Vermont Vacation Report

Greetings from snowy Vermont!!

We started our adventure after work on Monday by driving to Hagerstown, MD. Tuesday we drove all day and arrived in Vermont by late afternoon. I spent four hours of our travel time doing Chistmas cards. It’s nice to do something productive during long trips. When we crossed the state line into Vermont we were disappointed that there was very little snow on the ground. We weren’t without snow for long because it snowed all day on Wednesday and until early afternoon today.

We always admire this church when we stay or pass through Bennington. What a way to welcome visitors to a town with a view like this.

After we checked into our condo, we went to downtown Ludlow for dinner. If you like a ski resort with a lot of nightlife and lots and lots of restaurant choices, you don’t want to pick Okemo. We like small, laid back towns without a lot going on, so Okemo is perfect for us. We ate at The Pot Belly. It has a great bar and would be a lot of fun on a busy winter’s night in high ski season. The place was dead when we were there. Ok food – ok service.

After dinner we enjoyed a fire in our condo.

Wednesday was a snowy day. It was so neat to wake up to this view.

It was pretty to watch but not so much fun to ski in because on the top of the mountain it was not snow but freezing pellets of ice. The ice froze on our googles, blinding us until we scraped it off with our gloves. After only a few minutes the ice was back. It was a cold day of skiing!

Wednesday afternoon we went to The Vermont Country Store in Windor. Do you get their catalog? This is the neatest place. They sell cheese, candy, kitchen supplies, clothes, bedding, cosmetics, toys, and more. They have free samples of their cheese and many of their dips and other goodies.

We went to a Harry’s Cafe in Mount Holly for dinner. We loved Harry’s on our last Okemo trip and knew that we would have to have a meal there. It was jus as good as we remembered. I had Ravioli Diablo and Mr. SP had a beef Flauta. We highly recommend this restaurant.

Thursday was a perfect day for skiing. It snowed until about one o’clock, it was not terribly cold, and the snow was packed and groomed, just like we like it. We skied until our legs couldn’t take any more.

After skiing we visited a sugar house to buy syrup and candies. Mr. SP has never met a dog who didn’t like him and the one at the sugar house was no exception.

We then headed to another favorite small village, Chester. We visited an antique shop that we like and then Misty Vally Books. The sister of a friend from home owns the book store. We try to drop in to visit every time we are in VT.

Dinner on Thursday was at another favorite restaurant, The Sirloin Saloon. They serve very tasty steaks and the best bread that I’ve had in a long time. We never miss The Sirloin Saloon when we are in VT.

Friday is our last day of skiing at Okemo. We have a late check out and then we are headed to Woodstock to the Woodstock Inn for the weekend. Vermont is supposed to get a significant snowfall tomorrow, so I hope that our drive from Okemo to Woodstock will be a safe one.

I hope that everyone is enjoying getting ready for Christmas and is not too crazy busy. It is kind of odd being on vacation this time of year and missing out on some of the festivities at home. I’ll take VT any day!