One of the smallest and least populated states in America, Vermont is located in New England and only two hours south of French Canada. The state is mostly famous in America for its small quiet towns and extremely cold weather which offers some great skiing in the winter. With its rural mountains and small towns, I believe that Vermont had some of the best scenery on the entire east coast. The best time to visit is Columbus Day weekend, when the autumn foliage is at its peak and most Americans have a three day weekend.

The capital of Vermont is known as Montpelier, the smallest capital of any state in the US. Founded a few years after American independence, the town was named after the French city Montpellier after France's help with the American Revolution. In the next few hundred years, the town hasn't changed much and has a population today of only 8,000.

No one would ever plan a vacation to Montpelier, the only reason I would ever see anyone visiting is if they had family in the town or were simply close by and want to stop to check out the capital. Above is the capitol movie theater and a large museum; practically the entire entertainment district of Montpelier can be seen right here!

The only other area to visit in Montpelier is their 'downtown' shopping area that has stores and nice restaurants. I think it would be worth a visit just to have lunch or dinner here. Two photos below are of some of the neighborhoods that begin immediately after the commercial area.

Two last photos of the capital, a mother and her child walking their dog in a park in October. I was surprised to see the capital area was still pretty green despite the mountains in their peak colors for fall. On the right is some type of art made out old bicycles. I saw another design made out of nothing but bike seats on the other side of town, so there seems to be something about bikes here.

With Vermont's reputation of being such a cold state, I never would have figured that Ben & Jerry's was founded here in the 1970s. With their main ice cream facility just outside of Montpelier, I think visiting Ben & Jersey's ice cream factory is well worth a visit. A quick 30 minute tour is offered of the site and of course includes free samples of ice cream. Below on the left is a similar van Ben & Jerry used in the 1980s to drive cross country to promote their product. Since I visited close to Halloween, they also had a cemetery with former ice cream flavors that died along with a small poem on each grave stone.

Vermont's biggest city and by far its most popular destination is Burlington. Located only 2 hours south of Montreal, you'll come across a lot of French speaking Canadian citizens and even hear many French radio stations. The city is known for its brutal winters where temperatures have been known to go into the negatives, but a visit in the summer is usually in the 80s or so. The surrounding photos show Burlington's city hall on the upper right and the other three photos are from Church Market Plaza, the busiest and liveliest part of the city.

Above is a photo of a large house and small neighborhood in downtown Burlington. Below is a commercial building being overrun by ivy. The sign on the lower right is promoting some type of 'green restaurant' in Burlington. The restaurant went as far as to use biodegradable paint and LEED certified carpet, whatever that means. I met a lot of people in Vermont who were very concerned with global warming and the effects of people on the planet. One guy I met who was in his late 20s was so extreme that he refused to own a car because of the exhuast.

What really makes Burlington such a nice city is Lake Champlain which sits between the border of Vermont and New York and also has a small border with Quebec, Canada farther north. Though not one of the great lakes, Lake Champlain is still freshwater and large enough to enjoy sailing, boating, fishing, and water sports. Above are pictures of several boats that are parked along the docks of Burlington.

I've forgotten my history lessons from high school, so it wasn't until I visited Vermont that I remembered the Battle of Plattsburgh, or the Battle of Lake Champlain. This was seen as the final battle between USA and the British Empire which at the time still occupied parts of North America. The battle ended with several hundred killed in the naval battle on Lake Champlain, and the war ended shortly after with the treaty of Ghent..

Some more photos of Lake Champlain. Above is a gull that was hovering right above my head in the strong winds that we had that day. The upper right shows cars bordering a ferry to take them to New York. There are no bridges that span across the main parts of the lake but several ferry services instead. Below is a sailboat, and on the right a seafood restaurant called Shanty.

Two final photos from the lake, on the left is a large flock of geese with a bad formation. The right has some more boats anchored in the lake, but the mountains that can be seen in the distance are actually part of New York state.

The last major town worth visiting in Vermont is called Bennington. It's located on the southwestern part of the state on the border of New York and Massachusetts. It's a small simple town with the typical shops and restaurants in the downtown. Above on the left is a photo of the town itself, on the upper right is a large bank, that I thought looked more like a house. Bennington is famous for several things, one of which is their six covered bridges which the town brags about. These bridges were popular in the 1800s, but now are seen as landmarks and many people believe they should be preserved for historic reasons. In the United States, covered bridges are mostly found in the north east, but they exist else where and in other countries as well. Vermont has more covered bridges per square mile than any other place in the world.

Two other photos of Bennington I took are of their seasonal Halloween decorations on the left, and their large moose statues that are seen all over the town. The mannequins I found all over New England in October, but the moose seem to be limited to Bennington Vermont..

Another famous battle that is honored in Vermont even though it actually took place 10 miles west in New York is the Battle of Bennington. This battle took place in August of 1777, and though it wasn't a large fight in terms of numbers, the US victory had a significant impact on the war. American losses were at 30 killed and 40 wounded while British suffered 207 killed and over 700 captured. It's a bit of a controversy how Vermont celebrates the anniversary each year with battle reenactments and other events despite the fact that the battle didn't even take place in the state. On the right is the Battle of Bennington Memorial, one of Vermont's most famous landmarks and its tallest structure in the state. Above is a depiction of the battle that is located in a small museum that is inside the lower level of the battle monument..

The rest of Vermont is made up of small random towns with the exception of Rutland, which is actually the state's second largest city. I haven't heard anything impressive about Rutland from the locals so I decided not to visit it. On the left is a small railroad depot which actually is a popular way for some to travel in the state. On the right is a tiny country hotel found in the mountains, similar to one I stayed at..

These two photos are of a country store and market found down south. With Halloween only two weeks away they were selling pumpkins..

And two last photos of Vermont show some of its natural beauty. I honestly think Vermont has some of the best scenery on the east coast, especially in the fall season when I visited. The mountains and changing colors of the leaves provide some dramatic scenery as I was driving through the state. On the left is a tree with some strange spiky plant growing off the side. Above is a photo of the landscape in the fall.