Staytripper, April 2021
Stay on a Goat Farm in Towshend; Insider Travel Tips From Happy Vermont; Meet the Pitcher Inn’s Adventure Guide
From Hiking to Paragliding, Sam Chambers Is the Mad River Valley’s Go-To Guide
Sam Chambers often has his head in the clouds. While some people might take that remark as an insult, the adventurer and professional outdoor guide in Warren considers it his life’s calling. Whether he’s leading a group of hikers up Mount Mansfield or teaching someone to paraglide off Lincoln Peak, Chambers loves to gain altitude…
A Trio of Early Spring Walks and Nearby Eats in Vermont
Throughout the pandemic, I have stayed sane, and active, by getting outside and exploring nature at least one day every weekend. During summer and fall, I was up for ambitious, full-day hikes. Colder days are better suited to briefer forays, but Mother Nature still delivers the much-needed reprieve from endless video meetings and household chores.…
Hope Springs Forth in the April Issue of ‘Staytripper’
In this issue of Staytripper, we spot signs of spring and sow seeds of hope. The snow has melted (fingers crossed), crocuses have emerged, and we’ve already hit 50-degree days when some cold-hardy Vermonters get out the shorts and flip-flops. (You know who you are.) Along with the warming weather, the pandemic is slowly ebbing…
Stay in Style, Goat-Adjacent, at Townshend’s Big Picture Farm
Goat kidding season begins in earnest in April, when those tiny, unruly creatures — all ears and knees and hooves — emerge into the world determined to sow as much joyful chaos as possible. On Big Picture Farm in Townshend, where many of the 45 goats are currently expecting, the babies come first as a…
Three Things to See in Vermont This Spring (Including Baby Lambs!)
Stroup Family Sculpture Park Southern Vermont Arts Center, 930 SVAC Dr., Manchester, 362-1405, svac.org. From indoor art galleries to 120 acres of forestland with trails flanked by the Green and Taconic mountains, the Southern Vermont Arts Center in Manchester offers plenty of eye candy. Perhaps the most unique sightseeing option on this campus is the…
The Evolution of Travel Website and Podcast ‘Happy Vermont’
During her five years as the communications director for the Vermont Department of Tourism and Marketing, Erica Houskeeper routinely fielded calls from out-of-state journalists looking to report travel pieces about Vermont. Unfailingly, those dutiful, if perhaps unimaginative, scribes would hone in on the same rather generic aspects of the Green Mountain State. “They wanted to…
