Wells, Vermont • 802.325.2829
Over 125 Five Star Reviews ▪ 100% Guest-Focused ▪ 68% Repeat Guests Last Year
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The Magic is in the Unfamiliar...
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Sometimes it's about the journey, sometimes the destination. But with our unique Vermont day trips, it's decidedly both!
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Hello Everyone!
Vermont continues to be one of the safest places in the country.
We are delighted to announce that Pond Mountain Inn is open for our summer season and for the year ahead. We fully appreciate the travel concerns caused by the COVID-19 coronavirus and have thoughtfully enhanced our services to provide an even safer, more welcoming, and relaxing atmosphere.
We are a small boutique inn that offers more safety given the limited number of guests we have on property at any one time, which is a similar characteristic of the entire State of Vermont. We are offering many new and exciting social distancing experiences that you will enjoy as much as those you return to visit year after year.
All our very best,
Kay & Glenn
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From Our Library Window
The Episcopal Church
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Gina Ellis
, our town Librarian, inspired by her view wrote… "Set wide the window. Let me drink the day"— Edith Wharton, Novelist and Playwright was born in 1862, and in 1921 became the first woman to win the Pulitzer for literature.
Thank you Gina!
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Our Ice House Farm Visit
Goshen, Vermont
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Another
fun day
as we played with these very-friendly goats chatting away with Morgan while her husband Chad was making yogurt. We met Chad at the Rutland Farmers’ Market last year and knew our paths would again cross...
And, they have!
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Freedlyville Quarry
Dorset, Vermont
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This abandoned underground marble quarry was a great find by our neighbors. Its access looks like a cave with incredible ice formations inside. The
Vermont Cavers’ Association
holds its annual skating party inside. We’ll be joining the fun next year!
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Perspective comes from encountering something completely new...
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Champlain Orchard • Shoreham, Vermont
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Tracking Blooms From Bud to Flower. Our favorite photo is the Pear Blossoms in the Pinnacle Block. That’s Lake Champlain and the Adirondack Mountains in the distance. Currently closed to walk-ins, but we're hopeful they will soon be opening!
Photo Courtesy of Champlain Orchard.
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Rock of Ages Granite Quarry • Graniteville
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This
fascinating
forty-minute guided quarry tour takes you to an overlook of the Smith Quarry. At nearly 600 feet deep, it is the largest operating deep-hole granite quarry in the world. The self-guided factory tour (currently suspended) takes you inside the 160,000 square-foot factory where you can see artisans using hand tools in much the same way as Michelangelo did centuries ago.
We can't wait to visit!
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Stave Puzzles • Tennis At The Hall Of Fame
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The finest handcrafted wooden jigsaw puzzles found in the world are produced here in
Norwich, Vermont
. Each wooden jigsaw puzzle is meticulously hand-cut, one piece at a time, by a skilled crafter using lots of imagination and a little bit of magic. This puzzle can range in size from 100 to 1000 pieces with the price starting at $907, and a 1,000 piece measuring 20” x 25” sells for $6,997! There's no other puzzle in the world quite like a Stave and there's no other experience like solving one.
We are looking forward to visiting their workshop!
Photo Courtesy of Stave Puzzles and Sally Caldwell Fisher © 2020 The Greenwich Workshop
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Connecting Our Guests to New Experiences…
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The Old First Church • Gathered in 1762 • First Protestant Church in Vermont
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Our Fascination with New England Churches
; from the perspective of architectural simplicity that’s on display at
St. Paul's Episcopal Church
in our tiny village of Wells, Vermont; to the grand simplicity seen inside
The Old First Church
in Old Bennington (photo), to the more majestic simplicity of the
Old North Church
in Boston, Massachusetts... more in our blog below.
Photo Credit: Carol M. Highsmith.
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The 175th Vermont State Fair • Rutland, Vermont • Just Cancelled
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We just love this photograph of a barker at the grounds of the Vermont State Fair in Rutland, September 1941. We’ve never been to any state fair and we were looking forward to attending this year… now it’ll be next summer!
The photo came from The Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division; Jack Delano, photographer.
