Lower Connecticut River Valley in the Spring
Top Picks in the Lower Connecticut River Valley
In the spring, Vermont’s landscapes wake up from their long winter’s slumber into the riot and color of renewal. Maple sap flows in forests, warm days make for sunny spring skiing, and trees and flowers begin to bud. Hand-picked by the editors of Yankee Magazine, these 5 highlights are just some of what the Lower Connecticut River Valley offers as the Green Mountains come alive.
Brattleboro, Vermont
Tavernier Chocolates
Drawing inspiration from their shared backgrounds in music, chemistry, and art, chocolatiers Dar Tavernier-Singer and John Singer Tavernier hand-craft candy that’s almost too pretty to eat. Starting with single-origin Ecuadorian and Venezuelan chocolate, they add house-dried fruits, herbs, and other ingredients sourced from local farmers and producers. The resulting chocolate bars and bonbons are hand-poured and hand-decorated in a 1910 brick mill building that also holds a small retail shop. Don’t miss Tavernier’s chocolate “charcuterie,” which combines sweet and savory flavors like local honey and chili peppers to create a unique confection that’s meant to be paired with meat, cheese, and wine.
Brownsville, Vermont
Brownsville Butcher & Pantry
In 2018, around the same time that the nearby Mount Ascutney ski area was being revitalized, a group of Brownsville residents purchased the local general store and leased it to Peter Varkonyi, a New England Culinary Institute grad, and his partner, Laura Stevens. The couple’s Brownsville Butcher & Pantry is now a retail magnet that draws foodies to this village of roughly 600 to enjoy fresh oysters, house-cured meats, local cheeses, and takeout meals that some say are the best in central Vermont. Shoppers can choose from a bounty of fresh farm produce and craft beer, while diners peruse a menu that includes a breakfast sandwich on a bagel leavened with an on-site sourdough culture, and a loaded 100-percent-beef hot dog made in-house and cased by hand.
Hartland, Vermont
Fat Sheep Farm
Stay overnight in one of Fat Sheep Farm’s five on-site cabins—spare but modern, in Scandinavian tradition—and wake up with the roosters to take part in chores across a real Vermont working farm. There are goats to be minded, sheep to be milked, eggs to collect, and more. Or, you could make your only chore to devour every last crumb of the fresh-baked scones offered by your hosts, Suzy Kaplan and Todd Heyman. Options for filling the rest of the day run the gamut from wandering the 59-acre property’s hiking trails to joining a workshop on sourdough baking or cheesemaking (the farm is one of the state’s few producers of sheep milk cheeses). Note: Three cabins are dog-friendly, and stalls are available for guests with horses.
ARTISANS PARK
– Windsor, Vermont
A cluster of local businesses perched beside the Connecticut River, Artisans Park is a refreshingly local-focused, small scale take on the “mall” concept. The tenants are tops in their specialty, whether it’s made-from-scratch jam (Blake Hill Preserves), handblown glassware (Simon Pearce), local cheeses and gourmet foods (Vermont Farmstead Cheese Company Market), or small-batch spirits (Silo Distillery). For sit-down dining, New England beermaker Harpoon has a taproom and a beer garden near its on-site brewery. At Great River Outfitters, visitors can book a laid-back float down the Connecticut or just buy admission to wander the adjacent 14-acre Path of Life Garden, which sets more than a dozen sculptures amid lush swaths of grass that are perfect for picnics.
LATCHIS THEATRE
– Brattleboro, Vermont
This theater opened in 1938 as part of the landmark Latchis Memorial Building, which today stands as one of the rare examples of Art Deco architecture in Vermont. The building’s current owner, the nonprofit Latchis Arts, has helped grow the Latchis Theatre into a bustling four-screen venue that hosts first-run films, live events, community talks, and special screenings. The jewel is the Main Theatre, which boasts a full stage and the largest movie screen in southern Vermont—not to mention lots of old-school glamour, thanks to the ornate murals on its walls and ceiling. Springtime visitors to Brattleboro should keep an eye out for the Latchis’s annual Circus Spectacular, a high-flying performance and fundraiser for the New England Center for Circus Arts.
More to See and Do
Places to Visit In the Spring
Yankee Magazine’s editors hand-picked 5 places to visit in each Vermont region. Explore things to do in spring statewide.
