The Stowe Experience: Green Mountains Vermont

Nestled deeply in the Green Mountains lies the sleepy little town of Stowe, VT. Another stop on our RV journey east a couple of years back, Stowe was a delightful and unexpected surprise reminiscent of a European mountain village. While camped nearby, we were pleased to find that it is simply teeming with both indoor and outdoor activities.

Interesting and unique eating places abound in Stowe. And the food is excellent! We enjoyed everything from specialty pizzas to gourmet burgers to freshly caught salmon during our short visit here. A special favorite was pizza restaurant Piecasso’s Pizzeria and Lounge , which we discovered our first night in town. After a long day on the road and a stressful time setting up camp during which we broke a thermometer and spilled olive oil all other the place (don’t ask–it’s not a pleasant memory!) there is nothing better than a chicken pizza made by someone other than me! Of course our teens opted instead for their standard pepperoni, but a good time and a good meal was had by all!

About the only thing that tops the eating in Stowe is the shopping! Quaint little shops abound, specializing in everything from homemade crafts and goods to boutique items to fresh maple syrup. For the outdoors enthusiast, there are a significant number of hiking, biking and ski shops in this small town of just over 4000 residents. Both of our children came away from this trip with exceptional winter wear at some pretty fantastic off-season prices as we visited in July.

But the prime shopping experience had to be the Stowe Mercantile. Billing itself as “A Great Country Store” the Mercantile offers two entire floors of merchandise in a lovely Victorian home. This establishment can provide everything from Vermont souvenir wear to homemade specialty flavored fudge, mustards and preserves to grocery items and kitchen goods. If you are hungry they will make a terrific sandwich for your picnic lunch and can provide all the side items as well. A special section of the store is also dedicated to books on local lore and history and materials by local authors. If you make only one stop in Stowe, VT, make it the mercantile!

Before we left we signed up to receive email and catalogues from the store and they never fail to remind us of that special and memorable shopping experience!After we got back home, I was kicking myself when I realized that I had neglected to take a picture of that delightful store, so I offer you photos of lovely mountain scenery instead. For those interested, their web address is www.stowemercantile.com and it contains some terrific photos of their merchandise! Enjoy!

For more information about places to see and things to do in Vermont, check out Vermont camping.