Stowe, Vermont: the ultimate flavor of New England 

Mention the state of Vermont, the Green Mountain State, and images of classic New England charm —covered bridges, cow pastures, family farms, white steepled churches, and fresh mountain air — come to mind.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With three quarters of the state covered by forests Vermont is a year-round escape to the Great Outdoors.

There are mountains to climb, trails for hiking or biking, and in winter downhill and cross-country skiing.

It is hardly surprising that a state as green as Vermont is the nation’s leader in farmers’ markets and organic producers. It’s a hub of the local foods movement, with a food and drink culture of craft beer, wine, and artisan cheeses.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vermont has more breweries per capita than anywhere else in the Unites States. Chefs collaborate with producers to create a farm-to-table cuisine as sophisticated as you please. Independently owned and operated restaurants, cafes, and bistros abound.

Idyllic Stowe, Vermont’s largest town, is a blend of quintessential rural charm and vacation amenities. It’s the kind of place with a general store on Main Street (Route 100 ), where the local paper lists chicken pie suppers, and you leave the payment in a jar at farm stands.

Stowe is a hub for tasting the best of Vermont, a place to buy flavorful cheddar cheeses, sugary maple candy and syrups, and refreshing scoops of homemade ice cream, all from the source.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In fall there’s apple and pumpkin picking.

There is a paved recreation path for hiking and biking and a sidewalk for a safe and easy walking between the restaurants, shops and activities of the Historic Village and those along Mountain Road Village.

These pathways makes the 3rd generation, family owned and operated, Snowflake Mountain Resort & Spa a most convenient choice.

It is on 60 private acres of open space on Mountain Road that overlook Mount Mansfield, Vermont’s highest peak.

This site for year-round getaway and family fun has indoor and outdoor pools and an outdoor Jacuzzi. There’s a nine-hole par 3 family friendly golf course, (18-hole championship golf is nearby), a tennis court, and a summer camp for children 5-12 operated by Apple Tree Learning Center. There are even take a tethered balloon rides. And wifi is complimentary.

Some guest rooms and suites have a gas-lit fireplace or a  jacuzzi. All include access to the Sports Club’s  Cybex Center, Racquetball/Squash/Tennis Courts, and fitness studios.

The  townhouses and the Baraw family ski house are often the choice of families or other groups.

There’s a restaurant onsite, Charlie B’s, with a range of dining. During holidays or for special events there are special multi-course fine dining menus.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Breakfasts are as hearty as you would like them to be.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The snowy winter season transforms the 60 acre resort into a wonderland of activities like dog sledding tours with Siberian Huskies, Moonlight Snowshoe tours, snowmobiling, and horse-drawn carriage rides. There are 3 miles of groomed cross country and snowshoe trails.

Stowe is known as the Ski Capital of the East, and Stowe Mountain Resort has nearly 500 acres of skiing and a 2,160’ vertical drop. It’s just a complimentary shuttle ride away. Stowe Ski School has children’s and adult programs for all levels.

The only dilemma is that there is so much in the way of activities, recreation, and events to enjoy onsite it’s tempting simply to stay right there. And this becomes increasingly tempting once you have experienced the crowning jewel of the resort, the Spa at Stoweflake.

With thirty treatment rooms and over 150 signature soothing and restorative choices for body, mind, and spirit, its string of Top Ten accolades goes on and on. The Spa at Snowflake received a perfect score as a Top Resort Spa in Condé Nast Travelers, a Top Ten Hotel Spa by Forbes, a Top Ten Spas by Spa Magazine,and a Top 10 in seven categories in Spa Finder Magazine. It received Fodor’s Gold Award 2010 alongside  the Canyon Ranch in Tucson, Mii Amo Spa in Sedona, and the Four Seasons Hotel at Beverly Hills.

Arrive early to stretch out on the fireside chaises in the cozy lounge area. Allow time to feel the massaging sensations of the 12’ high waterfall and to soak in the Hungarian mineral bath in the the Aqua Solarium.

There’s a stellar range massages, wraps, aromatherapy, Vichy shower and other soothing treatments.  Some offer relief from joint inflammation or back pain and others are sheer indulgence. Signature treatments, like the Vermont Maple Sugar Body Polish with hot towel compressions and Green Mountain Coffee Body Treatment with a Dead Sea mud wrap, have a local flavor. With weddings for up to 400 guests at the Stoweflake Mountain Resort and Spa, there are special bridal packages, too.

Add to this traditional Eastern body work like a stress-relieving Shiatsu (finger pressure) massage to open energy flow, and the holistic healing of balancing mind, body, and spirit with Ayurvedic treatments for a unique and complete spa experience. Check the website for special packages and promotions

If or when you are ready to explore beyond the resort, the concierge is there to help. Printouts map out scenic Self-Guided Driving Tours that should not be missed, especially during foliage season. Drive past farms and pastures, woodlands, valleys, and mountains.

There are iconic covered bridges, one of which is said to be haunted.

