During my 2018, 16-state, East Coast road trip, the one state that truly blew me away was Vermont 😍. I fan-girled hard over it because it’s just so beautiful. It remained “the most beautiful state I’ve visited so far” until Montana and the Idaho panhandle entered the picture in 2020. It’s now firmly number 2 on the list (as far as whole states go). It was named by the French as “Verd Mont”, which literally means “green mountain”, and its official nickname is “The Green Mountain State”. The French really hit the nail on the head.
I think much of my love for Vermont coms from the route we took. We were swept away from the boring and tedious monotony of the interstate, and transported onto small, 2-line highways that allowed us to really capture what Vermont had to offer. We spent approximately one hour driving through the entire bottom half of the state, west to east, through various charming small towns that would make the perfect backdrop for any Nicholas Sparks novel. We drove though and over the mountains and next to streams and rivers. It was easy to be simply swept away by the picturesque landscape.
We drove through the Green Mountains (the official name), along Highway 9, coming from Niagara Falls (Niagara Falls: America’s Most Famous Waterfalls.) and heading to Concord, New Hampshire. The Green Mountains run through Vermont from north to south, between the border of Massachusetts and the border with Quebec, and are certainly appropriately named. Traffic was light in this area, something that was a massive breath of fresh air and very welcomed. The route took us past the small Vermontian towns of Bennington, Woodford, Searsburg, Wilmington, Marlboro, and West Battleboro.
The worst thing happened as we began to edge closer to the border with New Hampshire. The serene, tranquil, green, mountainous landscape of Vermont began to fade away, and we were violently teleported back into the Groundhog Day that is the East Coast – just endless, boring, massive concrete highways and unrelenting traffic and congestion. I was slightly taken aback because I had envisioned New Hampshire being just like Vermont – mountainous, beautiful, less crowded, and with old-timey towns sprinkled about – but it looked much more like upstate New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, or any other overflowing East Coast state. Just mundane, tree-lined, jam packed, flat highway.
Overall, this post is more of a Vermont shout-out, like my post about Montana (Montana: The Most Beautiful State in America.) I feel blessed to have visited this state and to drive through it from western to eastern border. I firmly believe that the absolute best way to experience any state is by car, even if you’re just driving through it. Vermont was no exception. Sadly, as a state, it’s typically forgotten about by many Americans, and many people don’t usually plan their entire vacation here. Thankfully Bernie Sanders put Vermont on the map for many people. It’s a shame, because this state is breathtakingly beautiful and has so much to offer. When I do finally head back to the East Coast, I fully plan on spending at least 3 to 4 days in Vermont alone! ⛰💚
