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"Welcome Neighbors".

Please come and visit Central Vermont and enjoy the great outdoors.

This site contains information on the cities of Montpelier, Barre, Northfield,

and Waterbury, and a score of smaller Vermont communities

as well as The Stowe and Sugarbush Resort areas.

I hope that you enjoy your electronic visit.

So Please Come In Person Sometime Soon, You Will Be Glad You Did.

Shouldn't You Be In Vermont...Today ?

"A Live Event... The Vermont Fall Foliage Show".

Now through the End of Mother Nature's Fall Foliage Show!

Enjoying The Best Fall Foliage Season In Vermont Ever.

The Church Suppers, Ice Cream Socials, & The All-You Can Eat Popcorn.

They Are All There For All To Enjoy.

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Come Stay With Us...

This Fall Foliage Season!

Centrally located in Central Vermont.

The Vermont Foliage Season Of

September 1, 2010 - October 31, 2010.

Please be sure to make your Fall Foliage

Reservations Early in Advance !

Typically By August 15th, 2010.

Our Supply Of "ROOMS IS LIMITED"...

Plan ahead for your "Holiday Reservations".

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SEPTEMBER 22, 2010 IS THE FIRST DAY OF AUTUMN.

Please Come And Join Us

This Fall Foliage Season!

WHY WAIT ANY LONGER.

"Do You Have Your Reservations" ?

Toll Free Phone:
866-485-6655
Phone: 802-476-5856
Fax: 802-479-0800

Book Online

Call Toll Free For Your Reservation Today !

Book Online!

*Please Note: To Receive Any Special Rate Package,
You Must Mention The Package When making Your Reservations.

Lodging Availability.

The Foliage season is one of the prettiest, and busiest, times in Vermont. Room Accommodations typically
fill up on weekends in mid September and early October. Although mid-week availabilityis usually greater,
it is always advisable to book your rooms in advance when traveling during the foliage season.

*Lodging Notes*
	Innkeepers often require a minimum Two-Night stay during foliage season, especially on weekends.

	Expect to make an advance deposit to assure your reservation.

	Be sure to understand the innkeeper's policy on refunds or reservation changes.

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Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

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Here Are Some Tips To Get The Most Out Of Your Autumn Odyssey.

Planning For The Foliage Season.

Making Your Room Reservations.

What's The Happiest Day Of The Year ?

"Crazy Over Colors".

Autumn Poetry.

Autumn Images.

Autumn "Lifesavors".

Autumn Links.

When Is The Best Time To Really Visit Vermont In

The Fall Foliage Season?

When Is Vermont At Peak Foliage ?

Take A Midweek Peek This Fall.

Identify the Leaves of Vermont Foliage.

Autumn A Time Of Change.

Shooting Color.

Vermont's Top Foliage Photographers Reveal Their Secrets.

The Vermont County Fairs Are Also Fun ToAttend...

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Shouldn't You Be In Vermont...Today ?

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Planning For The Foliage Season.

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Vermont's foliage season usually begins during early or mid-September and extends into late October. The magic moment of the 'best' foliage can be found at many different times and places as the season progresses.

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Making Your Room Reservations.

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The following tips will be helpful for planning a fall visit to Vermont:
Make your reservations well in advance, especially if you plan to visit during the first two weekends of October.
Innkeepers often require a minimum Two-Night stay during foliage season, particularly on weekends.
Expect to make an advance deposit to assure your reservation. (No-shows are usually charged full price.)
Be sure to understand the innkeeper's policy on refunds or reservation changes.
Consider a multi-night stay in a resort area with day trips to surrounding sites and attractions.
If you are planning at the last minute, schedule your trip to Vermont during the mid-week. Lodging choices will be far greater, as well as the opportunity to enjoy some special community events, such as chicken pie suppers, that are traditionally scheduled on week nights.
Contact lodging bureaus at major resort areas or local chambers of commerce for the latest information on availibility.

If you do not make advance reservations, be sure to secure a room early each day. Vermont resort areas have the most abundant lodging facilities, including inns, hotels, and condominiums, during the foliage season. Lodging will often be available at these areas when beds are filled in cities and larger towns.

*Making Your Room Reservations.*
	Make reservations well in advance - especially if you want to visit on a weekend.
	The first two weekends of October are the state's busiest of the whole year. Book these dates as early as possible.
	Consider staying in an alternate area - Remember, Vermont is a small state and an hour's drive can take you from one side of the state to the other.
	Consider a multi-night stay in a resort area with day trips to surrounding sites and attractions.
	Book mid-week. Properties that fill up on weekends often have vacancies during the week.
	If you do not make advance reservations, the Vermont Lodging and Restaurant Association recommends securing a room by 4 p.m. each day. Vermont resort areas have ample lodging facilities, including inns, hotels and condominiums, during the foliage season. Lodging will often be available at these areas when beds are filled in large towns.
	Contact lodging bureaus at major resort areas and Regional Marketing Organizations for the latest information on availability.

*The Color Change.*
	Different varieties of trees change at different times. Red maples are among the first to change, especially those along roadsides and in wet areas.
	The earliest foliage change generally occurs in the northern part of the state near the Canadian border and at higher elevations.
	By mid-September full color begins to appear across the north, moving progressively south during October. Typically, groups of trees with brilliant color can be found throughout September.
	"Peak" color is a bit of a myth, since every person has their own ideas of what "peak" looks like. Typically, the fullest color can be found from late-September in the north through mid-October in the south.
	Many experienced foliage viewers actually consider late October the most beautiful time in Vermont. Once the most brilliant colors have passed, the hills take on a subtler and richer range of hues that are just as beautiful, if not as spectacular.

*Lodging Notes.*
	Innkeepers often require a minimum Two-Night stay during The Fall Foliage Season, especially on weekends.

