Hi Skeptic!
What a great weekend to visit – the weather should be perfect! I cannot recommend any place to eat lobster rolls in Vermont; we go to Maine to get ours! As you know, Vermont is landlocked, no shoreline. Indeed, I am leaving tomorrow for six days in Maine! We will eat lobster rolls, and also have reservations on a cruise to an island in Boothbay Harbor for a clambake.
Your first stop in Vermont on Interstate 91 north should be the Vermont Welcome Center, soon after you cross from Massachusetts into Vermont, around mile marker 5. We usually stop there for a potty break and to stretch our legs and look at the displays which change seasonally. You will get ideas for places to visit throughout the state from all the displays. It is a beautiful venue and well-maintained, but there are no services (food, gas). So, generally, working my way northward on 91 are the following:
Vermont is well known for craft beers, with many breweries open to visitors. The Harpoon Brewery and Beer Garden is just a mile or two off 91 in Windsor. Although I don’t like beer, my retirement party was held there! River Roost Brewery is in White River Junction, and I’m pretty sure a couple more have started up in that same town in the last few months. There are also many small restaurants in that neighborhood, if you like ethnic foods, although I think you do have access to that where you live.
Small artisan cheese factories are a growing industry in Vermont. Grafton Village Cheese Company is in Brattleboro, but I don’t know anything about it. Vermont Farmstead Cheese Company is in the same park as the Harpoon Brewery, but I think they do not have a workspace that you can visit, just a market to purchase cheese. Cobb Hill, a modern “commune” in Hartland, also has an interesting cheese-making facility.
In Norwich, a few feet off 91 and a mile from King Arthur Flour is the Montshire Museum, a science focus with many first-rate hands on activities to try. The Fairbanks Museum and Planetarium in St. Johnsbury (an hour north) is a fascinating place.
You mentioned “Woodchuck”, but I think it was auto-corrected from Woodstock? It is a lovely, quaint, Vermont town well-worth a visit, but about 20-30 minutes from I91 on a sometimes slow 2 lane road. Some places to visit include The Rockefeller estate, glass blowing at Simon Pierce, Billings Farm and Museum. If you are interested in books, this weekend is the annual event variously called “bookstock literary festival”, “bookfest”, etc. There are readings, art exhibits, music, workshops, and a huge book sale, all on the green and in buildings around town. You do need reservations for some of the events.
I don’t know your interests, or how much time you’ll actually have to play tourist. I would say you should spend 3-4 days visiting along 91 from one border to the next. The southern part of Vermont is quite populated, from the Welcome Center north to Norwich, about a one hour drive. From there to Derby Line at the border, is about two hours. That area is called the Northeast Kingdom and it is pretty barren, small towns, miles between interstate exits, but gorgeous views of mountains and rivers and lakes.
I hope you enjoy your trip! And let me know if you have specific interests or things you want to see.
