Road Scholar Programs

Something's Cooking in Vermont

Come experience a historic country inn, beautiful scenery and a week of fine foods. Since the decline of the Vermont dairy farm, resourceful Vermonters have explored new and creative ways to survive. During the week you will enjoy meeting and learning how these small entrepreneurs create, develop and market their gourmet food products. Enjoy maple sugar candy making, demonstrations by the inn's acclaimed Austrian chef, jelly and scone making and demonstrations that will include the use of many Vermont products. Visit Vermont's smaller cheese makers, a gourmet meat company, a Vermont Cider Mill, chocolate factory and of course Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Factory where you will learn about their productions and sample some of their fine products.

Brandon

With its entire downtown recorded on the National Register of Historic Places and the town’s bucolic location among the rolling hills of central Vermont, Brandon is a unique, historic destination near the Green Mountains.

Lobsters Wineries and Foods of New England

Experience the distinctiveness and diversity of New England's delicious cuisine as well as the region's lifestyles and beautiful scenery during a weeklong journey through Rhode Island, Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. Discuss with professional winemakers, lobstermen, fishermen, and farmers, the products they grow and harvest from the lands and seas. Learn about specialty products created by local entrepreneurs. Enjoy field trips to vineyards, farms, sugarhouses, markets and the ocean. Highlights include a lobster boat-pulling cruise in Maine, a lecture on organic cheese-making at a small Vermont farm and a visit to a Vermont sugarhouse with a traditional serving of "sugar-on snow", the Vermont tradition of boiling syrup and serving it over ice. In Portland, meet with local fisherman to discuss the difficulty of fishing in the Gulf of Maine.
Walking for up to one mile over varied terrain, unpaved and uneven surfaces, and boarding a boat. Standing on field trips.

Itinerary

Arrival Newport, R.I., 2 nights; coach to Ogunquit, Maine, 2 nights; coach via New Hampshire to Brandon, Vt., 2 nights; coach to Newport, R.I., departure.

Newport (Rhode Island)

Lavish mansions, billowing sails, and a plethora of culinary and scenic delights characterize this world-famous seaport, beloved by the East Coast elite during the 19th century. The Gilded Age lives on in Newport, as does the earlier Colonial period, as dozens of historic homes and buildings recall bygone eras of seafaring and socializing.

Savor the Flavors of the South: Coastal Virginia to North Carolina 20163

Take part in an adventure exploring the famous foods of the South. Virginia’s Isle of Wight County is the birthplace of the Smithfield Ham. See the famous ham’s exhibit at the Isle of Wight Museum, talk with employees about company history and the salt-curing method that’s changed little since Colonial times, and visit a smokehouse to learn about the smoking process. At a peanut farm, learn how Virginia peanuts are raised and processed, and study Virginia’s wine industry at an area vineyard. Stop by the farmers’ market in Virginia Beach to chat with an organic farmer, a butcher, a candy-maker and a baker. In Chapel Hill, N.C., encounter a thriving restaurant district embracing the farm-to-table movement, and meet local chefs and pitmasters eager to teach you about the differences between the eastern and western schools of North Carolina barbecue. Sample great barbecue showcasing a range of cooking techniques and sauces that underscore the nuances of each region’s particular tastes.

Itinerary
Arrival Norfolk, 3 nights; coach to Chapel Hill, 2 nights; Coach to and depart from Norfolk.

Norfolk
Virginia's second-largest city, bordered by the Elizabeth River and Chesapeake Bay, enjoys a long history as a strategic military position and is home to the world’s largest naval base and the defense headquarters of NATO. Visitors to the Ghent Historic District can admire stately architecture just a short walk from shopping, dining and nightlife.