	Expect to make an advance deposit to assure your reservation.

	Be sure to understand the innkeeper's policy on refunds or reservation changes.

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SEPTEMBER 22, 2008 IS THE FIRST DAY OF AUTUMN.

What's The Happiest Day Of The Year ?

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Many people might invariably says "Christmas!" or "The first day of vacation!" Children might insist, "The last day of school!"

For my part, it's the day we shut the air conditioner down for the season.

While I welcomed summer like those children when I was their age, the presence of summer was always a debatable joy. Sure there was no school from mid-June through Labor Day. And summer meant we were going somewhere on vacation, whether it was to visit an aunt in Massachusetts or partake of even greater joys in places like Williamsburg and Lake George and Quebec. I was always possessed of a wanderlust and late spring and early summer was always an

agony of waiting for July 4th week (my dad's customary vacation) to arrive.

But summer had its downsides. Heat for one; growing up with no air conditioning, there are still memories of those breathless summer nights when Dad prowled the house looking for some relief and I lay upside down in the bed, hoping for a breeze from the two windows down at the foot. Sun was another: it gave me headaches. Worse was Mom's litany: go outside and get some fresh air. Why go out in the sun, sweat and get a headache when it was much nicer to stretch out next to the fan and read a book? I was terrible at games anyway and the only thing that I did well was play tag, a pastime that, after age ten, was declassee among socially-conscious female classmates who considered it "babyish."

Worse, in the summer Rhode Island was invaded by tourists; all our favorite haunts on Sunday afternoon rides--a tradition from early childhood--from Galilee to Point Judith to Newport to Diamond Hill were clotted with cars from Massachusetts and Connecticut (you had to pay to park at their beaches, so they came to ours). Dad complained as we inched through the traffic and sweltered.

Living in Georgia in the summer has its own set of problems: an overabundance stinging insects and smothering heat. We joke that sometimes the air is thick enough to see, or that it hits you in the face like a wet, steaming washrag, and movement is just to get from one air-conditioned haven to another. I've said more than once that I spend summer half in hibernation, waiting for a livable climate.

Given all that, nothing can beat those equinotical winds!

Fall is like spring again without all the problems. Spring means glorious color in the Atlanta, due to an abundance of flowering trees, but it also means pollen and sneezing--and that dreaded summer is on its way. By mid-May even the attic fan can't chase away the heat and the air conditioner--followed by the inevitable sky-high electric bills--is pressed into service, chugging its endless litany day and night.

Fall, if the conditions are right, means color as well, the high color of autumn leaves. While spring is white and reds and pinks and yellows, fall is scarlet and crimson, orange and flame color, saffron, even red-purples dotted with the pale trunks of white birches and the pure green of the fir trees. The breezes eddy and cool and the windows are thrown open again and bodies feel alive without the heat sapping their energy.

Autumn is also full of holidays, from Columbus Day, usually the "last hurrah" of weekend trips, but more importantly the time the leaves reach their peak in Northern New England, to Veteran's Day to Thanksgiving to those mysterious, anticipatory days before the winter holidays that lead into the winter solstice. It's leaves to be crunched when no one is looking, heady scents of a chill day, skies so blue they hurt, cleansing breezes, rainy weekend days just right for reading or sleeping.

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"Crazy Over Colors".

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From childhood I've been "a color junkie," whether it was something as small as the 64 box of Crayolas to fireworks on St. Mary's Feast Sunday, multicolor flower beds to the equally multicolor lights on the Christmas tree. Little wonder then that fall, followed so closely by winter that they trod on one another's heels (I was as dotty about snow as I was about color), was my favorite season. Spring was pretty, with its forsythia yellow and tulip red, but it couldn't hold a candle to the other end of the year.

I also remember autumn as one of the rare times during the year I saw my dad "play." Oh, even my introverted father had a great time at our big, noisy Italian gatherings: weddings, showers, holiday celebrations. (My bemused best friend, speaking of her wedding, still comments about what a good time my dad had--he even caught the garter!) But usually he was quiet unless some situation elicited some emotional response: the first sight of the Grand Canyon, a beautiful vista along the freeway, his favorite Disney attraction of all time, It's a Small World.

When I was small, as soon as the trees became their most brilliant, we used to make a pilgrimage out to a certain open field across from the water purification plant at the Scituate Reservior. Not only was my small self fascinated by the big fountains of waters outside the waterworks, but lining the edge of the field were maples, elms, oaks, and other trees, bright in their reds and oranges and yellows. Daddy and I would walk down to the edge of the field, trailed by Mom, gather leaves--and often play tag, chasing each other around the field. What I remember most about those excursions was laughter--from the chase, from picking out just the best leaves for a bouquet, from anticipation of ice cream at Newport Creamery afterwards.

Once my mother went back to work when I was in junior high school, we had extra cash for things such as vacations, so as I got older, we wandered farther afield for our leaf viewing (alas, the State of Rhode Island eventually fenced in our magic "playfield" at the reservoir). We eventually ended up doing the Columbus Day weekend jaunt so familiar to hundreds of New Englanders, the "ride to see the leaves" up to New Hampshire, with the inevitable stop at the State Liquor Store cheerfully situated on both the northbound and southbound sides of Interstate 93, to get the annual supply of alcohol before the Christmas holidays (brandy and vermouth to offer visiting uncles and of course the essential gallon of hearty burgundy for a supply of wine biscuits). Judging by the traffic going in and out of both places, it was a annual stop for many folks.

