One of the prettiest villages along Hwy-100 is WESTON , spreading beside a little river and centering on a perfect green, where a somber stone slab commemorates the seventeen local soldiers who were killed on the same day during the Civil War, at Alexandria in Virginia. Nearby, the Farrar-Mansur House (July & Aug Wed-Sun 1-4pm; May, June, Sept & Oct Sat & Sun 1-4pm; $2 donation) is a 1795 house and tavern, which recreates early settler life with collections of clocks, dolls, guns and weaving equipment, while the Weston Playhouse is a typical little Vermont theater, putting on light summer and classic fall performances (Tues-Sun; $25-31; tel 802/824-5288).

Stores selling antiques, toys and fudge are scattered up and down the main street. The Vermont Country Store , south of the green, is larger than it looks from its modest facade. For all its seeming quaintness, the Vermont institution, known as the "Purveyors of the Practical and Hard-to-Find," is part of a chain of superstores that has a successful mail-order business. The Weston Village Store opposite leans more on the side of kitsch but is a fun place to browse all kinds of books, chairs, garden tools and kitchen implements.

Weston's nicest accommodation is the lovely Inn at Weston (tel 802/824-6789, ; $100-130), whose homey rooms are complemented by an excellent restaurant and a cozy pub. Among decent alternatives are the family- run Colonial House Inn & Motel (tel 802/824-6286 or 1-800/639-5033, ; $35-50/$50-75), less than two miles south on Hwy-100, and the Friendly Acres Motel & Inn (tel 802/824-5851; $75-100), a little closer to town on the same road. A small, but magnificent soda fountain dominates the 1885 mahogany bar of the lunch-only Bryant House   restaurant (closed Sun; tel 802/824-6287), next door to the Vermont Country Store and run by the same management; the menu includes such country goodies as "johnny cakes" of cornbread with molasses.

Weston

• Weston

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