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From left, a bird's­eye view of the town, the Black Door, Coffee Corner and a performing goat at Morse Farm Maple
Sugarworks. More Photos »
1. DAVID BROOKS
By SARA BECK A Nation of Mutts
Published: August 22, 2012

TUCKED away in a tangle of wilderness and clinging to the edges of FACEBOOK

2. WELL
How Carbs Can Trigger Food Cravings
the Winooski and North Branch Rivers, Montpelier, Vt., with a TWITTER
population of about 8,000, is one of the smallest state capitals in the
GOOGLE+
country, but it is also among the most forward-thinking. It’s the 3. How Shocking: Met Unbuttons
SAVE
capital of the first state to formally abolish slavery in 1777, and the
first to allow civil unions for gay couples. E­MAIL
4. NEWS ANALYSIS
SHARE Roberts Pulls Supreme Court to the Right
The residents of this New England Step by Step
Multimedia PRINT
town in the foothills of the Green 5. PAUL KRUGMAN
Mountains include students (at the REPRINTS Invest, Divest and Prosper
Vermont College of Fine Arts), movie
buffs (each March it hosts the Green Mountain Film 6. OP­ED CONTRIBUTOR
Native Alaska, Under Threat
Festival), foodies (the New England Culinary Institute is
based here, after all), artists and outdoors enthusiasts. They
also include, for part of the year, the legislators who 7. The Suicide Detective
Slide Show
A Spin Around Montpelier, Vt. supported, with their votes and their forks, Vermont’s 2009
Farm-to-Plate Initiative, underscoring the state’s
8. 36 Hours in Gettysburg, Pa.
commitment to a strong sustainable agricultural economy.
Whether you’re in search of a meal at one of the many new
farm-to-table restaurants, an art house movie or live music,
9. PARIS JOURNAL
you’ll find it all in this little capital city. Rite of Passage for French Students
Receives Poor Grade
Map Friday
Montpelier, Vt. 10. ROGER COHEN
The Service of Snowden
4 p.m.
1. BIRD’S­EYE VIEW
Go to Complete List » Show My Recommendations
Connect With Us on
Twitter It’s not difficult to orient yourself in a city where the
Follow downtown is roughly five blocks. Stop by the Capitol
@nytimestravel for
tips, features and Region Visitors Center (134 State Street; 802-828-5981;
photography from bgs.vermont.gov/information_centers/capitol) for a map
all over the globe.
and directions to the 185-acre Hubbard Park with its seven
miles or so of hiking trails. The quad-burning walk
necessitates a lovely pause on the Cliff Street overlook where you can see the town’s church
spires pierce the sky, and Federalist and Colonial Revival buildings hover over the water,
impervious to past floods, including the 10-foot rise from Hurricane Irene. Then climb the
54-foot observation tower where you can see Camel’s Hump, one of Vermont’s tallest
mountains.

6:30 p.m.
2. BATTER UP!

Skiing is not Vermont’s only sport. Less than two miles north on Elm Street is Montpelier
Recreation Field, built in 1941 and home to the Vermont Mountaineers collegiate level
baseball team (tickets, $6). With sun-drenched foothills as the field’s backdrop, you won’t
find a bad view of the game, or of the mascot, Skip the Woodchuck. Try the fried dough
with maple syrup ($3) and don’t feel guilty when you see your fellow fans eating their own
garden-fresh carrots and sugar snap peas.

8:30 p.m.
3. AS LOCAL AS IT GETS

At Salt (207 Barre Street; 802-229-6678; saltcafevt.com), the owner, Suzanne Podhaizer,
a former food writer, has created a no-frills 20-seat cafe, with many herbs and vegetables
picked from her backyard garden. One summer menu included smoked, braised jerk goat
over rice pilaf with mint gastrique ($24), oyster and hen-of-the-wood mushroom ragout
over a trio of polenta cakes ($19) and a homemade honey ice cream dusted with almonds
and drizzled with mulled wine ($6).

10:30 p.m.
4. SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE

You won’t find much in the way of late-night business in Montpelier unless you count a
clear, star-studded night sky. A few spots cater to those in need of a nightcap and a song.
The Black Door (44 Main Street; 802-225-6479; blackdoorvermont.com) is a bar and
bistro on two floors of a brownstone with low lighting and red velvet drapes. Here singers
croon old-time ballads, jazz standards or country tunes. If classy and country don’t mix
for you, pop into Charlie-O’s a few doors down, Montpelier’s dive-bar classic. You’ll stand
out if you’re not drinking the $2 Pabst Blue Ribbons, playing pool or bobbing your head to
one of the area bands (70 Main Street; 802-223-6820).

Saturday

9:30 a.m.
5. DOWNTOWN GRAZING

Vermont’s state seal includes two sheaves of grain and a cow; you can appreciate this
agricultural zeal at the Capital City Farmers Market (corner of State and Elm Streets; 802-
223-2958; montpelierfarmersmarket.com). Each week, more than 50 vendors showcase an
array of products, from raw goat milk to hand-dyed wool hats. Pick up a slice of the
bacon, egg and cheese breakfast pizza at WoodBelly Pizza ($4) and wash it down with
Artesano blueberry mead ($22). Or go to Bagitos (28 Main Street; 802-229-9212;
bagitos.com) for house-made bagels and Vermont Coffee Company brew while fiddlers
spin songs during their weekly Irish Sessions.

