fall colors
 

my folks are coming to visit me in boston (i recently moved) and they want to go to the ben and jerry's ice cream factory in vermont. what else is there to do around there or other areas in vermont? are there any good fall colors to check out?

thanks.

Don't know when they are visiting, but peak colors are around Boston area this weekend, not in Vermont.

Burlington is a fun city, about 1/2 hour NW of Waterbury (where the B&J factory is).
There actually is some color left in the Burlington area, although it's past peak. This part of the state is always the last to turn.

Well, it's a little late for foliage up here in the north country, but there will still be some to see. The drive from Boston to Waterbury Vt via Rte 89 thru New Hampshire is very scenic. You may want to stop off in Hanover NH for lunch. Hanover is a picturesque college town with lots of good places to eat, and nice for a quick stroll. Another good city to stop for dinner is Montpelier Vt, which also has lots of good restaurants. If you are up to it, you can drive to Burlington, which is a very pretty small city on the banks of Lake Champlain. Woodstock Vt. is another cute, upscale Vermont town, and if you have the time, the Billings Farm Mueseum and Rockefellar estate are a great place to visit - just a few minutes outside Woodstock.

If someone in the family enjoys baking, visit King Arthur Flour in Norwich. We had lunch at Simon Pierce in Queechee that I enjoyed tremendously. The restaurant opens at 11:30 and we were able to get a seat overlooking the waterfall. The place uses a hydro generator. You can watch glass blowers and potters. Their work is for sale. I agree that Woodstock is probably one of the prettiest towns in VT but very upscale. I also like Montpelier and would recommend the restaurant, Main Street Grill, run by the Culinary Institute. Get reservations. Vermont Country Store is great for a visit and they have something you need to buy. Plan at least an hour to poke around. They have two stores. The original one is in an old building and I don't think it is open on Sundays. Miles Kimball has a studio in Brandon VT. It's a nice little town and might be having their scarecrow festival. Near Ben and Jerry's is Cold Hollow Cider. It's a gift shop with an area where you can watch cider being made. Across the parking lot is another gift shop where you can sample some wines.

We just went to southern Vermont last weekend and the leaves were already starting to fall. Middle Mass. and all off Conn. were beautiful! I would say high color.

In Vermont we went to the Adams Family Farm. It was so pretty there and lots of lovely towns along the way. Although it maybe be childish for adults (we had our daughter with us) they had so many things on the farm that we enjoyed too. They make there own quilts, fudge and Maple Syrup. I know they are also having some Halloween Bon Fires until the 31st.

Also I heard there was the Vermont Teddy Bear factory to visit.

You can do a search on the internet for those two.

I stopped by Ben and Jerry's about 2 weeks ago, it was so mobbed that I left. There were people in serpentine lines waiting to buy ice cream, also they charged a fee for the tour. I did not find anything charming about this place, LOL. ( I had just been in Woodstock earlier that day, now THAT was charming.)