After we finished scouring the Pioneer Valley for microbrewers, we headed up into Vermont for dinner in Brattleboro followed by a leisurely excursion northward along the sublimely scenic and endlessly changing VT100, which wends its way over hill and dale through the Green Mountains from the Massachusetts border to Canada. This drive always gets a 5-star review for foliage season, but it is wonderful in the spring and summer as well.  

Along the way we passed ski resorts, took a tortuous sidetrip into Podunk, stopped at a few country stores (some better than others) and saw alternating vistas and homey hollows of the Green Mountains.  

Eventually we came to Ludlow, at the intersection of VT100 and VT103 at the base of Mount Okemo. Ludlow is a market center for the area; it boasts some very fine dining and the shops and farms to support it.

Our favorite was the Wine and Cheese Depot, in a colorful Victorian house about a block and a half south of Main Street. Please follow the link for a more detailed description of the shop. We bought some very local Vermont cheese (the Summer Snow from Woodcock Farm, which we had passed on our drive, and the Bound for Glory Vermont Cheddar from the Cellars at Jasper Hill.) I was already heavily burdened with artisanal ales and ciders, but we perused the excellent selection anyway and I know we'll be back.