The leaves never failed to delight. No matter how good the quality of the color around the Scituate Reservoir, the leaves of New Hampshire and Vermont always surpassed them. Indeed, there were some years they appeared lit from within, since we seemed to encounter our share of cloudy days for the trek. Against a dark, dank drizzly sky, instead of conquered by the rain, the leaves glowed despite it, liquid gold and vivid orange and startling scarlet. By the time Columbus Day weekend arrived, the rare white birches had already lost their leaves and their trunks were bright flashes in between the riotous deciduous trees and the gracious dark green of the firs.

During one of our summer trips to Lake George we had discovered a better route than the Mass Pike and the Northway (I-87): Interstate 93 to Route 4 across New Hampshire and thence to Vermont and finally New York. On the route was a lone shop on a hill called "Scotland by the Yard" (filled with the most marvelous woollen goods), Killington and Piko Peak (deserted in this season, although one particular wintry October we drove through a swirl of snowflakes), the picturesque village of Woodstock (driving through which I could only press my face against the glass of the car window and long to see since Daddy had a horror of what he called "tourist traps"), and our favorite place, Queechee Gorge, just over the Vermont border. Today there are outlet stores there; when we began going it there was only a small souvenir post hawking cheeses, maple products, and the inevitable cedar remembrances--to this day the smell of cedar reminds me of souvenir shops.

Once walking Queechee Gorge ("Vermont's Grand Canyon"), you forgot the road, the bridge, the shop. Five minutes from cars and trucks, there was almost a complete silence of a wooded path, with only the rustle of dried leaves underfoot, the rush of the water in the river below, and the scramble of squirrels to break it. Each tree was more vivid than the last, more shades of the basic color than you could imagine, the darkest of the scarlet trees even moving into the realm of purple.

One year, away from the prying eyes of parents, I left the path and entered the woods proper. Careful to set a landmark to return to (no need to become a statistic, after all), I spent twenty minutes or so turned back in time, an explorer of the "forest primaeval," scuffing leaves, walking the ridge of fallen trees, hopping over brushwood, following a trail that perhaps was a deer's-- though more likely belonging to a human visitor like myself--between twists of scarlet sumac. High above the sky was blotted out by the tops of the trees and even the last of the road sounds vanished. I supposed it was cold, but I hardly felt it.

I couldn't stay too long--the words "worry" and "Mom" being synonymous--but I managed to drink in what memories I could. Today I can still close my eyes, see the treetops, the tilted trunks of long-dead trees, the crooked pathway behind me, the joyous colors of the leaves and the brush.

Oddly, our efforts to proceed west always seemed met with disaster. The two times we tried to view the leaves at one of my favorite places in the world, Lake George, New York, it was rainy and cold. The sun did manage to break through on one trip and we have foggy, but colorful photos of the area from the top of Prospect Mountain (the park there then a new feature, the area having been closed for years after the last hotel on the summit burned down in the heyday of resort hotels). Ironically, the most beautiful tree we saw, a brilliant scarlet maple whose vivid color nearly hurt our eyes on that gloomy day, was at a stolid, unimaginative little rest area, directly next to the rest rooms!

(I hoped to break the "jinx" years later when my mother, husband, and I drove the familiar route once more; alas, it rained again, although for a second time on Prospect Mountain the sun struggled its way through thick clouds to give him one shining, elusive view of the lake, a shimmering crystal blue surrounded by crimson and flame.)

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Autumn Poetry.

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The Milkweed
Cecil Cavendish

The milkweed pods are breaking,
And the bits of silken down
Float off upon the autumn breeze
Across the meadows brown.

I wish three times, and watch them go
Far as my eyes can see.
Some day a faery wind will blow
My wishes back to me!

An Autumn Day
Eleanore Myers Jewett

On such a day of singing blue
The maddest, gladdest dreams come true!
I know, because the maple-trees
Have turned a redder, golder hue,
     And every keen, smoke-scented breeze
     Thrills me with hinted mysteries.
I know, for heaven was never spanned
     With fleeter, whiter clouds than these!
On such a day each road is planned
To lead to some enchanted land;
     Each turning meets expectancy.
The signs I read on every hand.
     I know by autumn's wizardry
On such a day the world can be
Only a great glad dream for me--
Only a great glad dream for me!

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Come, Little Leaves
George Cooper

"Come, little leaves," said the wind one day,
"Come o'er the meadows with me and play;
Put on your dresses of red and gold,
For summer is gone and the days grow cold."

Soon as the leaves heard the wind's loud call,
Down they came fluttering, one and all;
Over the brown fields they danced and flew,
singing the glad little songs they knew.

"Cricket, goodbye, we've been friends so long;
Little brook, sing us your farewell song;
Say you are sorry to see us go;
Ah, you will miss us, right well we know.

"Dear little lambs in your fleecy fold,
Mother will keep you from harm and cold;
fondly we watched you in vale and glade;
Say, will you dream of our loving shade?"

Dancing and whirling, the little leaves went;
Winter had called them, and they were content;
soon, fast asleep in their earthy beds,
The snow laid a coverlid over their heads.

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Fall Sparrows
Angela Call

The cold, late autumn weather seemed
No time for nesting; but the pair,
We guessed, had spied this place, deemed
Just right—our spacious hanging basket
Of pink geraniums with one bloom.
The basket swayed, and plans took shape
As grasses, twigs, and bright pink plume
Circled to cradle baby ones.
We applauded the chirping, gritty
Two on their finished, arduous work—
Sturdy, cat-safe, and flower pretty.

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Transition
Steven-Adele Morley

One by
One by
Twos and
Threes
The petals
Fall from
Off the trees.
Crimson, yellow,
Orange, maize,
Red and bright
Before my gaze.
Transfixed I stand
More hypnotized
Than if I stared
Into the eyes
Of some great master.
Here today the softened
Breeze
That paints the garnet
In the leaves;
but gone tomorrow will they be,
Leaving but the barren tree.

