It's Saturday morning and I'm standing in the drizzle timidly knocking on the door at the Granville Bowl Mill. I had hoped to catch a tour of this 19th century mill, still turning out bowls the same they since they opened in 1857, although now with electricity instead of waterpower. But I discovered that they don't run tours on weekends. The man in the gift shop told me to just go ahead and knock. Someone was working in the office and he was certain she'd be happy to take me around.

And soon a young woman did open the door. I introduced myself, explaining how much I had wanted to see the factory. She smiled, ushered me inside and gave me a brief tour and history, before apologizing that she had to go back to her work. "Just turn off the lights when you leave," she said as she went back into the office. It's quite an amazing place, and well worth a visit especially during tour hours. Imagine taking a hunk of wood, and carving a series of bowls, so perfectly nested within one another that only some sawdust is left.

After I finished my unofficial tour I walked across the road to glass-blower Michael Egan's studio in tiny Granville. This native Vermonter makes his pieces from intricately designed glass rods that look like delicious candy canes. As I watched Michael arranged the rods and gently, carefully blew those candy canes into a gorgeous glass bowl. That now graces my living room.

When I first met George Schenk, owner of Vermont's famous American Flatbread Restaurant, he was half covered with wet Vermont clay dug out of the land behind the restaurant. Schenk and his associates were in the middle of building a pizza oven that they would take on the road, making their delicious flatbread pizza across the state at fairs and community events.

After over a week exploring the Stowe and Mad River Valley, I realized I had fallen in love. It's easy to love Vermont.

Stowe

This charming, mellow town sprawls along the tiny roads with shops, galleries, and restaurants. Michael Trimpol of Little River Hot Glass offers glassblowing demonstrations Wednesdays through Mondays. His inviting cottage is chocked with elegant and sophisticated examples of his art. The West Branch Gallery & Sculpture Park serve up a multi-media feast. The grounds make a perfect space for the large-scale sculptures while the interior space shelters paintings and smaller sized pieces. The town is filled with creativity just about everywhere you turn, including Stowe Craft Gallery & Design Center that showcases creativity in forms ranging from traditional to furniture and even games. It's well worth a visit. Even more art can be found in Green Mountain Fine Art Gallery. Fabrics and quilts can be found at Stowe Fabric & Yarn and a bit of everything else is found at Stowe Mercantile in the historic Depot Building.

Cotswold Furniture features the designs of owner John Lomas, from the across-the-ocean English Cotswold. The deep concern for the land and stewarding that legacy is evident. Loman's furniture includes pieces made with certified wood products, as indicated by the Rainforest Alliance. The certified wood comes from well-managed forests and the wood can be traced back not only to that forest, but to the actual tree stump.

Vermonters love to showcase their delicious eatables and Laughing Moon Chocolates and Little Dipper Ice Cream Company offer those two fantastic foods, chocolate and ice cream. You can't go wrong with that combination.

And if you feel moved to walk off those truly enjoyably consumed calories, Stowe's Recreation Path is a lovely greenway trail.

Waterbury

Just down the road in Waterbury there's A Special Place. You can sample the delicacies. The Cabot Annex Store provides a mini tasting buffet of their many excellent cheeses. My personal favorite was the Chipotle Cheddar which was named the Best New Dairy Product in 2003. Lake Champlain Chocolates in Burlington offers free guided tours weekdays, but if you can't make it there, you can still purchase their yummy chocolates at A Special Place.

And if you want just a bit more of the taste of Vermont, Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream (although no longer owned by Ben & Jerry) and Cold Hollow Cider Mill. Let's not forget coffee. Vermont's Green Mountain Coffee Roasters has opened a new visitor information center and cafe in a restored 1865 railroad station. All on Route 100 in Waterbury

Waitsfield and the Mad River Valley

Route 100 is at its most scenic when bordered by the Mad River sometimes swirling, sometimes placid. There are mountains, and cows, the river, and charming towns.

Delightful Waitsfield is just the right size with galleries tidily arranged down the main road, good places to eat, and charming B&Bs for lodging. Every Sunday from the end of May through mid- October tourists and Vermonters alike gather at the Farmers' Market to eat, purchase, chat, and listen to live music. You can talk to the cheese maker, buy flowers, organic produce, naturally raised beef, and a whole lot more.

The Artisans' Gallery showcases Vermont handcrafts including furniture, a canoe, bowls from the Bowl Mill beautifully decorated, and jewelry. Mad River Glass has a gallery on one level and a workshop below and beautiful innovative creations. The Old Church features the stained glass of Luminosity Studios. Beautiful creations in the crowded gallery fracture the light into swirls of color and pattern.

Rochester

Vermont is justifiably proud of their own local products. I'm sitting here sniffing soap. It's Vermont Soap -- oatmeal lavender with organic oils made in Middlebury. When I told the man in Seasoned Books in Rochester (where I was having a delicious lunch) that I was going to do a story including products made in Vermont his face lit up and he went off to the display to procure the enticing soap. On the back there's a story. It takes nearly a month to craft a bar of Vermont Soap. Each aromatherapy bar is handmade in small batches in our shop in Middlebury. The soap is wire cut and cured for almost a month before packing. And creating a soap suitable for sensitive skin. Certified organic by Vermont Organic Farmers and USDA approved.

Tiny Rochester boasts not only the delicious cafe in Seasoned Books, there's also a wonderful potter. Judy Jensen Clay Studio offers charming, innovative pottery, but hats as well.

Vermont Fresh

Nothing epitomizes the focus on local products like Vermont Fresh, a partnership among farmers, chefs, restaurants and consumers. Started to preserve the family farms that dot the verdant countryside, the Vermont Fresh Network has ended up creating a community of producers, chefs, restaurants, and families who buy local, organic, and fresh. In addition the meats come from humanely raised farm animals.

Seasoned Books is part of the Vermont Fresh network as is American Flatbread and other restaurants and inns. One of my favorite activities soon became quizzing the folks I met who were part of the network as to where they get their foods. They always reeled off a list of local sources. Just try that in any other place in the country. So, Lareau Farm Inn, and American Flatbread restaurant next door get their eggs, beef, chicken, and pork from Gaylord Farms. The milk is Vermont milk from Booth Brothers. The sausage is made by Vermont Folks. The cheese can come from Cabot, Shelburne Farms, Lazy Lady, or the Three Shepherds. But the chevre comes from Vermont Butter & Cheese Company. Produce? Some from Gaylord Farms, some from Dave Hartshorn's Santa Davida Farms.

I buy my food from the local supermarket part of a chain of stores across the country. They buy their products from all over the world. But in a small corner of the United States, Vermont has created a place where folks can tell you exactly where their products come from. Even their soaps and cleaning supplies.