Wells, Vermont • 802.325.2829 |
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285 Five Star Reviews • 100% Guest-Focused • 53% Repeat Guests Last Year
Don't Just Read the Story, Become the Story!
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Hello Everyone!
Where do we begin? Let’s start ten years ago when we founded Pond Mountain Inn. As accidental innkeepers, with no intention of running a bed & breakfast, we found ourselves in the unique position of buying an inn with no requisite forethought. Now, ten years later, we reflect on one of the best decisions we ever made. Our mission remains the same—by simply providing our guests with the very best experiences. We are humbled by your overwhelming support year-after-year. Thank you for your friendship, and for making Pond Mountain Inn your home-away-from-home.
Over the last few weeks, we added or replaced over 30 new photographs on our website—now, reaching over 160 photos! One of our new favorites is the main photo on our Vermont Wellness page… President Chester Arthur Historic Site.
All our best – Kay & Glenn
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We just love this photograph, it just makes us laugh, but we couldn’t come up with any clever content. We thought something funny about bad breakfasts or our new menu additions, or… This piliated woodpecker said, “I don’t want to stay in a bed and breakfast.” Then, suffered the consequences at breakfast the next morning... |
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Ice Castles • Lake George |
This internationally renowned tourist attraction, now in five states is also here in Lake George. Ice Castles takes a team of 20 to 40 ice artisans eight weeks to construct, with the team harvesting and placing between 5,000 and 12,000 icicles. Reserve your tickets now through February 20 for this ewe-inspiring must-see event. |
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Wait until you see our new website page—Vermont Covered Bridges. We share 16 of the most stunning photographs that capture each breathtaking season. Experiencing Vermont’s most notable treasure is to experience the indescribable feeling of the presence of those who traveled long before us across these timber structures.
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Yes, That’s The Dalai Lama!
His Holiness, The 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet, is not staying with us, but Bill Fitz-Patrick, White House Official Photographer (1974-1989), responsible for the photographic documentation of the activities of Presidents Nixon through Reagan will be a guest of the inn this year. Bill has already shared a few incredible stories and photographs with us, and we look forward to learning more about his impressive career taking him to over seventy-five countries that include a number of flights on Air Force One. Bill’s photographs have been published in every major newspaper and news magazine worldwide.
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The Clark Museum is "Free"
Good news from The Clark Museum… admission is free through March 31, 2023. If you have never been, it’s an absolutely must visit—we visit 2-3 times each year, it’s truly magnificent! (Less than 90 minutes from PMI)
The Clark has over forty Renoir paintings, sculptures and drawings in its collection. The painting is Venice, The Doge’s Palace, 1881. When Renoir first visited Venice in 1881, he was drawn to one of its most famous sights: the façade of the Doge’s Palace across from the island of San Giorgio Maggiore.
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MASS MoCA • North Adams, Mass.
The Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art is one of the world’s liveliest centers for making and enjoying today’s most evocative art. With vast galleries and a stunning collection of indoor and outdoor performing arts venues that embrace all forms of art: music, sculpture, dance, film, painting, photography, theater, and new, boundary-crossing works of art that defy easy classification.
They also have affordably priced cafés, a full-service restaurant, and an innovative microbrewery that spotlights locally malted grains and hops grown in the Berkshire valley. Another wonderful indoor winter activity! (Less than 90 minutes from PMI)
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Brookfield Ice Harvest and Winterfest on Sunset Lake |
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Both a Winter and Summer Destination… |
The event centers around demonstrations of ice harvesting from the 1800s that includes historic tools, techniques, and step-by-step commentary of each step in the process. Most years, you can cut a block and haul it out yourself, but the warmer temperatures this year made things a little more difficult. This photo was taken a few years ago by Vermont photographer, John Knox.
Some further insights… ice was stored in the ice house through the summer for local customers and was sent by train from nearby Randolph to Boston. It was said that Brookfield Ice was so clear that one could read the Boston Herald through a sixteen-inch block of ice.
Join us next year on the last Saturday in January and harvest your own block of ice. Also, join us this summer when we visit “The Floating Bridge,” the only floating bridge east of the Mississippi, which was originally built in 1820.
