Located on a beautiful bay of Lake Champlain, Shelburne Farms is a nonprofit environmental education center and National Historic Landmark. The estate offers a wide selection of educational programs for students of all ages, including education resources and materials, professional development for educators, field trips for K-8th grade students, internships, and apprenticeships. The house is operated as an inn and is open mid-May to mid-October.

Shelburne Farms offers the perfect way to spend a day in Vermont with your children. This is a great place for a picnic, a hike, a property tour, or just to run around with the animals in the farmyard. There’s a big play area and reading area as well. The barn is a great building to look at and picnic outside, and it serves as the activity centre for day camps.  The rest of the set-up there is petting area for kids.
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Located in scenic Lake Champlain Valley, Shelburne Museum offers exceptional collections of art and Americana. Visitors can explore over 150,000 works such as impressionist paintings, quilts and textiles, folk art, decorative furniture, and artifacts.

Shelburne Museum tour highlights include hundreds of 19th and 20th-century American paintings, hand-carved circus figures and circus memorabilia, beadwork and ceramics from different cultures, over 400 antique dolls on display, blacksmithing and harness-making tools and much more.

If you are near Vermont, visit the Shelburne Museum for an impressive collection of American material culture, including boats, buildings, a lighthouse, and a large selection of folk art. The museum also exhibits the Ticonderoga steamship- a steam locomotive built in 1906, an extensive collection of more than 400 quilts and 300 hooked rugs, and historic houses from 1790 to 1950.
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The Vermont Maple Festival is a food and arts celebration featuring various events such as pancake breakfasts, maple product exhibits, craft exhibits, a specialty foods show, antique shows and markets and more. Visitors can also enjoy maple candy- making live demonstrations, carnival rides, sugarhouse tours and sap run, and numerous concessions all dedicated to Vermont maple syrup.

This festival is held on the last weekend in April. Over 50,000 people go to the Maple Festival every single year, which makes it the most popular annual event in St. Albans. The sugarhouses are opened to the public and visitors from all over the world have the opportunity to experience lots of different events as each maple sugarhouse comes with something of its own.
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Well everyone, the 2010 Vermont maple sugar season has started! Actually it’s been going on for a few weeks now. When the days get warm all that stored sap in the maple trees expand inside the tree.

So it starts to pour out of any cuts and holes in the tree. That is why we drill those holes in the tree and collect the sap coming out. We hope the nights are cold. That’s because the tree sucks up more sap to replace the sap it lost during the warm day.

This keeps happening for a few weeks until the maple tree adjust to the warmer weather, and then it no longer has sap running out of it. So far this year it has not been very good maple sugaring weather.

It has stayed warm, so the maple trees are not pouring out a lot of sap. If it keeps staying warm the sugaring season will be all over in a week. But you never know about the weather in Vermont!

Are you looking for a once in a lifetime experience? Have you ever considered going on a cruise? Lake Champlain Cruises might be exactly what you want! Enjoy the spectacular beauty of the lake aboard Northern Lights, Vermont’s Premier Luxury Cruise boat.

For those who have no true destination in mind, Northern Lights cruise ship is the perfect choice. The ship’s name is inspired by the spectacular displays of the Aurora Borealis which can be seen shinning over Lake Champlain after sunset.

Visitors can choose from several types of cruises, namely dinner cruises, group tours, daily cruises and special cruises. Dine in the mahogany finished lounge and dance under the stars during. Enjoy live entertainment and serve the finest foods.
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Situated within four architecturally-historic blocks in downtown Burlington, the Church Street Marketplace is an award-winning pedestrian zone running from Pearl to Main St. in Burlington, Vermont. This place has something for everyone. Here you will find well-known stores, street vendors, and unique products from local artisans, crafts shops, children’s entertainment and many dining options.

The Church Street Marketplace is so popular because it combines a wide range of architectural styles, including Victorian and Art Deco. There is everything from glass to wooden items for every appetite. The festivals are exciting and sprinkled throughout the year. There are many interesting people on Church Street. A few ethnic stores and Trade Winds add an exotic flavor to the pedestrian Mall.

For shopping, there is a fair selection of chains, but also a few unique stores. You can choose from over 100 retail shops, which makes this place perfect for those who love shopping. The mall is simply spectacular and you will always find live music in the eateries. Don’t forget to bring your kids here, because they will be delighted by the fountain located at the top.

The whole area is a pedestrian friendly zone, as traffic is not allowed on Church Street. This place is clean, safe, attractive, and full of people having fun, taking lunch or just hanging out. Come during the summer for street performers, enjoy a sidewalk act and meet friendly people. The Church Street Marketplace is a must see, that’s for sure! It is vibrant, it is fun and it centers the city of Burlington, Vermont.