Vermont was everything we imagined it would be. It has all the charm that you expect out of a New England state. The fall foliage was at peak, and we were surrounded by beauty at every turn.

When we arrived at our campsite in the mountains, we quickly realized we had no service of any kind which meant no cell service, no internet, no streaming! So, we quickly decided to head over to Burlington (Vermont’s largest city) to do some sightseeing, and, who are we kidding here, we went there to pick up a Starlink from the closest Best Buy!

Burlington

On our way to Burlington, we stopped off at Cold Hollow Cider Mill. This was a “must see” according to all the research we did. It is a Cider Mill rooted in 100 years of history. When you arrive, you will find a cider press, bakery, café, market, and a selection of hard ciders. It was a little early for us to start drinking, so we grabbed some of their famous apple cider donuts and a maple, cinnamon roll. Okay, if we are going to be honest, we have had better. In our opinion, Louisburg Cider Mill’s donuts and Louisburg’s Miss B’s cinnamon rolls are clear winners. There is no denying its popularity, though, as this place was packed every day. It didn’t matter what time of day we passed. It created a traffic jam every single time. Once in Burlington, we took a stroll down to Lake Champlain and walked the boardwalk. While strolling around, we learned that they had a gravel bike trail called the Colchester causeway that runs from Burlington to South Hero Island. Let me be clear, this is a gravel path that is bordered on both sides by Lake Champlain and at the end you take a ferry to reach South Hero Island. It’s 21 miles out and back and yes, folks it’s on our agenda.

Stowe

Sightseeing in and around Stowe. Stowe is one of those quintessential, small Vermont towns, and the area around Stowe is simply amazing. We started our day driving through the countryside looking at covered bridges. It seemed like every few minutes we were passing another. Of course, some are the perfect subject for an Instagram-worthy shot, while others offer more rustic charm. After spending a good part of the morning looking at bridges, we started our way up Smuggler’s Notch (which is a narrow pass through the Green Mountains that got its name from the smugglers who used it to ferry their illicit goods through the state). What a fun road, packed with twists and turns, huge boulders, and granite and slate cliffs. Wow! The sights were just breathtaking. If you have an opportunity, we highly suggest the Stowe Mountain gondola. It’s a little pricey, but the view is amazing. If you are thinking ahead, a picnic at the top would be a great place to take in all the fall beauty. We didn’t plan ahead. So, we decided to have lunch at the Von Trapp Family Lodge. For the classic movie buffs out there, that name undoubtedly rings a bell. The Von Trapps were the family at the center of the film classic, The Sound of Music. It turns out there was an actual Von Trapp family who fled Germany to escape the Nazis. In the end, Italy wasn’t far enough away to escape Nazi reach. So, the family immigrated to the U.S. and settled in Vermont where they opened a lodge. Several members of the family live on the property to this day. The lodge has a couple options for dining. We chose their outdoor patio that overlooked the Green Mountains. (That’s the name of the mountain range, not a description of how they looked. They were covered in an array of red, orange, rust, yellow, lime, and green. Truly spectacular!) After lunch we walked the grounds ourselves, but they offer tours of the Inn if you are so inclined.

Beer Me!

There are a lot of craft breweries in the area, and we chose to try The Alchemist Brewery in Stowe. The brewery was originally founded in 2003 in Waterbury but, after tropical storm Irene flooded most of the state, including their business, they were forced to move and chose Stowe for their new home. The interior has a funky vibe, and the outside has immense lush grounds with plenty of Adirondack chairs, picnic tables and outdoor games.

Ben & Jerry’s

As true ice cream fans know, Vermont is the birthplace of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. Today, they have three factories, with the one in Waterbury being opened to the public for tours. It’s the smallest of their buildings but still pumps out 350,000 pints a day! (For the record, according to the experts, a pint is, in fact, the perfect single serving size! Feel free to enjoy guilt-free!) Being big fans of production tours (and ice cream), there was no way we were missing this one, especially given the big-time perks this tour provided! Yes, you get free samples!! The tour was brief but interesting, and just a little bit cheesy.

Fun fact #1: Most of their ice cream flavors were submitted by their consumers. If you submit a suggestion, and they end up producing it, you get FREE ICE CREAM FOR LIFE!!!!!

Fun Fact #2: Their most popular flavor in the U.S. is “Half Baked” which is a mixture of cookies and cream (the global #1) and chocolate brownie.

Smuggler’s Notch Hike

After our tour, we thought it might be best to burn some calories, and what better way to do that than to climb a Mountain. So, we drove back up to Smuggler’s Notch and took the first trail we saw. We had no water and no backpack. It was just us and the trail. Little did we know, we chose a trail that was kinda hard, 4.5 miles roundtrip with an elevation gain of 900’! (that is the equivalent of walking to the top of a 90-story building) over some very rocky ground. But, it was worth it!! When we reached the top, we were greeted by a unique mountain-top pond, and a view that stretches all the way to Canada! It was a truly beautiful reward for our effort, and as a bonus, we made it back down before dark with no mishaps!

Back to Burlington

The next morning, we woke up and thought…”Boy, we sure didn’t get enough exercise yesterday! We should go for a 20-mile bike ride”. So, we did just that. We drove into Burlington and rented e-bikes (out of both curiosity and a sense of self-preservation) and set out to bike the Colchester causeway. The causeway is an old railroad line that has been converted to a walking/running/biking path. It tracks along the shore of Lake Champlain for about 10 miles. The best part is the last few miles where the causeway cuts across a portion of the lake itself. The result is a trail that has water on both sides! It makes for a fun, easy and very scenic ride. For us, it was another great day. It started off a little chilly but by lunch time it was perfect. We rode 10 miles outbound, had lunch on the dock of the seasonal bike ferry overlooking the lake, and then headed the 10 miles back to the bike shop before heading back to the campground. Before we got out of Burlington though, we had to stop and see one of those quirky landmarks we love so much. (See the Quirky stops page for details)

Vermont 100

Our final day in Vermont was a travel day to our next campsite. As we had time to kill, we took the scenic route down Vermont 100. This is one of the most famous of the New England Fall Foliage scenic drives. We drove through miles and miles of wonderful scenery and a number of small towns….some of which were incredibly charming. We made several stops along the way to take photographs which inevitably failed to capture the amazing array of colors. We had lunch in Killington, Vermont which is famous for the quality of its skiing and as the birthplace of the snowboard! After lunch, we turned east toward our New Hampshire campground.

All in all, it was a wonderful and relaxing day, right up until it wasn’t….. (Story continues on the Oh Sh*t page!)

Stowe, Vermont