New Experiences Never End!

Pond Mountain Inn March Newsletter

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We love visiting the sawmill down the road, watching the complexities of producing Maple syrup, 90 meter ski jumping, help raising our own food, foraging for mushrooms (this year we’ll find morels), moose steaks, finding new artisan cheesemakers, and next year we’ll include ice fishing unless we get out there next week. We love discovering something new every week!

Our next newsletter comes out May 1st – we'll be introducing Seven Unique Day Tours & Destinations with ten other Exclusive Itineraries!

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Vermont Maple Open House Weekend March 23 & 24

Maple Sugar Shack • Dutton Farm • Manchester, Vermont

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This family and town tradition has been going on for decades! Maple Open House Weekend offers visitors an opportunity to visit a variety of sugarhouses throughout Vermont in operation during sugaring season. We can take you to 3-4 private maple sugaring operations – just let us know. It's an amazing experience!

New Breakfast Menu Addition • Avocado Toast

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This isn’t guacamole, nor is it spicy… it’s breakfast simplicity beginning with a fresh ripe avocado, a few cherry tomatoes, salt & pepper, and drizzled small batch Italian olive oil on a Vermont English Muffin. Our olive oil comes from Dancing Ewe Farm .

Fairly ordinary thus far…. one small addition that makes all the difference in the world – truffle salt! Truffle salt transforms this otherwise ordinary breakfast dish into a near-delicacy. Wildly delicious and healthy, and it’s been almost six hours since breakfast and I’m only now feeling a touch hungry – I just may make it to dinner!

We'll Burn Over Two Cords Again This Year!

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We will likely run out of wood before April requiring either a quick spot purchase or a hike deep into our neighbor's property to harvest a couple of fallen trees. Clearly, there's an ample supply!

Benson, Vermont on Route 22A North

Heading to Middlebury • Vergennes • Shelburne • Burlington

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This General Store sign just makes us laugh each time we drive past… so we finally stopped to snap a quick photo. Not quite a Norman Rockwell painting nor is on any country store A-list, but it exemplifies Vermont life and the village culture that not only exists today, but still thrives in many of the 251 towns and villages.

Prudential Center • Newark, New Jersey

New Jersey Devils vs. Montreal Canadiens

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Kay is a Devils fan and my allegiance is with Montreal. Our guests, Robin & Nor secured wonderful tickets – center ice, eleven rows up! Nor's from Montreal and an avid Canadien fan – we had lots to talk about.

Why is this story newsletter relevant? It’s about the ease, convenience and travel time to & from the New York area – we reached Newark in less than four hours, which made for an easy one-day trip! The Devils won this night 2-1.

Robin & Nor, thank you again for a night that we’ll always remember!

Vermont Flower Show • Essex Junction, Vermont

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Three years ago it would have been difficult to imagine ever attending a flower show! A lot has changed in three years – over the last two years our wonderful friends Hoa and Orland created a spectacular garden on our property filled with all types of flowers blooming at different intervals during the season – its beauty is indescribable!

The Vermont Flower Show was awe-inspiring and a nice temporary break from winter was a delightful way to spend an afternoon with friends! We look forward to next year’s flower show!

Harris Hill Ski Jumping Competition • Brattleboro, Vermont

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The much anticipated day arrived. 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 competed on New England's only Olympic-size 90-meter hill.

The crowds; just large enough to still be intimate, the parking; just far enough to be invigorating, the day; sunny blue skies and cold, but not too cold made the day perfect for both competitors and spectators alike... the distant ringing cow bells made it seem like we were in Austria for the day! Click here to read more !

Wild Wings Ski Touring Center • Peru, Vermont

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The best day of the season and we found ourselves cross country skiing – for the first time! Patti & Danny, our perennial guests from New Jersey delighted in sharing this most treasured spot with us. That’s Patti readying herself for the gradual descent that often seems much faster!

Fourteen kilometers of beautifully groomed trails some taking you past beaver ponds while others though tall-pines and hardwood forests. Hints of wilderness with each stride offer silent backcountry tranquility.

The Mettowee River • Pawlet, Vermont

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A spring-like reprieve before the snows returned. Only seven minutes from the inn!

And, that's the real color of the river!!

The Oldest & The Most Expensive Restaurants in the U.S.

The White Horse Tavern • Newport, Rhode Island

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The White Horse Tavern (1673) Newport, Rhode Island is considered the oldest restaurant in American – followed by Fraunces Tavern (1762) New York City, Griswold Inn (1776) Essex, Connecticut, and the Union Oyster House (1826) Boston, Massachusetts. ( We have yet to dine at Fraunces.)

And, for our tri-state guests; dinner for two at #3 Per Se (New York) is about $850, but dinner at #1 Masa , also in New York City, will set you back roughly $1,300 for arguably the finest dinner of your life. (We won't be dining at either anytime soon!)

Mount Fuji & Cherry Blossom Season

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Japanese Cherry Blossom forecasts boast that the cherry trees will be in full bloom in Tokyo on March 30 and as late as May 3 in Sapporo!

Closer to home, Washington DC’s cherry blossoms reach full bloom at the end of March through early April. Last year the blossoms reached full bloom on April 5. However, slightly warmer temperatures may bring an earlier bloom! Click on the photo above for the latest DC forecast.