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Dancing Leaves
Louise Valley

The wind is whistling
     Through the trees;
It plays a tune
     For dancing leaves.
They swing and sway
     Around, around.
Dancing till they
     Touch the ground.
A little leaf here,
     A little leaf there,
Until the branches
     All are bare.
Then winter's frost
     Completes the show,
And dancing leaves
     Are covered with snow.

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The Unraked Leaf
Tom McFadden

Bright, solo leaf, now unpursued,
Seems ember in time's interlude.
Surviving, shiny autumn flake,
Missed by early winter rake.

          Fallen brightness, salient,
     Briefly lengthens season spent,
Its wondrous hues a last contrast
     To the chilled and fading grass.

          A moment cast of special un
Throws glitter in a rainbow run—
     Resplendent flash of magic brief
          In final spell of unraked leaf.

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Something Told the Wild Geese
Rachel Field

Something told the wild geese
It was time to go.
Thought the fields lay golden,
Something whispered, "Snow."

Leaves were green and stirring,
Berries, luster-glossed,
But beneath warm feathers
Something cautioned, "Frost."

All the sagging orchards
Steamed with amber spice,
But each wild breast stiffened
At remembered ice.

Something told the wild geese
It was time to fly,
Summer sun was on their wings,
Winter in their cry.

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October Wears an Amber Gown
John C. Bonser

When autumn's brightly patterned quilt
begins to fade and fray,
and corn abandons shriveled stalks
and fields are flaxen hay;

October stores her sunny clothes,
puts on an amber gown,
and scatters chestnut-colored leaves
along the roads to town.

She pauses by a peaceful pond
where children come to play,
but they're in school and fishes hide
in waters chilled and gray.

Alone, she hikes the woodland trails
through forests sere and still;
then slowly clibes in purple boots
up far November Hill.

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Torches
Berniece Ayers Hall

Thank You, God, for autumn trees
On dark hills that burn
Like bold torches. Oh, from these
there is much to learn.
When October winds have swept
Down with chilling blast,
Wise and patient trees have kept,
Treasuring till last,
Then to lavish gold and red
Like a living flame.
Thus with beauty earth is fed
As the hills proclaim
Praises 'neath a cheerless sky.
So in autumn, Lord, would I.

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Bonfire Days
Grace Strickler Dawson

Ho! for the leaves that eddy down,
Crumpled yellow and withered brown,
Hither and yonder and up the street
And trampled under the passing feet;
Swirling, billowing, drifting by,
With a whisper soft and a rustling sigh,
Starting aloft to windy ways,
Telling the coming of bonfire days.

Ho! for the rakes that young hands wield,
Gathering leaves from far afield,
Heaping them high and wide and long,
For the scurrying of feet, the snatch of song,
And the flurrying gust that all the while
Swishes the edge of the big, brown pile,
Ready to leap to a crackling blaze--
Ho! for the joys of bonfire days.

Ho! for the blue-gray smoke that curls
Suddenly skyward, then unfurls
A wide, dim mantle above the flare
Of the red flame's flash and the white flame's glare--
A blue-gray mantle that floats afar
Through the half-bare trees where the last leaves are,
And bears in its folds of gossamer haze
The pungent tang of the bonfire days.

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	Vermont Farmland (Yankee)
	A country road (Country Extra)
	A country lane in New York (Yankee)
	Blue Ridge Parkway (Blue Ridge Country)
	Fall on an Illinois farm (Country)
	A tree reflects its beauty (Country)
	A country road overhung with trees (Country)
	A country trail (Country Extra)
	Blue Ridge Parkway (Country)
	Winding through the trees (Country)
	New England Sugar Shack (Country)
	Stairsteps with waterfall (Country)
	A road lined with golden leaves in Flagstaff, Arizona (Country)
	Mist burns off on a fall morning (Vermont Life)

The images on this page were culled from various sources, including the Providence Journal website, The Weather Channel website, Yankee Magazine (both linked above), Vermont Life website, Blue Ridge Country website, and Country and Country Extra magazine (periodicals by Reiman Publications). If you enjoy the Country photos, I heartily suggest you buy or subscribe to the magazines.

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Autumn "Lifesavors".

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» ...bright-eyed chipmunks with their cheeks full of goodies gathered for winter.

» ..."apple" trees: those trees that turn from green to red like a ripening apple.

» ...brightly colored trees around a reflective pond.

» ...green trees with only their tips turned to scarlet and gold.

» ...the faraway scent of burning leaves.

» ...a brisk breeze that showers you with colorful leaves.

» ...the golden glow of the air.

» ...white birch trees agains the fall leaves.

» ...woodsy roads lined with colorful bushes.

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My Thanksgiving Page

Yankee Magazine Foliage Info

Weather Channel

White Mountains Foliage Report

Georgia Fall Color Update

Vermont Fall Foliage

Chemistry of Autumn

Fall Color in the Eastern US

Just What is Indian Summer?

Elaine's Autumn Page

Autumn in The Holiday Zone

High Holy Days on the Net

Canadian Thanksgiving

1492

Columbus Navigation Homepage

Halloween.com

Billy Bear's Hallowe'en

Hallowe'en on the Net

Ben & Jerry's Hallowe'en

Howlin' Hallowe'en Party

Elaine's Hallowe'en Page

Miss Mary's Victorian Hallowe'en

Guy Fawkes Day

"In Flanders Fields"

PBS's The Great War

The Great War Series

World War I Remembered

Remembrance Day

Sheryl's Veteran's Day Site

Arlington National Cemetery

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When Is The Best Time To Really Visit Vermont In

The Fall Foliage Season ?

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There's no really is no best time to visit Vermont for fall foliage.