11 a.m.
6. HISTORY CLASS

On the free half-hour tours of the State House, a Greek and Renaissance Revival building
completed in 1859, you will learn about the fireproof Lake Champlain black marble, study
Civil War art, sit at the desks of legislators and admire the gaselier (electrified gaslight
chandelier) that weighs “as much as a Volkswagen bus” (115 State Street; 802-828-2228;
vtstatehouse.org). Afterward, head to the Vermont Historical Society Museum (109 State
Street; 802-828-2291; vermonthistory.org), where the permanent collection invites you to
walk through an Abenaki wigwam ($5 admission).

12:30 p.m.
7. PLUNGE INTO NATURE

Vermonters take their swimming holes seriously. At Bear Pond Books (77 Main Street;
802-229-0774; bearpondbooks.com), glance through a copy of “Take the Plunge,” by
David Hajdasz, and find directions to the region’s wildest waters. For a tamer spot and a
warmer swim, grab a lunch to go at the Mad Taco (72 Main Street; 802-225-6038;
themadtaco.com) and head five miles north to Wrightsville Beach Recreation Area (369
Route 12; 802-272-0779; wrightsvillebeachvt.com), where the North Branch of the
Winooski has been dammed into a meandering lake with a tiny beachfront, a boat launch
and a picnic area ($2.50). Stop at North Branch Nature Center (713 Elm Street; 802-229-
6206; northbranchnaturecenter.org) on your way back and go bird-watching in 28 acres
of waist-high grasses and wild raspberries.

2:30 p.m.
8. BROWSE THROUGH TOWN
Brighten up the afternoon with a coffee milkshake from the Coffee Corner diner (83 Main
Street; 802-229-9060; coffeecorner.com), where politicians have been lunching with their
constituents for 53 years, or head to the Three Penny Taproom (108 Main Street; 802-223-
8277; threepennytaproom.com), with 24 tap lines primed with craft beer. It won’t take
long to wander through the cute stores on Montpelier’s shopping streets. The Getup
Vintage (27 Langdon Street; 802-279-5942) sells strappy retro heels and beaded dresses
from the ’20s, and shares space with Buch Spieler record shop (802-229-0449;
bsmusic.com), where you can try out the 1896 pump organ and buy a copy of the first
album by the Fugs. Around the corner, Rivendell Books (100 Main Street; 802-223-3928;
rivendellbooksvt.com) may be the only used bookstore where you can read about Russian
desert tortoises while admiring a real one named Veruca.

7:30 p.m.
9. PROMENADE YOUR PARTNER

The State House lawn turns into a sprawling front porch just before the sun goes down.
Promenade along the sidewalk or hang out on the steps to watch a competitive game of
pickup Ultimate Frisbee. Then join the locals at the Capital City Grange (6612 Route 12;
802-229-9425; capitalcitygrange.org) for a Contra Dance. Whirl down the line from
partner to partner or sit on the sidelines and enjoy the local color — friendly grandmothers
dancing with skirt-wearing gentlemen, and longhaired beauties with bearded farmers
($8).

9:30 p.m.
10. GOOD SLOW FOOD

Dash over to Kismet (52 State Street; 802-223-8646; kismetkitchens.com) before the
kitchen closes and order one of seven types of burgers including a vegan club with tempeh
($14). The farmhouse-chic atmosphere makes it easy to snuggle into the leather couch,
study a stack of slow-food manifestoes and enjoy a Honey Flower cocktail (Green
Mountain chamomile-infused vodka laced with St. Germain, $9).

Sunday

10 a.m.
11. MAPLE SYRUP

Eight generations of Morse men at the Morse Farm Maple Sugarworks (1168 County
Road; 800-242-2740; morsefarm.com) have specialized in bringing syrup to your
pancakes, and Burr — sugaring expert, newspaper columnist, woodcarver and musician MORE IN TRAVEL (1 OF 23 ARTICLES)
— is usually around to show off the equipment and tell stories. Walking paths take you
Getting Your Feet Wet at Water Parks
past Otis, the performing goat and a scale replica of the State House. Don’t leave without
Read More »

trying the creemee, a cone heaped high with maple-infused ice cream and topped with
maple crystals ($2).

IF YOU GO

The 19-room Inn at Montpelier (147 Main Street; 802-223-2727; innatmontpelier.com)

was built in the early 1800s as two separate residences before opening as an inn in 1988.
The rooms are spacious, and on the wrap-around porch you can sip coffee, eat New
England Culinary Institute pastries and read the newspaper. Rates from $165 to $250.

Across from the State House, Capitol Plaza Hotel and Conference Center (100 State

Street; 802-223-5252; capitolplaza.com) has 62 comfortable rooms, a steakhouse and a
fitness center; from $133 to $282.

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: September 9, 2012

The 36 Hours column last Sunday, about Montpelier, Vt., misspelled part of the name of
a hotel there. As the column correctly noted in a reference to the Web site, it is the Capitol
Plaza Hotel, not Capital Plaza Hotel. The column also erroneously included several
activities that were impossible to do in the time frame suggested. The Coffee Corner cafe
closes at 3 p.m. every day, and That’s Life Soup is not open on Sundays, so one could not
dine at the Coffee Corner on Saturday at 4 p.m. or at That’s Life Soup on Sunday at
noon. And watching the Mountaineers baseball team at 6:30 p.m. on a Friday is no
longer an option because the season ended on Aug. 4.
 A version of this article appeared in print on August 26, 2012, on page TR9 of the New York edition with the headline: 36
Hours: Montpelier, Vt..

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