The towns surrounding Chittenden County are full of surprising finds — you just have to know where to go. A car comes in handy. At the area’s last-remaining drive-in, certainly, you’ve gotta have wheels. Colchester’s own al fresco movie theater shows double features on four screens every night at sunset. Bring bug spray.

The Mad River Valley attracts the outdoorsy, artistic and enlightened. All three types frequent Waitsfield’s only cinema-restaurant-cafe. German-born Claudia Becker and her husband, filmmaker Eugene Jarecki, own the moviehouse, which shows first-run films on two screens and sells popcorn. But the place is really more of a cool community center, hosting festivals, lectures, concerts — you name it. They even make and sell their own donuts. PHOTO: PURE MINT MEDIA