Christmas in Weston | 5 Reasons to visit Weston, Vermont This Holiday Season
Photo Credit : Courtesy of the Vermont Country Store
Known for its natural beauty and historic charm, the postcard-perfect Green Mountain town of Weston, Vermont, offers all the New England essentials (period homes, antiques shops, cozy inns, thoughtful small museums, and a town common complete with gazebo), not to mention the most famous general store in America. In search of New England–inspired comfort and joy? It’s no surprise that Weston does that well, too. Here are some festive things to do in Weston, Vermont, this holiday season.
5 FAVORITE THINGS TO DO IN WESTON, VERMONT | HOLIDAY GUIDE
Christmas in Weston | 5 Favorite Things to Do in Weston, Vermont Photo Credit : Courtesy of the Vermont Country Store
CELEBRATE “CHRISTMAS IN WESTON”
This annual townwide celebration (Saturday, December 2, 2017) is a family favorite and one of Yankee’s picks for New England’s best holiday events. There will be cookie decorating, a gingerbread contest, holiday caroling, and horse-drawn wagon rides, plus a quilt display at the Weston Playhouse (the state’s oldest professional playhouse), a reading of A Christmas Carol at Walker Farm, and visits with Santa and Mrs. Claus at the famed Vermont Country Store. Don’t miss the lighting of the tree on the town green at dusk. Learn more.
Downtown Weston | 5 Favorite Things to Do in Weston, Vermont Photo Credit : Courtesy of the Vermont Country Store
EXPLORE DOWNTOWN WESTON
Stroll the town green, pose for a photo at the gazebo, and admire the 1832 Old Parish Church and the waterfall at the Old Mill Museum (the museum may be closed for the season, but the beautiful view is yours to admire year-round). Love to browse? Pop into the Village Green Gallery for a coffee and a selection of handmade gifts, then peruse the Weston Village Store for a block of local cheese or new jigsaw puzzle. Finally, indulge in an extra dose of holiday cheer at the Weston Village Christmas Shop, where ornaments, retro ceramic trees, and Annalee caroler dolls make the perfect festive souvenirs.
The Vermont Country Store | 5 Favorite Things to Do in Weston, Vermont Photo Credit : Courtesy of the Vermont Country Store
SHOP AT THE VERMONT COUNTRY STORE
Travel back in time and relive your fondest childhood Christmas memories at the Vermont Country Store, the granddaddy of all general stores. Restored by Vrest and Mildred Orton back in 1949, the Vermont Country Store has grown to include a delightful and dizzying array of Vermont-made items, children’s toys, and hard-to-find food, home, and beauty items you thought were lost forever. Find something for everyone on your list, from local wares like Vermont maple syrup and mountain-weave tablecloths to nostalgic favorites like Mosser glassware, Charles Chips, and Tangee cosmetics. Named a 2016 Yankee Editors’ Pick for “Best Country Store.” 657 Main St. 802-824-3184; vermontcountrystore.comSEE MORE:Behind the Scenes at the Vermont Country Store | Video TourWeston Priory | 5 Reasons to visit Weston, Vermont This Holiday Season Photo Credit : Weston Priory Photos
FIND TRANQUILITY AT WESTON PRIORY
Founded in 1953, Weston Priory is home to a tiny community of Benedictine monks, who live in this restored former farmhouse surrounded by lovely gardens and landscaping. Frequent services in the chapel (open to all; check online for days and times) are especially memorable, thanks to the monks’ beautiful choral singing. Find your moment of peace, and then take home a memento from the priory shop, which is stocked with music, wool, pottery, and calligraphy produced by the monks. 58 Priory Hill Road. 802-824-5409; westonpriory.orgSanta at the Vermont Country Store | 5 Favorite Things to Do in Weston, Vermont Photo Credit : Courtesy of the Vermont Country Store
RELAX AND DINE AT THE INN AT WESTON
The 1848 clapboard Inn at Weston, just down the road from the Vermont Country Store, offers the best kind of bed-and-breakfast experience: effortlessly cozy, but with a touch of luxury. Innkeepers Bob and Linda Aldrich leave no need unmet. The inn offers 13 guest rooms, some equipped with whirlpool tubs and gas fireplaces, as well as a pub and a candlelit dining room (both open to nonguests) that provide extra warmth and a menu showcasing ingredients from local farms and the inn’s own garden. For a special treat, visit the inn’s greenhouse, where you’ll find the largest private orchid collection in the Northeast — or, as Yankee put it in 2010, “the coziest little rain forest in the Green Mountains.” 630 Main St. (Rte. 100). 802-824-6789; innweston.com
What are your favorite things to do in Weston, Vermont? Let us know!
Aimee Tucker is Yankee Magazine’s Home Editor and the Senior Digital Editor of NewEngland.com. A lifelong New Englander and Yankee contributor since 2010, Aimee has written columns devoted to history, foliage, retro food, and architecture, and regularly shares her experiences in New England travel, home, and gardening. Her most memorable Yankee experiences to date include meeting Stephen King, singing along to a James Taylor Fourth of July concert at Tanglewood, and taking to the skies in the Hood blimp for an open-air tour of the Massachusetts coastline.
