Wells, Vermont • 802.325.2829
Over 190 Five Star Reviews ▪ 100% Guest-Focused ▪ 61% New Guests Last Year
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A Vermont Mountain Sanctuary… |
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Hello Everyone and Happy New Year!
Thank you—to our many new guests this past year, and all our returning guests that made our 2020 season our best in seven years, and to our guests that were unable to visit last year, we look forward to hosting you again in 2021. Together we discovered new traditions, new experiences, as we continued to rely on past comforts that we were all still able to enjoy.
Reassurance, comfort, happiness and new experiences are the best remedies to distance yourself from post-holiday winter doldrums and the avalanche of coronavirus news. The encouraging theme in this newsletter is there’s lots happening here in Vermont this winter and we will always make you feel safe, warm, and welcome.
All our best,
Kay & Glenn
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Pond Mountain was likely stripped of all its trees in the 1800s. Denuded by pioneers’ need for fire wood, building materials and lumber that gave rise to the sheep industry. In 1837 our county had the most sheep in Vermont—180,984. We still have barbed wire remnants throughout the property that we discovered hiking that likely date back to the 1930s. |
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Lars Jacob Wingshooting
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Lars does it all... Public or private shooting schools that offer a variety of instruction catering to individuals, small parties, or large corporate groups. From gun fitting to live bird instruction, Lars also hosts destination trips for ruffed grouse, woodcock, quail and duck shooting. Click on the photo to learn more.
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Ice Fishing on The Lake
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Ice fishing is exhilarating and capable of delivering peace and tranquility to those determined to go somewhere beautiful and experience the health benefits of spending time outside on Lake St. Catherine. Saturday, January 30, 2021 is Vermont’s next free ice fishing day where anyone can go fishing without a Vermont fishing license. |
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Perspective Comes from Encountering Something Completely New... |
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Skiing Distances from Pond Mountain Inn |
Bromley Mountain Ski Resort • 48 Minutes / 29 Miles
Stratton Mountain • 1 Hour / 38 Miles
Okemo Mountain Resort • 1 Hour / 40 Miles
Pico Mountain • 1 Hour / 42 Miles
Killington Resort • 1.1 Hours / 48 Miles
Cross Country Skiing Southern Vermont
Hildene, The Lincoln Family Home • 35 Minutes / 25 Miles
Wild Wing's Ski Touring Center • 50 Minutes / 34 Miles
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Andreé Ciccarelli's Sunday Sauce Recipe
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Our neighbor makes the best “sauce” from home-grown San Marzano tomatoes on their property, but this time of year these tomatoes originate from a can, likely from New Jersey. Cicc’s Sunday sauce is indescribably delicious, and equally as delicious week after week, but with subtle nuances. “This is the basic recipe.” Cicc said, and graciously went on to say, “If your guests want the complicated version, they’ll just have to come for dinner.” |
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The wintertime brings exceptional Vermont skiing and snowboarding on snow that is known as one of the best skiing and riding surfaces in the East year after year. With 121 trails, 20 lifts, snowmaking that covers 98% of the terrain, and a summit elevation of 3,344 feet makes for an inspiring weekend. Our neighbors ski Okemo exclusively. |
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Connecting Our Guests to New & Safe Outdoor Experiences… |
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Fewest Number of COVID-19 Cases: Vermont Ranks First
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Vermont continues to be the safest state in the country. This map shows the cumulative number of COVID-19 cases, since the pandemic started. This includes probable cases and cases confirmed by testing. Vermont has the lowest COVID-19 case count in the country with total 10,005 cases or 1,600 per 100,000 people, with only 163 new cases on Monday. Illinois tops the list with the highest number of cases; 1.1 million cases or 8,334 per 100,00 people. Click on the map for the complete U.S. Coronavirus Map & Trends from the Mayo Clinic. Statistics from the Mayo Clinic, January 17, 2021.