Thanks to Jon Binhammer & Perry Kacik for making all of this possible.
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Harris Hill Ski Jump Competition • Brattleboro, Vermont |
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We Were Here Last Year ...
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The Harris Hill Ski Jumping Competition is next weekend, February 17-19, 2023. The competition offers spectators an opportunity to experience the Olympic sport of ski jumping up close in all its breathtaking, heart-stopping glory—complete with distant ringing cow bells make it seem like you’re in Austria for the day! This long-standing, two-day Brattleboro tradition is held on New England’s only Olympic-size, 90-meter hill. Harris Hill Photo Credit: Ryan Emge
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Lake Placid • 2023 World University Games |
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Another Winter Experience... |
We spent a day at the 2023 Winter World University Games last month—11-Day International Competition in Lake Placid… a beautiful winter village within the Adirondack State Park. The Lake Placid Olympic Museum exhibits and artifacts were fascinating. We watched speed skating practice... USA, Canada, Switzerland, Korea, and surprisingly, the Philippines! The afternoon Curling Event at the Lake Placid Curling Club was festive. Five matches took place on the ice with ten teams participating… curling stones cost between $500-$900, weigh 42 pounds and are made of granite. We’ll go again…
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That's Jon Harvesting Ice... |
Cutting a block of ice through six inches of water was not ideal—don’t worry, the ice was thick enough to support Jon’s weight. The ice business declined precipitously in the 1930s with the discovery of freon and the subsequent invention of the refrigerator. Thankfully, the town comes together every year to recreate the experience. |
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Peregrine Falcon • VINS Nature Center |
The day took us from harvesting ice to photographing the world's most widespread raptor at Vermont Institute of Natural Science (VINS). The peregrine is renowned for its speed; the highest measured speed is 252 mph. These birds of prey are frequently observed on the cliffs of Pond Mountain from nearby Wellsmere Farm. See the Winter Wildlife Celebration below.
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Upcoming Events & Insightful Features |
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Incredible Breakfast Diversity…
The morning begins with fresh seasonal fruit— an assortment of five types of seasonal fruit. “Elegant, Local and Delicious,” is how our guests describe the morning’s first course. From exotic fruit, Asian mangos, to locally grown berries, fall apples from Champlain Orchards, to the best and freshest melon found in surrounding markets. We serve mostly local, organic fruit provided by family farmers…
In late-spring, summer, and early fall, our legendary gourmet farm-to-table breakfasts are served al fresco surrounded by perennial gardens, early sheep pastures and lush undisturbed distant mountain views, “It’s just magical here, and one of the prettiest outside dining spots in Vermont!”
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L.L. Bean • Freeport, Maine
If you’re not joining us this winter in Vermont, consider a long weekend getaway in… Kittery • York • Wells • Ogunquit • Kennebunk • Kennebunkport (and, Walker's Point), with a day-trip to Freeport. We stayed in Kennebunk, and had dinner one night in Portland...
Originally known in 1912 as the Maine Hunting Shoe; they’re often referred to as Bean Boots or Duck Boots—whatever you call them, they’re the most recognizable footwear in American outdoor history. The 8-inch, unlined tan Bean Boot remains a best-seller for both men and women—an outdoor must-have. I bought my first pair in the fall of 1980, and had them resoled a decade ago. Read a little Bean Boot history below...
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Winter Lobster Bar at PMI…
Maine Lobster • Vermont Drawn Butter • French Sancerre… just back from Maine, four of us gathered around our plastic-covered center island with bibs and aprons while preparing to guard against all forms of airborne debris. That said, I only eat ribs with a knife & fork—I hate getting my hands and fingers dirty. However, eating lobster with a measured degree of recklessness is a large part of the experience. There’s no polite way to eat lobster—once abandoning all forms of etiquette, indulge in the savagery of eating fresh Maine lobster, a fashionable New England tradition. This is something you can try at home... Here's where we got our lobsters... ask for Kyle.
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Enjoy the pleasantly languid start to each day, then let adventures still unwritten take you further…
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Check Availability
802.325.2829
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Pond Mountain Inn Bed and Breakfast
1955 Saw Mill Hill Road, Wells, Vermont 05774
802.325.2829
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