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Vermont Institute of Natural Science • Quechee, Vermont
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Live Raptor Shows
is unforgettable experience. Watching these birds of prey perform and seeing each bird up close while you learn about the critical role they play in our environment is a treasured experience for the entire family!
Outdoor Raptor Enclosures
is the best way to get up close to eagles, falcons, owls and more! More than 40 raptors call the VINS Nature Center home. These avian predators have sustained injuries and conditions that prevent them from ever living in the wild again.
July 11, 2020 is Magnificent Mammals Day
. Join VINS for a day exploring the amazing lives of mammals. Discover the specialties of our furred cousins and find out how important they are to the natural world. You’ll meet live native mammals in a presentation by
Squam Lakes Natural Science Center
. Then you’ll be introduced to mammals from around the world with
Wildlife Encounters
.
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Phil's Mill
• Wells, Vermont... The Only Left-Hand Saw Mill in Vermont!
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When’s the last time you’ve been to a saw mill? Likely never. Just a few minutes away and over the mountain is Phil’s Mill—Frank, the owner, runs the entire operation deftly with only a small crew. Two years ago, a few of our guests toured the mill and took home some beautiful cherry planks. It’s a quick fun visit and Frank is a wonderful host.
It's a great start to any of our day trip destinations!
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Memorial Hall • Harvard University • Cambridge, Massachusetts
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The slate for the ongoing roof renovations at Harvard’s Memorial Hall comes from
The New England Slate Company
in Poultney, Vermont just a few minutes from the inn. Over the last several decades they’ve supplied slate for over 25 projects on the Harvard campus, and this year they continue with work on the lower portions of the Memorial Hall building. Built in the High Victorian Gothic style during the 1860s, this building is focal point of the Cambridge landscape. A fire destroyed the central tower in 1956, and they supplied the slate for its restoration in 1996. Now the lower sections are being refurbished, with work planned through 2021.
Thanks, Chris Smid, for helping our guests Monday with their project in Connecticut and for some marvelous insights into the slate industry. Also, the
Slate Museum in Granville
is definitely worth visiting!
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Drive-In Movie Theaters in Vermont and Nearby...
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The Drive-in Movie Theater is simply a pure slice of Americana. There are only 305 theaters in the United States with a total of 549 screens, according to the United Drive-in Theater Owner Association. CNN and The Washington Post have written about this resurgence, and even Food & Wine reports that “Restaurants Are Turning Their Parking Lots into Drive-In Movie Theaters… It's the perfect socially-distanced outing.”
Six Drive-In Movie Theaters Nearby...
Glen Drive-In Theatre: (since 1958) Queensbury, New York, 518.792.0023
Malta Drive-In Theatre: (since1949) Malta, New York, 518.587.6077
Hathaway's Twin Drive-In Theater: (since 1948) North Hoosick, New York, 318.374.8346
Bethel Drive-In: Bethel, Vermont, 802.728.3740
Sunset Drive-In: (since 1948) Colchester, Vermont, 802.862.1800
Fairlee Drive-in Theatre: (since 1950) Fairlee, Vermont, 802.333.9192
Click on the link below to our blog for a complete list of all the drive-in movie theaters in the U.S.
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Rock of Ages Quarry Opera Singer • Graniteville, Vermont
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A spectacular promotional video has been produced in Smith Quarry, showcasing the natural seams in the rock that run horizontally and the deep opaque turquoise water. The purity of Barre’s granite in contrast with the spectacular voice of an opera singer is just breathtaking.
Click on the photo and watch this beautiful two-minute video in “full-screen mode". Her beautiful voice is choreographed
with video images of stone being harvested. Magnificent!
Thank you Rock of Ages for the photograph, content and video!
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Adventure Wellness on Lake St. Catherine • Kay's Eight Pound Brown Trout!
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We went fishing with our friends a few weeks ago! Kay reeled in that eight pounder, I got one closer to six pounds and we both reeled in two small ones, one of which Kay cooked that evening—it was absolutely delicious. Next time we’re keeping the big ones! Words cannot describe the beauty and meditative qualities of slowing cruising the lake…
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