When to come ? Vermont Fall Foliage Season usually begins early to mid-September and extends through mid-October. It varies somewhat from year to year. As such, there are many ‘Peaks’ so that you can make your plans based on the timing and location that works for you.

Where to Go ! Vermont's Foliage Season typically begins in the North and at highest elevations, then progresses both South, and into lower elevations. The Northeast Kingdom generally experiences the first

foliage change. Lower elevations in southern Vermont, the Lake Champlain and Connecticut River Basins typically exhibit Peak
Foliage conditions later than other parts of Vermont. Exceptions of course Individual roadside trees, those in cities and towns and in

swampy disturbed or other areas where normal forest conditions
do not exist may change earlier than those in nearby forests.

Why it Happens: As Autumn approaches, a variety of factors cause changes in leaf pigment production. Green gives way to the varied hues, already in the leaves, which are seen during Foliage Season. Vermont's Foliage is always among the Best because of a variety of other natural factors, including soil types, amount of forested land, topography and a broad range of tree species, with a large amount

of maples.

How To Be Best Enjoyed and Remembered. Bring your Digital Camera and or Movie Camera. Please take lots of pictures of your trip, you will perhaps get even a few Red or Orange Maples Trees in your pictures. So please come prepared to tour and see all the sights. Foliage Season prediction and reporting is, at best, an inexact science. The 'best' Foliage can be found at many different times and places as the season progresses, and might be just around the corner. Time of day, lighting, weather conditions, all alter the view slightly. Foliage viewing is also subjective, so, take time to check around many corners and over the brow of several hills to find your favorite.

Who Does The Foliage Reports ? They are a prediction of the conditions that will exist, developed from reports submitted by Vermont foresters twice weekly in September and October. "Live Event Vermont Fall Foliage Show" Now through the end of Mother Nature's Fall Show!

The length of the State of Vermont is roughly 150 miles from southernmost Brattleboro to the Canadian Border. And the elevations run from sea level at the Connecticut River border with New Hampshire to 4,393

feet at the height of Mount Mansfield. Temperatures tend to drop at higher elevations, and you would expect colder nighttime temperatures the further north you go ... Burlington, for example,

is going to be colder than

Brattleboro most days. Which means

that foliage begins earlier in Burlington and the higher elevations

of northern and central Vermont, and later in the southern portion

of the state -- except, of course, for the Mount Snow area.

The Fall Foliage Season begins officially in September with apple picking. Macs, Cortlands, Delicious, Golden Delicious, Macouns, Greenings are the varieties that do best year in and year out in our Vermont autumn growing season.

And beginning late September and into October, there are many apple events ands apple fall festivals all over

the state, culminating in Dummerston's Apple Days, which usually coincides with Columbus Day weekend. Which is not to say that color is synonymous with apples. Far from it. The Maples, of course, provide the richest colors, but so do the birches, elm, sawtooth and other native deciduous trees.

Apples,Apples,

Apples, and more Apples,

by the crate,

for pies,

and applesauce,

and for eating

right off the tree.

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When Is Vermont At Peak Foliage ?

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And how do we know when the fall foliage really over ?

When the frost is on the pumpkin?

Or when the American wild turkey runs for cover? By the first weekend in November, and certainly by Veterans Day, foliage season is over ... and the turkey never want to be visible, shy as they are ... you would be, too, if you were on the menu for Thanksgiving Day (Vermont's organic turkey farms produce a superior bird, by the way) ... and by November, pretty much all the leaves are gone. A lot of Vermonters we know think the first weekend of November is the best weekend to be here ... weather's usually pretty good ... and the traffic's gone.

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Take A Midweek Peek This Fall.

Our fall foliage “Midweek Peek” section is designed to help you get the most out of your visit to Vermont this autumn. We've put together a bunch of sweet deals on lodging, dining, attractions and more all over the Green Mountain State.

Plan your Vermont vacation for midweek this fall. Trust us – the leaves aren’t only brilliant on the weekends! So find yourself exploring the stunning hues of a Vermont fall from our mountaintops, back roads, downtowns, waterways, and trails during midweek this fall.

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Identify The Leaves Of Vermont Foliage.

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Get to know Vermont's Fall Leaves from the Speckled Alder to the Large-Toothed Aspen. Learn how to identify Vermont's foliage with Scenes of Vermont descriptions and colorful photographs.

Alder

The leaves are 2-4 inches in length usually have a double-toothed margin. Leaves turn yellow and brown in the fall. Speckled alder thickets provide cover for moose, white-tailed deer, rabbits, and others. Moose, muskrats, beavers, and rabbits browse the twigs and foliage.

American Beech

The dried leaves sometimes remain on the branches of young trees all winter. The American beech has the most easily recognizable bark: it is pale gray and smooth. You can sometimes see claw marks on the trunks of the trees where bears have tried to climb up a tree to munch on some beech nuts.

Basswood

The leaves are heart shaped and 5-6 inches long. the base of the leaf is lopsided and feel thin and smooth. The twigs grow in a zig zag fashion and are bright green or red. People uses this wood for hand carving. It's also used to make modelling and interior house trim. Can be used to make wooden food containers.

Largetooth Aspen

(Largetooth poplar, bigtooth aspen)

The leaves are simple, 2-4 inches long and very coarse-toothed. The shape is triangular to round.
Leaves are dark green above and pale green below. The uses for this wood is veneer, matches, boxes and in the manufacturing of pulp.

Mountain Ash

Grows as a shrub but can grow to the size of a small tree. Leaves are divided into 7-11 leaflets, rounded tips, margins toothed mostly above middle. Found in open forest, streambanks and clearings.

Pin Cherry

The pin cherry occurs in most parts of Canada and the northern United States. The leaves turn a bright purplish-red in autumn.

