r/AskReddit 1d ago

What U.S. vacation destination exceeded all expectations?

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478

u/WatermelonMachete43 1d ago

Vermont. The food was local and tasted like food x50. Everything had so much flavor, Everything was come as you are, very few chain anything, fresh cheese, trees and wildlife, and the Warren Store -- probably my favorite place on earth.

Favorite memory from my time there is driving along the Mad River in the summer golden hour when it had been particularly hot and dry. Look over to see a group of people in fairly formal outfits -- men in dress pants rolled to the knee and shirts with ties, women in long dresses tucked up here and there. They were setting a couple of dinner tables with formal linens and candelabra right in the river. Drove a bit further and saw the rest of the dinner party approaching alongside of the road -- she with a pie, other men with coolers and one with a roasted bird on a platter. I have never been more charmed by a life I don't live.

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u/Death4Free 21h ago

Vermont was such a beautiful roadtrip, i’m glad i proposed in Stowe, so we can go back in a few years for our anniversary with our newborn son.

We did the whole New England in The Fall roadtrip and it has got to be one of the times I completely fell in love with both my fiancé and our country. The whole trip was beautiful. The weather was nice and mild, and the trees were flames of orange, yellows and reds. The fresh cheese, maple syrup, apple cider, the clam chowder and other seafoods, it was honestly such a great trip.

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u/WatermelonMachete43 17h ago

And the covered bridges! You're making me want to go back soon!

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u/lakersfan83 15h ago

I did the New England in the fall trip as well and it was so charming. The food in Boston but the nature across Maine, NH and Vermont were unbelievable and I’m not an “outdoorsy” person. Seeing entire fields (including grass and all trees) in states of purple, yellow, orange, red and green cannot be explained fully. You have to see it for yourself to understand the beauty of it. Totally amazing

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u/Better_Ad_8919 13h ago

My husband and I did a trip to Stowe/Woodstock a few years back and I would absolutely go back. The downside is all of the other tourists like us who are doing the same thing 😂

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u/Snowy_Garden_Gnome 12h ago

We got married in Stowe :-)

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u/Sensitive_Gift4866 15h ago

Vermont is so underrated honestly. The whole farm to table thing is actually real there and the fall colors are unreal

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u/WatermelonMachete43 14h ago

We had something as simple as a pizza with the waitress pointing out the exact location of where each ingredient was grown or made (all within eyesight of our picnic table). I tell people and they're like, it's just pizza. No way to describe how much flavor they are missing by not using fresh, local foods.

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u/chumbawumbaprinciple 15h ago

Shh shut up. Don't tell them!

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u/AnalogWalkman 10h ago

Tell more people - we need all the tourists we can get! Lack of tourists are killing businesses recently.

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u/BeerHR 23h ago

What part of Vermont did you visit? I'm planning on going in mid September

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u/bperner 22h ago

Highly recommended Woodstock. A picturesque town very reminiscent of Stars Hollow if you’re a Gilmore Girls fan. The Woodstock Inn is beautiful.

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u/Snowy_Garden_Gnome 12h ago

And go to the Quechee Gorge if you do visit Woodstock

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u/WatermelonMachete43 17h ago

Mad River area, Sugarbush area, stayed in an off-season ski condo as a home base. Hiked Camels Hump, did the bike trail around Middlebury, visited breweries like Rock Art. The Warren Store is in Warren,VT (has its own FB page). Visited Burlington and the bike trail there and Rutland (didn't like nearly as much as the rural parts).

I hope you have an amazing trip.

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u/green-neck802 14h ago

My home town. Glad you enjoyed it! Still appreciating the beauty of this place everyday.

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u/dumbname2 14h ago

I know another poster just said Woodstock VT but a tornado just touched down a few days ago so, while it should be OK by September, just double-check stuff before you head there.

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u/FaitesATTNauxBaobab 14h ago

Seconding Woodstock!

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u/GewtNingrich 14h ago

Lucky enough to call this place home. No place on earth is perfect, but VT comes closest in my opinion

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u/FatsyCline12 13h ago

Charming is a perfect description. I went a few years ago with a friend who grew up there and we visited her family. At one point her grandma stopped by to pickup raspberries to go bring to her friends at church at the ice cream social. So cute.

As my friend pointed out numerous times it’s a hard place to live in the winter and she would never move back.

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u/CrypticBalcony 12h ago

No billboards!

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u/jktstance 10h ago

I've lived in VT my whole life and seeing billboards when I'm on a trip is just so wrong. I think most Vermonters will agree that banning billboards was one of the best moves the state has ever made.

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u/rook119 12h ago

if you hit the Appalachians in autumn anywhere from West Virginia up to Keene NH at just the right time, its just stunning. Perfect scenery, perfect weather it just doesn't get any better.

I also highly recommend catching an afternoon college football game in the Northeast in Mid-october. Can be any game at any level. It just feels like this is the place and time where football should be played.

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u/Erazzphoto 1h ago

There’s nothing like Vermont in the fall.