Usually while traveling, I want to find the secret spots, go where the locals go. I don’t want to be a tourist I want to be a traveler.
Autumn in New England is a time to cast those pretensions aside. It is a time to load up on maple candies and cheese samples, take long drives and guzzle apple cider like all the guidebooks advise.
Those of us that live up here call it “Foliage Season” and we all partake when the leaves start turning those fiery reds and oranges. Droves of cars make their way north to admire the scenery, the sidewalks fill with herds of pedestrians shopping for some small town swag.
Waterbury, Vermont is always on my autumn agenda so Sarah and I set out for a good old fashioned, north country day trip.
If you are looking for a one stop shop for all of Vermont’s finest staples, this would be the place.
What to do:
The factory tours and tastings at Cold Hollow Cider Mill, Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream Factory, Cabot Creamery, and Lake Champlain Chocolates.
Where to Eat:
The Prohibition Pig for “smoked meat and libations”. Wash that brisket and burger down with restoration-style cocktails such as the Throw the Horns- Rittenhouse Rye, Sandeman Madeirda, Marischino, grapefruit.
The Alchemist Brewery for a Heady Topper, the double IPA that was ranked No. 1 beer in the world on BeerAdvocate.com.
Where to stay:
Moose Meadow Lodge. Vermont’s only log-cabin style B&B with a tree house suite. Need I say more?
So grab your camera and hit that country road!
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