Red Oak

Red oak leaves have pointed lobes. The northern red oak is a large hardwood tree that has dark green leaves that turn to rusty orange and various shades of red in the fall. Red Oak often has impressive
late fall color, ranging from brick red to scarlet. Some trees may have golden- yellow, yellow-brown, or chartreuse foliage in autumn.

Red Maple

Red maple trees are popular for their fall display of brilliant red, orange, or yellow leaves. Red Maple is commonly thought of as having blazing red fall color, but trees found in the wild may display bright yellow, orange-red, or red fall color.

Striped Maple

(moose maple, moosewood)

A variety of the maple tree, but not as prevalent as sugar maple. Fall foliage is lemon-yellow.Leaves are finely serrated (where other maples are toothed). They are very large and lobed.

Sugar Maple

(hard maple, rock maple, curly maple, bird's-eye maple)

The Sugar maple leaves have 3 to 5 sharp pointed lobes and have few teeth. The space between the lopes are rounded.This tree is a favorite

in Vermont for it produces Maple syrup and maple sugar. The wood of

the tree is used for furniture, veneer, plywood and house modelling.

Sumac

Leaves of Smooth are up to 1.5 feet long, alternate on the smooth stems, odd-pinnately compound, with many finely serrated leaflets that havea drawn-out tip Leaves have a red rachis, medium to dark green leaves, and outstanding fall color, in combinations of yellow, orange, and red, or simply a solid dark red (right).

Tamarack

Small, slender tree which rarely grows more than 15 metres tall. The foliage is delicate and deciduous. Needles are three-sided and blue-green in color,turningyellow in fall. The tree is found in bogs or swamps or on cool, moist, north-facing slopes. Some natives chewed tamarack to relieve indigestion and in the days of woodensailing ships the roots were used to join the ribs to the deck timbers.The wood now days is mainly used for pulp, posts, poles and fuel.

Trembling Aspen

(quaking aspen, aspen, poplar, popple)

The leaves are simple, mostly circular in shape with very fine teeth on the leaf margin. The leaves of this tree tremble in the slightest breeze. The bark is oftenwhite which makes the tree appear to be a white birch from a distance. The uses of this wood is for veneer, manufacture of pulp, matches and boxes.

Tupelo

(Swamp tree)

The tree reaches 80-90 feet and about 6-7 feet around. It has large, shiny leaves 5-12 inches long and blooms from March to April.The wood is important commercially. The premiere use is for paneling, pallets, fruit crates and pulp. Wood carvers use to roots to create duck decoys. Also used to carve dough or bread bowls and fisherman use it to make floats for their nets.

White Ash

(Ash)

The leaves are opposite, compound, 8-12 inches long, usually with 7 shiny leaflets. The leaflets, 3-5 inches. The twigs are stout, smooth, shiny and dark-green to purplish-green in color. The fruit from this tree is winged, hanging in dense clusters after foliage season. White Ash is used for making any item that where the wood has to be bent into shape. Example: baseball bats and skis. The tree hardly ever reaches over 10 feet tall and can indentified by its scallop-margined leaves that have a rilliant yellow color in the fall.

Yellow Birch

(curly birch, black birch)

The leaves are simple, alternate and oval in outline. 2-41/2 inches long with sharp points, green above and yellow-green below. The twigs are slender yellowish-brownto redish-brown, with a strong wintergreen taste.The wood is very valuable. It is used for veneer, plywood, furniture and flooring. This also describes the White Birch.

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Autumn
A Time Of Change.
by James Ehlers

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During the course of each year Nature signals the change of seasons in numerous subtle and some very obvious ways. None is more obvious than fall foliage especially here in Vermont. But why do the trees change colors and eventually shed their leafy green uniforms? Native legends says hunters in the sky killed the Great Bear each autumn dripping his blood on the earth, turning leaves red. Roasting bear meat spilling from a celestial kettle turned other leaves yellow.

Science says chilly days and growing nights precipitated by the earth's angle relative to the sun, convince cells in leaf stem bases that it is time for a change. The cells begin to die.The dying cells form a wall preventing nutrients from reaching the leaf. As this happens the green pigmentation of leaves, chlorophyll, begins to break down unmasking the yellows and oranges that are present all year in the leaf.

As cells continue to die the stem eventually weakens to the point where the leaf flutters to the ground. With no leaves, the tree, safe from freezing, lies dormant the remainder of the winter. The marvel of Nature's autumnal journey can be seen from the middle of September through to the weeks before Halloween.

Take a drive north from Massachusetts to Canada along the Green Mountains on Route 100 or head east from Lake Champlain to the White Mountains on Route 15. Visit the land where legends still live, the Northeast Kingdom, traveling Routes 5A, 114 and 105. Enjoy the harvest markets, country fairs or hike and bring a fishing line. Oh, and don't forget to thank the heavens' hunters for the spectacular crimsons and golds that adorn our trees for these special weeks.

James Ehlers is a fly-fishing guide, a hunting guide, and career naturalist. He lives in Underhill, VT. He can be reached at uncle@pobox.com

Also take a senic drive on Interstates 89 & 91.Then enjoy the old roads

of Routes 302, 100, 14, 12, I could go on & on with all the great old roads

in Vermont, and some are only dirt roads, but they all have a very special interest to them.

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Shooting Color.

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Vermont's Fall Foliage is a phenomenon that simply begs to be photographed. Here are some tips to make sure your shots will capture some of the magic that occurs across the state each autumn.