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The "New" Silver Fork Restaurant... Continues to Wow Our Guests! |
Silver Fork is a fine-dining restaurant with extraordinary attention to detail. Through the sharply focused culinary lens of award-winning Chef Mark French lies his remarkable ability to coax out the intrinsic natural flavors of local and seasonal ingredients. Mark’s dishes draw on global influences that blend beautifully with this quintessential New England town of Manchester.
The menu enriches the senses, with our favorite first-course dishes like beef tartare, duck eggroll, and lump crab salad. The wiener schnitzel is outstanding—our server told us that a couple from Austria said it was “just as good as home, and maybe better.” And, we agree! The rack of lamb, Maryland crab cakes and slow roasted brisket are among our favorites, and our guests too.
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Wild Wings Ski Touring Center • Peru, Vermont |
That’s Patti in the clearing at the top of the trail. This was our first day cross-country skiing, two years ago, and the day was magnificent—blue skies, sunny and 32° warm. If you click on the photo, you’ll see Danny, Patti’s husband, moving beautifully thought the trails.
Our guests last weekend loved Wild Wings—Rachel and Jesse, both beginners took to the trails beautifully. They’re smart, they watched YouTube videos before they arrived. Wild Wings is a family friendly Nordic ski touring center that offers some of the best cross-country skiing in Southern Vermont.
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Get Back to Nature and Enjoy the Fresh Air! |
Staying fit, strong and active during the winter can be a challenge, especially for energetic outdoor enthusiasts. Not to worry; fortunately, the cold weather also opens up countless options for winter-specific activities, including skiing, snowboarding, and snowshoeing. The health benefits of snowshoeing are making it an increasingly popular winter sport that just makes for a healthier and happier winter!
Get your health time outdoors in the fresh air and away from people. Snowshoeing is a wonderful aerobic activity that improves your cardiovascular and muscle fitness, and you can burn from 420-1000 calories per hour. It’s a great low-impact winter activity! And, you can snowshoe here at Pond Mountain Inn.
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Ice Fishing on Lake St. Catherine... Our Favorite Winter Experience! |
Join us to experience something entirely new and exciting outdoors. Let our friends Carrie & Kevin be your guide to successful ice fishing on Lake St. Catherine. We went ice fishing twice last week and caught 25 fish—perch, largemouth bass, northern pike and wait until you watch the video of Kay reeling in a big brown trout— it's hilarious, but make sure to turn up the volume!
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We're Visiting The Salisbury Fish Hatchery Today! |
The Salisbury Fish Hatchery is a state-operated fish hatchery in Salisbury, Vermont. Established in 1931, it produces five trout species for distribution to the other hatcheries in the state. Its facilities are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Salisbury rears and maintains the oldest and largest fish of the hatchery program—today, we’re expecting to not only see big fish, but see mating male and female fish that produce approximately nine million trout eggs annually. Vermont’s fish culture stations produce more than 1.5 million fish annually for distribution, or stocking, to Vermont’s lakes and streams. Stocking fish helps to restore fish populations and enhances angling opportunities. |
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In Search of Lord of the Rings... "The Enduring Power of Donuts." |
What’s more American than Donuts? Maybe pizza or maybe neither. No one really knows the origins of donuts, the deep-fried antithesis of wellness, wellness that we spent hours discussing above. There is one certainty, really good donuts are elusive, but not here in Vermont or at the King Bakery Donut Cart in Cambridge, New York. These donuts are worth getting up early for, and after a 45-minute drive you'll understand why... A donut experience that you’ll never forget!
We also love the donuts at the Wells County Store, in the center of our tiny village, the Dorset Union Store on the Dorset Green makes exceptional donuts, and then there’s Mrs. Murphy’s Donuts in Manchester—donuts like we grew up with in the 1950s and 1960s.
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Dashing Through Fields of Snow... Another Outdoor Activity! |
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Thank you for reading our newsletter!
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