• Bear Cieri | Kirsten Thompson

Raise your hand if every day feels a little bit like vacay, now that the state's pandemic restrictions have been lifted. Vermonters are once again partaking in activities they avoided last July — dining out, catching live music, heading to a popular swimming hole. It's summer lovin' like we haven't experienced since 2019, and it's all the more special for that lost year.

This issue of Staytripper, Seven Days' road map to rediscovering Vermont, offers guidance for getting back out there. And by "out there," we generally mean the great outdoors. This time of year, nothing is better.

Follow our itinerary to a provocative puppet show in a Glover field or a peaceful paddleboard on Lake Champlain. Get some perspective while wandering among large-scale artworks in Enosburg Falls or learning about a pioneering Black Vermonter in Brownington. Feeling gutsy? Zip-line down a mountain in Jeffersonville. You don't have to go far to celebrate your newfound freedom.