Think Small.
	The vistas are stunning in real life, but don't always carry over the same to a 4X6 print. Often the most evocative images of fall are close-ups: a single leaf against a contrasting background, pumpkins on a wooden wagon, cornstalks against a red barn.
Work In Thirds.
	A common rule of composition is the rule of thirds. The general idea is that a composition is more pleasing when the subject is placed approximately a third of the way into the image, whether that be from the top, bottom, left or right. Also remember that an image is strongest when the image has a focal point.
Choose The Right Film.
	Color-rich film, such as Fuji Velvia or Kodak Ektachrome 100vs, will help punch up the natural colors. Slide film is also often better at bringing the colors of fall to life. Also be aware of autumn's shifting light levels. Come equipped with both fast and slow film.
Pick Your Spot And Get Lost.
	It seems that great vantage points for photos are everywhere you turn in Vermont. But just a few extra steps can reward you with an out-of-this-world shot. Go off the beaten path and discover something new. Vermont is full of backwoods that lead to amazing scenery, and amazing people. Check with locals for pockets where the colors are particularly vibrant.
Get The Light Right.
	Photography is all about capturing light, so naturally the quality of lighting is critical to a strong photograph. The hour around sunrise and sunset is commonly known as the "Magic Hour". During this time sunlight is soft and diffused, and produces wonderful color to complement the colors of autumn in Vermont. Sometimes its just not possible to shoot when the lighting is just right, so bring along a polarizing filer that will help cut through the haze, and bring out the sky.
Don't Put Your Camera Away.
	In addition to the magic hour, the best times for shooting the autumn colors is when its cloudy and/or rainy. While the sky may be dark and dreary, you will notice that all the colors really pop out. Some of the richest color can be found when leaves are wet, standing out in front of dark, wet tree trunks. It's also smart to keep your camera handy at all times, because you never know when a great photo opportunity will present itself.
Bring Support.
	Bring a tripod if you have the space. Often you are going to want to shoot in low light (the magic hour may provide pleasing light, but it also can be considerably darker than during the rest of the day). More important, you may want to take a long exposure (perhaps of a flowing waterfall), making a steady camera a necessity.
Break The Rules.
	Rules are made to be broken. While these tips should help you on your way to better photographs, sometimes doing something altogether different or "wrong" will produce the best and most creative results. Most important is to let your creative juices flow and have fun! *For more tips from the pros, check out the New York Institute of Photography's* guide to shooting autumn color.

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Vermont's Top Foliage Photographers

Reveal Their Secrets.

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The Times-Argus

September 14, 2008

By Josh O'Gorman
Staff Writer

With our most spectacular season fast approaching, we asked some
of the state's best foliage photographers to share their secret
stashes – places with the best color but not the crowds. Here are
their tips.

Alden Pellett

Pellett has lived in Vermont for 42 years and resides in
Hinesburg. His photos have appeared in Vermont Life, USA Today
and Yankee Magazine and have accompanied stories for The
Associated Press. A retrospective of 20 years of his photos for
Vermont Life is on display at the Statehouse.

Favorites: "Well, there are places everyone goes, like Peacham.
There's a hillside there that's so perfect it's like a cliché.
You'll find photographers lined up there 10 deep in the evening,"
Pellet says. "Or the Jenny Farm in Woodstock is another common
one. I've seen people from five different nations lined up there
with their cameras."

While Pellett might return to those common locations every year,
he also sets out to find a new perspective.

"That's my fall foliage challenge to myself — to not go to the
same location every year. I think part of the joy of foliage
photography is getting out and seeing new parts of the state."

For less a common location, Pellett recommends shutterbugs check
out Sheldon. "It doesn't get photographed as much, and there are
a lot of farms and rolling hills there."

Tip: "A polarizing filter is a great way to go. It really helps
bring out the colors, and knowing how to use it is good too."

Caleb Kenna

Kenna has been in Vermont since 1970 and lives in Brandon. His
work has appeared in Yankee Magazine, Smithsonian, National
Geographic Adventure and major newspapers. Vermont Life recently
ran a pair of double-page spreads of his photos.

Favorites: One of his preferred places is close to home. "I like
Brandon quite a bit because it's a classic Vermont town. Plus the
light is good and the buildings are aligned east-west."

Other favorite spots include the Moosalamoo National Recreation
Area and Lake Dunmore in Salisbury, but Kenna suggests that the
best thing to do is just follow the leaves.

"You have to look at where the leaves are changing, so if you go
up in the mountains they'll be changing earlier than they will in
the valley."

Tip: Photographers should be comfortable with their equipment but
trust their own judgment.

"Get to know your camera. Be smarter than your camera so you can
override it and make smarter decisions than the camera."

Kenna also recommends focusing on a detail — such as a leaf,
pumpkin or hiker — rather than just trying to shoot a hillside.

"Your best lens is your legs, so get out there and move around."

Jeb Wallace-Brodeur

He has lived in Vermont for 42 years, or as he puts it, "my whole
life." The Montpelier resident is the chief photographer for The
Times Argus, and his photos have also appeared in Seven Days,
Vermont Life, Vermont Magazine and AMC Outdoors.

Favorites: "I like to find new places, but I also have some old
reliable ones, like Groton." He singles out Owls Head Mountain in
Groton State Forest.

Wallace-Brodeur particularly recommends Nichols Ledge in
Woodbury. It's not in the guidebooks, but a three-tenths of a
mile hike leads to a rock outcropping that provides a panoramic
vista. The trailhead is on Coits Pond Road north of Cabot; look
for a sign and a small parking area on the west side of the road
near the height of land.

Tip: "As with any photography, good pictures come with good
lighting. Early morning and late afternoon is good, but avoid
high noon."

It's best to have the light coming from behind the leaves rather
than from behind the photographer.

When shooting on a cloudy day, look for an interesting detail for
a close-up, because panoramic shots fall flat on such days.

