New to Vermont

You could label Vermont as alluring, charming, enthralling, enchanting, eye-catching, fascinating, fetching, inviting, magnetizing, pleasing, and ravishing―but still fall 37 adjectives short of properly describing it.

No other state can match Vermont for genuineness. What you see is what you get. There are no major theme parks or posh resorts but instead unpaved roads, covered bridges, steepled churches, weathered red barns, and an unmatched fall foliage show.

It's a throwback setting that the state chooses to respect rather than exploit, as evidenced by its ban on billboards. What better proof that Vermont has wisely heeded the advice of a former resident, poet Robert Frost, by taking "the road less traveled."

HANDY LINKS FOR NEW RESIDENTS

• Finding Your Local DMV Office
• Applying for a New License
• Applying for an ID Card
• Changing Your Address
• Registering Your Car
• Getting Your License Plates
• Applying for a Motorcycle License
• Reviewing the Driver's Manual

Climate

Even though winter has a reputation for bullying into spring's time frame, all of the seasons in Vermont are generally well defined. Summer temperatures average in the low 80s. Fall, Vermont's signature season, generally sees temperatures in the mid-50s, although receiving snow as early as October is not uncommon.

Winter tends to be more severe in the higher elevations, but overall the state receives about 60 inches of snow per season with average temperatures in the high 20s. And spring tends to delay its arrival until early May.

Arts and Culture

Vermont's strong belief in individualism helps foster a vibrant cultural atmosphere. During summer, the mountains virtually come alive with the sound of music. Open-air concerts ranging from folk to classical are the norm rather than the exception in village greens and mountain fields.

Festivals are many and celebrate music, art, antiques, food, and Vermont's fall foliage. And Middlebury's Bread Loaf Writer's Conference, in a bucolic mountain setting, has for over 80 years towered as one of the nation's preeminent literary gatherings.

Attractions

The entire state could be listed as an attraction, for many tourists visit Vermont just for what it collectively conveys: a working monument to the simple life. There are, however, many must-see stops, including:

• Ben & Jerry's ice cream factory in Waterbury

• Burlington's open-air Church Street Marketplace

• Robert Frost's cabin in Ripton

• The world's largest granite quarry in Barre

Vermont Fun Facts

• Vermont is the nation's second least populated state.

• Montpelier is the nation's smallest populated state capital, with only a little more than 8,200 residents.

• Vermont was the first state to outlaw slavery.

• Vermont is the number-one producer of maple syrup.

• Montpelier is the only state capital without a McDonalds.

• Vermont is the only state that recognizes the Grass Roots Party as a political party on the election ballot.