Vermont

Tucked in the heart of Vermont’s Green Mountains, this eight-room inn is quintessential New England, executed as luxuriously as possible. Each room is unique, decorated with beautifully restored art and antiques (much of it from the owners’ personal collection), plush upholstery, and classic prints and palettes—think William Morris wallpapers and rich shades of navy, aubergine, and forest green. And in every corner, there are details that delight: One fireplace is surrounded by miniature paintings of tigers inlaid in the woodwork, a coffee-table tray is finished with metal hands playing thumb-war, and the wall behind a bed is covered in exquisitely painted silk grasscloth. The bathrooms are outfitted with Lefroy hardware and soaking tubs or walk-in showers. Some of the rooms are on the smaller side, but they’re all charming, deeply comfortable spaces you’ll be reluctant to leave. But leave you will: There’s a firepit, a bocce court, a gym, and a spa, the latter with a steam room and sauna. And the inn’s restaurant, The Left Bank, is outstanding.

Nestled inside the Weston, this elegant boîte is everything we want in a bistro. The dining room is all dark polished woods, plush upholstery, and handsomely framed oil paintings. It’s the kind of place you’ll want to linger comfortably over your meal. And there’s much to linger over: The menu is French-inflected, ingredient-forward, and flawlessly executed. Highlights include buttery escargots with persillade butter and a side of gougères, deviled eggs topped with mustard seed pearls, steak au poivre with a cracked-black-pepper-cognac sauce, and duck confit with foie gras sausage and flageolet cassoulet. The real star of the show, however, is the frites: Perfectly crisp on the outside and pillowy inside, they come with black garlic aioli, a soft-boiled duck egg, and caviar—outstanding.

Medical Medium Anthony William’s take on medical mysteries and complex, even controversial, health issues has changed the way we think about health. William famously gets to the bottom of his patients’ misunderstood illnesses and helps them heal using wisdom passed on to him from a divine voice he calls Spirit. The healing power of food almost always plays a central role, which is why he wrote the #1 New York Times bestselling follow-up Medical Medium Life-Changing Foods: Save Yourself and the Ones You Love with the Hidden Healing Powers of Fruits & Vegetables to his first bestselling book, Medical Medium: Secrets Behind Chronic and Mystery Illness and How to Finally Heal. While he still takes appointments, his waiting list is a mile-long; that said, most of his natural and diet-specific protocols are outlined in his books.

Middlebury Interactive Languages has taken the principles of language study from Middlebury College and adapted them for a younger audience. They host a monthlong, fully immersive Summer Language Academy for teens—students (beginners to advanced) take a pledge to speak in their language of study 24/7. The academy has two locations Stateside, both in Vermont: eighth to twelfth graders can study Spanish, German, or Arabic at Green Mountain College; or Chinese and French at Saint Michael’s College. The study-abroad programs are located in Beijing, Quebec City, and Grenada and are for high schoolers. Of course, actually traveling abroad adds an entirely different and dynamic cultural experience, but even without leaving the country, the Summer Language Academy provides a first-rate environment for teens looking to become fluent in another tongue.

Originally a country home for journalist Dorothy Thompson and her novelist husband Sinclair Lewis, this adults-only, all-inclusive luxury hotel still has the feel of a bohemian writer’s retreat.

This is where GP went to camp growing up. It's located on Lake Champlain's Mallets Bay, several miles away from Burlington, Vermont, and is totally beautiful. Since 1926, Brown Ledge has run on a "freedom of choice" philosophy, meaning the girls have a real say in mapping out their daily schedules and summer experience. Historically, horsemanship has been at the core of Brown Ledge's program, but it's also really great for theater, and it offers riflery and archery programs, water sports, arts and crafts, and dance, as well. For girls ages ten to eighteen, for a half or full summer.

Songadeewin is the all-girls offshoot of Keewaydin, a traditional boys' camp with roots dating back to 1893. Set on the shores of Lake Dunmore in Vermont, Songadeewin is big on girl power, old-fashioned values, kindness, self-reliance, and confidence. And "tripping," as they call it, which means taking camping/canoe trips into the wilderness, which get longer each year as the girls return to camp with more experience. It's for second to ninth graders.

Shockingly, most American house paints are made to last only four years before they need to be re-done. Fine paints of Europe imports specialty Dutch paint that's built to last and last, and although they'll mix something custom, you won't likely need to considering the breadth of their collection. Roman & Williams come here for a just-right shade of black paint (a hue they've become famous for).