Been there twice in the Fall, although not quite as late as you are going.
If you happen to be there on a good weather day, a bike ride along the lake front bike path is nice. You can go all the way out on the causeway although the ferry across the gap is unlikely to be running. We unfortunately did on a not so good day with very high winds ... fortunately we had rented eBikes which made it easier.
We found several like shop/museum/display combos in the area: Pewter, glass blowing, cheese, etc. The nearby town of Shelburne has more of these and a museum and a farm tour ... and more breweries!
Stowe is only about an hour away, which brings Ben & Jerry's factory tour, more little shops and museums and more great beer into play.