Fun Things to Do in Vermont

There are lots of fun things to do in Vermont in the summer. Here is for starters:
- Go to one of the 89 swimming holes - ponds and rivers - listed on this website. Make sure to watch their slideshow, it gives you a great idea of the look of the different places (names are on the photos). Great for a hot day!
- Go to one of many outdoor concerts of the Vermont Mozart Festival or the Lake Champlain Bluegrass Festival;
- Watch antique cars at the 51st Annual Antique & Classic Car Meet, in Stowe on August 8-10;
- Eat a maple cremee: you got to have one if you are in Vermont in the summer… Make sure you get the ones made with real maple syrup and not just the flavor! We’ll give you some addresses soon, but for now, let’s mention Morse Farm, up County Road, near Montpelier, that’s the place everyone knows;
- Go to the Harpoon Brewery BBQ competition in Windsor on July 26-27; 40 teams from all the country will compete!
- Get a Vermont Brewery Challenge - Official Passport and visit all 18 great micro-breweries in the state of Vermont; Get a stamp at each and you can win prizes!
- Go and watch the Challenge Race at the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, near Vergennes on July 20; it’s a 3-mile race of around 50 small boats. Should be fun. Around 200 spectators usually attend. And may be even more fun, on Saturday 19 (today!) there is a duct tape boat construction and race there!
- Attend your first Thunder Road night in Barre (not NASCAR racing but close!) - every Thursday and occasionally on week-ends;
- And if you are into American Revolution history, go to one of the reenactments/encampments which take place at different historic sites along the summer: the Battle of Hubbardton early July, Mount Independence encampment this week-end, Bennington in August…
What do you think? Fun enough?… Anything fun we should add to this list, leave us a comment and tell us about it!!

Battle of Hubbardton - Reenactment

July 5-6th week-end is this year’s date for the reenactment of the American Revolution Battle of Hubbardton. Every year, some 300 to 400 reenactors spend the week-end in these fields around the Hubbardton State Historic Site,  to reenact the only battle of the American Revolution which took place in Vermont. Every 5 years, there are even more people coming, around 1000, to commemorate the battle (next time should be in 2012 for the 235th anniversary of the battle). When did the battle take place? July 7, 1777. What happened then? The British who just came from Fort Ticonderoga, NY and Mount Independence, VT fought the American troops, the famous Green Mountain Boys. The battle was short on this early morning of July 7, 1777… approximately 2 hours, from 8AM to 10AM and the American troops had to withdraw, but the British losses were high. It is said that it was the “beginning of the end” for the British General Burgoyne! So for the pleasure of both the reenactors and the visitors, adults and children, every year, the battle is being replayed. This is what Carl Fuller, site interpreter at Hubbardton Historic Site is sharing with us about this wonderful event: “The reenactors themselves have told me many times they love it because they are allowed to camp in the same fields and portray the battle on the same fields where it actually happened.  They like the idea of having the room to do this portrayal without being stuck in a small area between buildings or off somewhere where people can’t find them.
Reenactors come from all over New England, New York and sometimes Canada.  Once they arrive at Hubbardton and even though they may not have been here before everything seems to fall into place.  Camps are set up and everything becomes 18th century.  Everyone remains in costume the entire weekend, eating, sleeping and fighting as they would have in the year 1777.  Some of the reenactors have found ancestors who took part in the battle of Hubbardton and for this weekend they become that person.
On this weekend, you may see American, British, German and Native American camps.  During the day, tours are given through these camps by the reenactors themselves.  Children are taught drilling and marching and told about other things children did to help out around camp.  The women in the camps show people what they did as part of the camplife.  Sometimes, prisoners are taken and court-martials are done.  Tours of the battlefield are done throughout the weekend.  Narrated tacticals are done on both days with the big reenactment on Sunday morning at 8 AM.  There are even sutlers selling their wares.  There is something here to see and do for all ages.
Make no mistake, this is hallowed ground but weren’t these people fighting to allow us to do what we do today.  We honor them by doing these portrayals.  Our freedom was won by many battles such as this one and in numbers participating it may be considered small but it was an important stepping stone in determining the British downfall in the northern colonies during the American Revolution.” Hope you will join us there!

Schedule for Saturday 5th and Sunday 6th
Post-event: Check a selection of our photos of the Battle of Hubbardton Reenactment - July 6, 2008
More on Hubbardton Battlefield State Historic Site