Back roads teem with wildlife and there are views across Mount Mansfield and the Sterling Range. One ten mile tour takes leads to vistas from movies like Hitchcock’s “Trouble With Harry” and “The Four Seasons,” which starred Carol Burnett and Alan Alda.

The Taste of Vermont Self-Guided Tour begins with Stowe Maple Products and continues along Route 100 South to the Boyden Valley Winery Tasting Room. The adjacent Cold Hollow Apple Cider Mill is where you can sample ciders, relishes, jellies and but apple cider donuts. Folks line up to buy the apple cider donuts.

Indulge your sweet tooth at Lake Champlain Chocolates Store, just a mile down the road, and step over to the Cabot Cheese’s Annex Store, where you can sample the award-winning cheeses to your heart’s delight.

Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream Factory, where a tour is $4, $3 seniors, and ice cream is for sale, is another mile and a half down Route 100.

The area in and around Stowe is home to special events throughout the year.

Professional ice carvers are in action at the Stowe Winter Carnival, “All Stowed In,” held January 16-30 in 2016, its 42nd year. There are over twenty major activities including  sporting events, a Snow Golf Tournament, Snow Volleyball Tournament, and the new Broom Ball Tournament, Las Vegas Night Gala. Join in on the adult Hollywood Squares and Karaoke.

Many, like the 5K Craft Brew Race in May, are held right on the grounds of the Stoweflake Mountain Resort.

In July, over sixty locally owned shops and galleries participating in the Stowe 7 Miles of Sales.  There’s a full day of food, music, entertainment, fireworks, and more at the Old Fashioned Fourth of July. And tickets to July’s Hot Air Balloon Festival are free to those who stay at the Stoweflake Mountain Resort.

More than 800 antique and classic cars are features at the Stowe Annual Antique Car Show in August. There is a huge automotive flea market, as well as food concessions and a unique car parade through town.

Over 600 British-made cars are in Stowe for September’s British Invasion, a time of British cultural activities, crafts, and more. July—

Sundays May through October a sprawling Farmers’ Market with an array that includes organic produce and meats, as well as the makings of a fine picnic — barbeque, jams, pickles, baked goods, maple sugar candy  and homemade pies.There are arts and crafts like ceramics/pottery, decorative slates and glass, leather products, warm knitted goods. It is held across from Stoweflake Mountain Resort.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mechanical talent comes to town in fall with individually designed medieval-style trebuchets for the Vermont Pumpkin Chuckin’ Festival.  This family-friendly pumpkin launching competition on the Stoweflake Mountain Resort ground also includes music, children activities, and a chili cook-off.

 

https://youtu.be/ZUhTl1xkXDw

Oktoberfest transforms Stowe into a Bavarian village with oompah bands, authentic German foods, freshly brewed Vermont beers, and activities like face painting for children.

Two hundred juried artisans are in town with contemporary and traditional arts and crafts for October’s Stowe Foliage Arts Festival.

With so many first-rate craft beers in the area, why not try a few? Although each was within about a 15 minute drive from the resort, we enjoyed the convenience of door-to-door service, local lore, and sometimes got a behind the scene tour with by leaving the driving to 4 Points Brewery Tour. Trip Advisor rates them the best in Stowe.

Marina Meerberg led the tour. Her husband, Rick Sokoloff, enjoys mountain biking so much that he founded Stowe Mountain Bike Club and, like many in the area who turned a passion into a business, began 4 Points Mountain Bike Tours and Guide Service. The brewery tour they run evolved as a way to showcase more of what Stowe has to offer.

We began with a sampler at Rock Art Brewery in Morrisville. that included their tenth anniversary Vermonster, a beer that attracted global attention when Monster Energy Drink challenged their use of the name. The proprietors’ years in Colorado were inspiration for the brewery’s name and its symbol, the flute-playing Native American deity Kokopelli.

We joined bicyclists who stopped for lunch along the recreation path at the Lost Nation Brewery. The seasonal and flavorful brews are low in alcohol, making the fruity and spicy Petite Ardennes, named for a forest in Belgium and the hazy golden Saison, a farmhouse-style beer, paired with a plate of cheese from nearby Corinth, ideal for lunch on a leisurely afternoon.

flight of beer at the DeliBakery, Johannes von Trapp, Maria and the Baron’s youngest son, enjoyed traditional European-style lager during visits to Salzburg and in 2010 built Von Trapp Brewing Company, an Austrian-style brewery at the Trapp Family Lodge. Beer is served at the DeliBakery, where a band often plays to the crowd on the deck. A beer hall with about 150 seats and authentic Austrian-German food is expected to open in the summer of 2016.

Our tour ended across from the Snowflake Mountain Resort at Crop Bistro and Brewery. Its German-style beer pairs well with the cuisine at this popular and stylish venue, perhaps, at least in part, because the brewery’s spent malt and barley goes to a farmer whose meat ends up back on the menu.

Year-round, Stowe is a consciously local experience at its best. Whether your interests are the special events, taking on the challenges and action-packed recreation of the natural surroundings, being pampered with rejuvenating treatments, or simply enjoying the flavors and view you’ll find it all in Stowe.