New England - Eastern USA - page 407

Connecticut's largest wildlife preserve, the White Memorial Conservation Center (
860-567-0857; www.whitememorialcc.org ; US 202; park free, museum adult/child $6/3; park
sunrise-sunset, museum 9am-5pm Mon-Sat, noon-5pm Sun) is 2.5 miles west of town and has
35 miles of walking trails and good bird-watching.
Lake Waramaug
The most beautiful of the dozens of lakes and ponds in the Litchfield Hills is Lake Wara-
maug. As you make your way around North Shore Rd, stop at Hopkins Vineyard (
860-868-7954; www.hopkinsvineyard.com ; 25 Hopkins Rd; 10am-5pm Mon-Sat, 11am-5pm Sun
May-Dec) for wine tastings. It's next to the 19th-century Hopkins Inn ( 860-868-7295;
www.thehopkinsinn.com ; 22 Hopkins Rd, Warren; r $120-135, apt $150; ) , which has lake-
view accommodations and a restaurant with Austrian-influenced country fare. Lake
Waramaug State Park ( 860-868-0220; www.ct.gov/deep ; 30 Lake Waramaug Rd; tent sites
$17-$27) has lakeside campsites, but book well in advance.
VERMONT
Artisanal cheeses, buckets of maple syrup, Ben & Jerry's ice cream…just try to get out
of this state without gaining 10lb. Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to work it off:
hike the trails of the Green Mountains, paddle a kayak on Lake Champlain or hit Ver-
mont's snowy slopes.
Vermont gives true meaning to the word rural. Its capital would barely rate as a small
town in other states and even its largest city, Burlington, has just 42,500 content souls.
The countryside is a blanket of rolling green, with 80% of the state forested and most of
the rest given over to some of the prettiest farms you'll ever see. So take your time, me-
ander down quiet side roads, stop in those picturesque villages, and sample a taste of the
good life.