Vermont Travel Notes

Vermont is chock full of food producers. Cold Hollow Cider Mill, Ben and Jerry's ice cream, King Arthur Flour, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Cabot Cheese are the best known but the list goes on and on with what seems like hundreds of small and medium size companies making items as diverse as cookies, pizza, beer, and tea. If you like good quality food, you will love Vermont.

This weekend is a good opportunity to sample chocolate from Vermont and other places in New England. The Vermont Chocolate Show was formerly held in Stowe but it has moved to The Inn at Essex, a larger venue near Burlington.

The exhibitors are mostly made up of chocolate manufacturers but also some surprises such as an art exhibit and a Vermont vodka company that makes chocolate flavored spirits!

The event is scheduled to run Saturday and Sunday, May 17 and 18th.

(c) Jeff Connor Grunberg Haus Inn

The Vermont Craft Council, an association of several hundreds craftspeople throughout the state, started the Open Studio Weekend 16 years ago as a way to increase awareness of the craft-making community.

It's easy now to not only see the scale of the craft industry here, but also the deep wealth of skill right here in our little 'ol state. The trees, farms, and mountains are beautiful but they can overshadow a great supply of talented people here sometimes.

This year's Open Studio Weekend is taking place Saturday and Sunday, May 24 and 25. It's a great time to see both studios that are open frequently to the public and also the "off the beaten path" studios that are rarely open to visitors.

There is an incredibly detailed Open Studio guide and map guide on the Vermont Craft Council website. Some 250 studios will be open on the weekend. Let me emphasize that this is not people making flea market junk. These are first rate craftspeople. For example, take a look at the Studio and Gallery page on the Craft Council's website.

If you don't want to print a lot pages from the website, you have enough time to order the complete tour guide free by US Postal mail. Just click here. It will also be available at most of the studios and also the state's official welcome centers on the highways and main roads leading into the state.

It's a great time to visit. Everything here will be fresh and green, the daytime temperatures will be warm and the night time cool.

(c) 2008 Jeff Connor Grunberg Haus Inn

St. Johnsbury Athenaeum

The New York Times Travel section last week published an article about athenaeums around the eastern US, mainly New England. "Where Greek Ideals Meet New England Charm" includes a mention of the St. Johnsbury Athenaeum, a combined library and art gallery located in downtown St. Johnsbury. It's an outstanding facility where you can easily lose track of time.

The town of St. Johnsbury is a wonderful place to visit and great entrance to Vermont's Northeast Kingdom. Other attractions in the area include the
Fairbanks Museum, Old Stone House Museum, and Stephen Huneck Dog Mountain.

More information about these attractions and others are listed on the Northeast Kingdom Chamber of Commerce website.

(c) 2008 Jeff Connor (except the photo above) Grunberg Haus

Budweiser Clydesdale horse photo from Mount Snow

Mount Snow is the only northeast ski area that will be hosting the Budweiser Clydesdale horses this year.

They will be available for viewing at a Friday night pizza party, a Saturday afternoon parade, and in one of the parking lots after the parade.

Mount Snow Ski Resort is located in southern Vermont near Wilmington VT, between Brattleboro and Bennington.

More information is available at the Mount Snow Events Calendar.

(c) 2008 [except the photograph] Jeff Connor

One of the largest telemark ski events in the country takes place every year at Mad River Glen ski area in Fayston Vermont.

The North American Telemark Organization TeleFest takes place this coming weekend, March 8 and 9. About 1,000 telemark skiers will be taking part in races, clinics, equipment demonstrations, fun runs, and parties.

The cost is $54 per day or $104 for two day. and includes lift ticket, clinics, use of demo gear, contests, and Magic Hat dance party.

About a week later, March 17 - 21, the next door ski resort at Sugarbush will host the FIS Telemark World Cup Finals with the best telemark skiers in the world competing.

If you are not familiar with telemark skiing, you can read a good article about it on Wikipedia.

(c) 2008 Jeff Connor (except the photo from NATO) Grunberg Haus Inn

That's the question I got from a wonderfully cheerful person somewhere south of the Mason Dixon line who had never seen snow and was calling in early March. He wanted to know if he had missed the snow this year or if there was still time left to travel to Vermont and see snow. I was happy to tell him that most years we get the greatest amount of snowfall in March compared to other months.

Most of the people I speak with are surprised to hear we get more snow in March. When they are seeing the beginning of Spring where they live, Vermont is building to a grand winter finale.

To see what I mean, take a look at Stowe Resort's five year weather history. Not only is March the snowiest (I guess that is a real word), but it's the end of the month when the largest amounts of snow are falling. The last week in March averages 32 inches at Stow, far more than any other week there.

Stowe's Snow Report shows 309 inches of snowfall so far this season, just short of the season average of 327 inches.

It's been a great year for skiing and other winter activities but don't feel that you have missed it if you have not been here yet. There is plenty of snow here for you to enjoy and more is on the way.

In fact, this is a good time of year to enjoy winter. The days are longer, temperatures are higher, and there aren't as many people skiing, snowmobiling, snow shoeing, etc. I wish more people were aware of how good it can be here in March. It would be great to see the ski areas and the Vermont's Department of Tourism getting the word out about March. I'm sure more people would come if they knew what it is like here this month.

For the more technically inclined, and maybe a few inexperienced skeptics, you can view a current snow depth map from the National Weather Service to see how much snow you can expect when you travel to Vermont or other New England states.

The areas in dark blue represent depths of 20 to 39 inches (50 cm to 100 cm), and the purple lines, which you can see run along the mountain ranges, represent 59 to 98 inches (150 to 250 cm). Those are current snow depths, not the amount that has fallen this season. The map is updated every day.

Plan a trip to Vermont and enjoy this great winter season we will continue having for the next month.



(c) 2008 Jeff Connor Grunberg Haus Inn