands playing blues, folk, country, soft rock, and swing, Fridays from 5:30 to 7:30 and Saturday and Sunday afternoons, from July 22 through August 21 this year. Market Square. 802-442-5758; betterbennington.com BEST SMOKED MEAT Singleton’s Store, Proctorville Puzzled about what […]
RAINY-DAY BROWSE Brattleboro Books, Brattleboro Southern Vermont’s largest used-book store has miles of aisles of books to browse and comfy chairs tucked into cozy reading nooks. 34-36 Elliot St. 802-257-7777 MEAL DEAL Fresh Market, Burlington At 5 p.m. all premade sandwiches are discounted 50 percent; at 6, deli items are reduced 25 percent. 400 Pine […]
BEST MOUNTAIN BIKING Kingdom Trails, East Burke Pull into the parking lot next to Mountain View Creamery and you’ll find cars with license plates from all over the Northeast and Canada. They’ve made the long drive to East Burke to ride atop rolling countryside, past hundred-year-old barns, along streams, and under tall pines, all on […]
BEST DAY PADDLE Batten Kill Canoe, Arlington Plan a two-hour or two-day paddle down the beautiful Batten Kill with the able assistance of the folks at Batten Kill Canoe, who are familiar with every nook and cranny of the river known as “the Valley of Vermont.” Photo Credit: Carl Tremblay Maps for every level of […]
BEST WATERFRONT RESORT Basin Harbor Club, Vergennes You’ll want to pack a trunk and spend all summer at this plush, 125-year-old Lake Champlain retreat. Golf, watercraft, formal dining, and cottage or lodge accommodations. Rates: rooms from $232, $332 with American meal plan; cottages from $369, $448 with American meal plan. 4800 Basin Harbor Road. 800-622-4000, […]
BEST TEX-MEX Rattlesnake Cafe, Bennington Mexican fare with a modern twist is spiced from gringo cool to ay, Chihuahua hot; sangrias are concocted from secret recipes. Entrées: from $9.95. 230 North St. 802-447-7018; rattlesnakecafe.com BEST PUMPKIN PANCAKES Sugar & Spice, Mendon Hunker down to light-as-a-feather flapjacks crowned with maple syrup made right here. Dessert after […]
As a travel writer, I have stayed in fine hotels. But really, how could any place, no matter how swank, be worth those prices?
Move over, Colorado: Maine has now become one of the nation’s premier destinations for hut-to-hut cross-country skiing, thanks to two new backcountry systems: Maine Huts & Trails in the state’s western mountains and the Appalachian Mountain Club huts, about 40 miles (as the crow flies) farther northeast, outside Greenville, in Moosehead Lake country. As I […]