Vyto Starinskas

Starinskas is the chief photographer for the Rutland Herald, and
his work has also been featured in Vermont Life and sometimes in
other regional magazines and newspapers.

Starinskas has lived in the state since 1980 and says it was the
foliage he encountered as he drove through Sherburne Pass on
Route 4 in Killington on his way to his interview at the Herald
in Rutland that sold him on Vermont.

Favorites: He usually follows the foliage, beginning in late
September in Killington, descending though Mendon and Chittenden
and down to Rutland.

He also recommends Tinmouth, Pawlet and Wells as "small towns
that look the way Vermont used to look."

A good picture needs lighting, location and — in his case —
people. As a photojournalist, Starinskas says, his work is a
little different from that of a traditional landscape
photographer in that he has to capture people as well as the
surroundings.

Starinskas finds himself returning to favorite spots every year.

"I think it's really fun to look at the same tree every year.
There's this one tree in Mendon with a swing, and I kind of gauge
the seasons by it. But it's nice to get out on the back roads and
just get lost."

Tip: For the adventurous amateur photographer, Starinskas
suggests taking close-up shots with a flash, which will bring out
the colors of the leaves.

Paul Hersey

Hersey, of Bennington, has lived in Vermont since 1979. His
photos have appeared in calendars and in the annual guide
published by the Bennington Chamber of Commerce and are featured
on Southern Vermont College's Web site. His work has also been
the subject of private art shows.

Favorites: Hersey has a number of favorite locations around
Bennington County, including Carpenter Hill near Southern Vermont
College and also near the Bennington Monument.

"Take Monument Avenue and when you go up into the apple orchards
and look back into Bennington it's amazing. Mount Anthony is
another good place. There are lots of good roads up there to just
go and get lost."

In fact, "getting lost" is good advice for finding an
undiscovered vista to photograph, Hersey says.

"Last year, I went into New York state from Poultney and
intentionally got lost. If you want to find a place that's out of
the way, that's the way to do it."

He also recommends shooting Lake Shaftsbury early in the morning.
"There's a heavy mist coming off the lake, and you have the mist
and the mountains behind. It's pretty intense."

Tip: Hersey shoots entirely in digital and says it is common for
him to shoot between 300 and 700 pictures during an outing.

"Shoot a lot and have a large memory card. And bring a backup
battery, so that when you find that breathtaking shot you're able
to take it."

David Middleton

A Danby resident, Middleton has lived in Vermont for 10 years. A
self-described "pro for 25 years," he is the author of 10 books
about photography, including "The Photographer's Guide to
Vermont." His work has also been featured in Vermont Life.

Favorites: Middleton recommends any link between Route 7 and
Route 100, such as the Kelley Stand Road between Arlington and
West Wardsboro and Forest Road 10 between Danby and Weston.

He also suggests driving any road that allows for a dramatic
change in elevation, such as Lincoln Gap Road between Lincoln and
Warren. "The advantage is that because of the road, you can pick
the elevation where the leaves are at their peak."

"I'm a wanderer, and it's hard to go wrong in Vermont," he says.
"My advice is to travel any road that's dirt."

Tip: Middleton recommends shooting on rainy days. The rain will
best bring out the colors, but be sure not to include the gray
sky in the frame.

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Photographers Links.

Alden Pellett
Caleb Kenna
David Middleton

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The Vermont County Fairs Are

Also Fun To Attend...

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The Vermont County Fairs are also fun to attend...The Blue Ribbon Prizes for the Best Foods, Biggest and Best Fruits and Vegetables.

The Amusements Rides, The Musical Entertainers, The Horse Shows,

The Tractor Pulls, The Oxen/Horse/ or Truck Pulls, and The Demo Derbys, The Animal Viewing Area...ect The Excitement of a Fair

just has to be Experienced.

The Specialty Fair Foods... The Corn On The Cob, Some Pizza, French Fries, Onion Rings,

Pigs In A Blanket, Hot Italian Sausage/Peppers/Onions Submarines, Steak/Cheese Submarines,Hot Dogs, Hamburgers...ect. and The World Foods.

Then the Sweet Stuff...Apple Fritters, Fried Dough, Maple Cotton Candy, Popcorn, Ice Creams, Banna Splits, Fudge, and my Favorite The Big Cream Puffs...

they are the size of a softball.

I hope that you can plan to attend an Old-Fashioned Vermont County Fair while in Vermont. For Scheduled Events go to this web address www.VermontVacation.com/TravelPlanner.

The First County Fair is Right Here in Barre City this year on July 13

Thru 15th. Great food and Entertainment daily with Chicken BBQ.
This quaint County Agricultual Fair includes a Dairy Show, Horse Show, Gymkhana, Arts & Crafts, Goat Show, Sheep Show, unique Animal tent, Bingo, a Quilt Contest, Ice Cream Eating Contest and the 4-H Working Steer Program. Home of the Annual Colgate Country Music Showdown, Midway and Carnival Rides, Music, Magic Show and 4-H Garden Tent can be enjoyed by all ages.

The Special Events are Plentiful Everywhere

Here In Vermont.

SEE YOU AT THE FAIR.

The Tunbridge World's Fair has run continuously since 1867 except in 1918, due to the great flu epidemic,
and during World War II, due to the great number of men who went into service.

The Specialty Fair Foods... The Corn On The Cob, Some Pizza, French Fries, Onion Rings,Pigs In A Blanket, Hot Italian Sausage/Peppers/Onions Submarines, Steak/Cheese Submarines,Hot Dogs, Hamburgers...ect. and The World Foods. Then the Sweet Stuff...Apple Fritters, Fried Dough, Maple Cotton Candy, Popcorn, Ice Creams, Banna Splits, Fudge, and my Favorite The Big Cream Puffs... they are the size of a softball.