Addison County is a biker’s dream come true. The terrain ranges from flat, open expanses along the lake to rolling roads dotted with dairy farms.

(Published in 7 Nights 2007-08)

In the tradition of Emeril Lagasse and Wolfgang Puck, Michel Mahe likes to keep multiple irons in the fire. A Cornell grad, the French-accented chef left Ferrisburgh's Starry Night Café to open Black Sheep Bistro in Vergennes. He also designed the initial menu at Montpelier's Black Door Bistro and recently opened The Bearded Frog in Shelburne.

Visit Dakin Farm! See how time-honored skills and century-old tradition combine with the most modern smokehouse facilities to produce ham, cheddar cheese, Vermont Maple Syrup and other specialty foods that have been nationally recognized by publications from Boston to San Francisco for their unique flavor and quality. Free Samples.

Button Bay is one of the best beaches on Lake Champlain: The water’s clean, and you can rent canoes and kayaks right there. If neither swimming nor boating appeals, there’s always the area’s unique geology: flat round “button-like” rocks along the shoreline are great for skipping. Seventy-three campsites and 13 lean-tos beckon if you feel like staying over. Samuel de Champlain, Ethan Allen, Benedict Arnold and Ben Franklin all did. PHOTO: CAROL DINGLEY

It’s less than two miles to the top of this popular hiking destination. Perfect for kids — and you get a big-mountain view.

People have been fighting over Lake Champlain as long as there have been personal flotation devices. The waterway’s strategic value is evidenced by the dozens of shipwrecks on the bottom. The Lake Champlain Maritime Museum has been discovering, researching and protecting those rusty relics, and the result is the Lake Champlain Underwater Historic Preserve, a gallery of sunken ships accessible to divers. But there’s plenty to look at on land, too. The dry museum chronicles the maritime history of the area through exhibits, boat-building demonstrations, lectures and festivals.

Middlebury is a walking town. If you’re really ambitious, there’s an 18-mile Trail Around Middlebury — a project of the Middlebury Area Land Trust. A combination of hiking trails, dirt roads and paved highways, TAM stretches from the Otter Creek Gorge Preserve to the Battell Woods.

The original Vermonters — Native American Abenaki — have a voice at the Vermont Folklife Center. So do the Vermont descendents of slaves. With an archive that consists of more than 3900 tapes, the organization aims to document and conserve the state’s cultural heritage, including groups making history today. A recent photo exhibit captured the lives of Mexican dairy farm workers in Addison County.