Though Lake Champlain can freeze over in serious winter weather, things never stop at the waterfront ECHO at the Leahy Center, an aquarium and science center devoted to Lake Champlain. (www.echovermont.org). From there, it’s only a few blocks uphill to a landmark of a different kind, the historic Flynn Center for the Performing Arts, (www.flynncenter.org) which presents world-class musicals, entertainers, dance troupes, and comedians.

Another Burlington cultural icon is the University of Vermont’s Robert Hull Fleming Museum (www.uvm.edu), which houses Vermont’s largest collection of art and anthropology. Between the two lies the Historic Church Street Marketplace, eight pedestrian-only cobblestoned blocks filled with shops, boutiques, cafes, restaurants, and historic architecture. Church Street was largely responsible for Burlington’s receipt of the "Great American Main Street Award" from the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Perhaps not historic but certainly fascinating is the zany Magic Hat Brewing Company, “where ancient alchemy meets modern day science,” located just south of Burlington on Shelburne Rd. (www.magichat.net).

Just a few miles farther south on the same road lies the national headquarters of the Vermont Morgan Horse Association, a combination museum and record archive devoted to America’s only truly native horse breed. (www.americanmorgan.org). Going a bit farther afield, to Waterbury Center, reveals Vermont’s single most-visited attraction, the world famous Ben & Jerry’s ice cream factory. (www.benjerrys.com).