Wells, Vermont • 802.325.2829
You Don't Need More Vacation Days – You Just Need Better Ones!
|
|
|
The Magic is in the Unfamiliar...
|
|
|
|
Sometimes it's about the journey, sometimes the destination. But with our unique Vermont day trips, it's decidedly both!
|
|
|
Our newsletter is a delightful way to spend ten minutes at lunch. Just enjoy the photographs and commentary – make sure to read the two longer ones; I hope you find them interesting...
|
|
|
|
New York
–
Vermont
Amtrak's Ethan Allen Express
|
Step from the platform on to the train, find your seat, put your luggage in the overhead, grab a window seat, and experience the
surprising
calm as the train gently pulls away to a destination where the rhythm is calmer...
|
|
Southern Pie Company
Chester, Vermont
|
This photograph exemplifies Vermont – absolutely hilarious! We stumbled upon this delightful café in Chester… we had caffè lattes and delicious specialties. We’ll be adding Chester to our Vermont Day Trips!
|
|
New York State Museum
Albany, New York
|
Last summer we found the locks along the
Champlain Canal
fascinating
,
which we blogged about
– the canal, extends 62.6 miles connecting the Hudson River to Lake Champlain. This is a great trip diversion.
|
|
|
Perspective comes from encountering something completely new...
|
|
|
The Best Ingredients Make The Best Food!
|
We now only serve
Ploughgate Creamery
Cultured Butter.
Butter made in the European style by adding live active cultures to cream then
sits for 48 hours. This imparts complexity to the aroma, flavor, and texture of the finished product
before churning, similar to cheese or yogurt. The final step is where Marisa folds in sea salt by hand before wrapping the butter – the end result is nutty, grassy, and sweet flavor that’s simply divine! Learn more about
Ploughgate Creamery
, Marisa, and her farm!
Another
fascinating
Vermont story!
|
|
|
|
The Hyde Collection • Glens Falls, New York
|
The Hyde Collection offers works of American and European art that span almost 6,000 years. The permanent collection consists of more than 5,000 objects – Old Master paintings and drawings by such artists as Botticelli, El Greco, Rembrandt, and Rubens; additional works by such modern masters as Cézanne, Degas, Picasso, Renoir, Seurat, and Van Gogh. Learn about
15 of the Greatest Painters of All Time Whose Influences Live On Today
– four of whom are at
The Hyde
!
|
|
|
|
Lost Luxuries: Ancient Chinese Gold Exhibition
|
Middlebury College Museum of Art • January 24 – April 19. This exhibition explores the artistry and social meanings of Chinese gold objects produced between the Warring States period (475–221 BCE) and Tang dynasty (618–907 CE), as well as the more recent story of how they entered American museum collections.
Combine your museum visit with another Middlebury event below.
|
|
|
|
Connecting Our Guests to New Experiences…
|
|
|
American Cup Short Track Speedskating
•
Lake Placid, New York
|
Friday, February 14 – Sunday, February 16, 2020 │ Lake Placid Olympic Center
International Short Track Speedskating is back in Lake Placid for the first time in many years! Short track speed skating is a form of competitive ice speed skating. In competitions, multiple skaters (groups typically between four and six) skate on an oval ice track. The American Cup will consist of 500m, 1000, m, 2000m, and 3000m distances with men and women competing.
The drive time to Lake Placid is about two hours.
Join Us – We're
Definitely
Going!!
|
|
|
Harris Hill Ski Jumping Competition
•
Brattleboro, Vermont
|
Saturday & Sunday, February 15-16, 2020
We had a blast last year – nine of us traveled just over an hour though picturesque historic Vermont towns to witness competitors as young as twelve years old launching themselves more than 300 feet at speeds up to 60 mph! Top jumpers from around the world compete on New England's only Olympic-size 90-meter hill...
distant ringing cow bells make it seem like you're in Austria for the day.
Join us... we're attending both events over the weekend – speedskating at Lake Placid on either Friday or Saturday and ski jumping on Sunday!
|
|
|
Lake Placid Bobsled Experience – A Thrill of a Lifetime for Only $95!
|
Join us and experience the most thrilling minute of your life! Find out what it’s like to be an Olympic bobsledder… I’m definitely doing this and I hope Kay will too! Afterward, we’ll retire to the
Lake Placid Olympic Museum and Hall of Fame
or just take in the winter beauty of Lake Placid.
|
|
|
Middlebury College Athletics... An Afternoon of Pure Athletic Indulgence
|
Middlebury College hosts Women’s Hockey, Men’s Hockey, Track & Field, Squash, Basketball, Swimming & Diving – all under one roof and free admission! A great way to spend an
indoor
afternoon – and, if you’re really motivated, leave shortly before five o’clock, grab an early dinner and return in time for Men’s Hockey at 7:00PM. Now, the trick is to visit the
Athletic Calendar
to find the best weekend when most of the teams are playing at home!
|
|
|
Vermont Ice Fishing Day Festival ... We Missed It This Year!
|
Not to worry though... We're taking an
Introduction to Ice Fishing
course next Wednesday at
Lake Bomoseen State Park.
Topics covered will include safety, equipment, regulations and more! It's especially nice that Vermont Fish and Wildlife provides all the equipment. We’ll be well dressed for the weather – our boots are rated to -20°, two sets of hand warmers, two portable camping chairs, along with a thermos of Kay’s
Guittard
hot chocolate
will make for a comfortable day
.
|
|
|
Welcome to JH Forge Customer Knife Maker • Pawlet, Vermont
|
When’s the last time you shucked an oyster? Me, likely never… I cannot help being mindful of the force and dexterity required to open an oyster without sustaining a deep hand laceration requiring multiple surgeries and weeks in a cast. So, no oyster shucking for me! That said, I just had to have this
oyster shucker
– why, look at it… it’s a work of art, and the prospect of having bushels of oysters and cherrystone clams this summer may have contributed to my decision.
Now, the technical side… this 8"
oyster shucking knife
has been thoughtfully developed and indestructibly built to confidently pry-open the most stubborn oyster. The wide thick
curved
blade with a sturdy pointed tip will ensure mangled-free
oyster meat
. The five-inch handle is made from black walnut, and we also have a matching black walnut handle bread knife that we also couldn’t live without!
Jim Hurlbert, the owner, not only creates customer knives, but a variety of other tools. Jim is incredibly interesting and has a full machine shop on Route 30 in Pawlet, and a few years ago Jim built a 1930s era 30’ Chris-Craft Mahogany Runabout. I hope we get an invite this summer!
Last – in the photo above the oyster knife in resting on a giant clam shell. I actually ate the raw clam meat from this shell at an outdoor seafood market on the site where Magellan was killed in 1521 – Mactan, Philippines.
|
|
|
Vermont Wagyu Ribeye Steak Tasting... at Spring-Rock Farm
|
|
|
Our Neighbor’s Husky and Miniature Horse Escaped...
|
Another interesting day in the neighborhood... it took six of us, forty-five minutes at a distance of almost two miles to
wrangle
these two scalawags – that's me walking the husky and Mike with the miniature horse.
|
|
|
|
|