Vermont's southern gateway allows you to sample a smattering of all of the enticements the state serves up for visitors — pretty little villages, mountains dotted with ski resorts, historic landmarks, quintessential New England inns, made-in-Vermont foods and handicrafts, working farms, and family attractions. The region has characteristics all its own, too, including top-notch outlet shopping and battlefields and monuments that spotlight the state's heroic history.

This is the land, after all, of the Green Mountain Boys — the valiant bunch under Ethan Allen's command who successfully fought attempts by New Yorkers to encroach upon Vermont's independence. They also played a vital role in the American Revolution, capturing Fort Ticonderoga in 1775 and defeating the British in 1777 at the Battle of Bennington.

Your clan just might call you a hero, too, when you choose southern Vermont as the destination for your next family furlough.