Trapp Family Lodge - One of Vermont’s Finest - TRIP REPORT About This Page:

[MissMousey]

Originally Posted by chezp

I am so sorry to hear about your father.

Thank you so much-I miss him terribly and often thought of him while sitting quietly enjoying the views.

Originally Posted by Colexis Mom

Great start at the Lodge! I've always wanted to go there (and we are so close)! More please!

No problem, stay tuned

Originally Posted by skateycat

sorry about the circumstances leading up to the change in plans, but the lodge looks great! it is something i have always been curious about having been a huge sound of music fan as a kid! can't wait to read more!

You would love it there. It looks and feels just like the fields from the movie. In fact, several times while we were there, DH and I spontaneouly broke into song..."The hills are alive with the sound of music..."

Originally Posted by RoonieRooToo

Great start to the TR. I'm looking forward to hearing about what you did as I've read about the lodge but never knew if it was something for us.

There's something for everyone there. Hiking, biking, walking trails, ponds to fish, tennis lessons, swimming, garden tours, even a kids club etc. The possibilites are endless!

Originally Posted by hoosiermomma2

sounds like fun!

We had a blast!

Originally Posted by CinderAbby

I just read your PTR and this - great start. I'm glad you decided to try writing something up.

Yeah, we loved it so much I just had to share with everyone!

Originally Posted by Colexis Mom

Sounds like a great day! Love the pictures!!

Thanks

Originally Posted by hoosiermomma2

sounds awesome!

It was so relaxing and the weather was refreshing.

Originally Posted by pamcarey

The resort looks really scenic!! I've been to Stowe, but we didn't visit the Trapp Family Lodge, so I'm interested to hear about it! I think we went up an auto road up a mountain in Stowe. Can't wait to hear all about your trip.

There is an AutoBahn Toll Road that is part of Stowe Mountain Resort. You obviously have to pay, and we didn't get around to doing this. But it's on our list for next time.

Originally Posted by Minnie Lor

This has always been on my bucket list. Some friends of mine grew up in the northeast and their family owns part of a villa at the Trapp Lodge. This is moving up the list. Looking forward to more.

Stay tuned, it gets even better!

Originally Posted by chezp

What a beautiful place - the walk looked like a great idea and it looks like you had some wonderful weather.

We couldn't have asked for better weather. We were so lucky.

Originally Posted by CinderAbby

Your day doesn't sound boring at all - it sounds very relaxing and I enjoyed reading about it and seeing your pictures.

That's nice, thank you!

Originally Posted by KathyL

The resort looks beautiful. It has always been in the back of my mind as a place I wanted to go to. However, I had no idea that there was so much there. Pictures are great.

You can easily fill your days with activities if you choose--or not if you don't want that. That's what was so great. Do as little or as much as you wish.

[MissMousey]

Monday, August 31, 2009

Rolled out of bed this morning around 7:15 a.m. and once again checked the weather. It seems to change every day (not just here-everywhere) so I like to check in the morning to get the latest predictions for the day. Today’s forecast was 66 degrees and mostly sunny. Sounds like another perfect day to spend outside and we could probably even wear our jackets. I love jacket weather. We decided to head up to Stowe Mountain Resort for their lineup of summer activities which I had checked into back home. You can purchase individual tickets or day passes. Our plan was to buy day passes and stay all day.

But first we had to have breakfast so I started whipping up some pancakes with the Shake & Pour pancake mix we picked up at the store. We were anxious to try the maple syrup we had been given yesterday on the walk. Turns out my kids are not keen on it, and much prefer Log Cabin syrup. After showers, we headed out. It was only about a 10 minute drive for us, but we weren’t exactly sure where we were going so we had to stop and ask directions at one of the many signs for Stowe Mountain Resort. We apparently stopped at the kids summer camp building. She told up to head up to Spruce Peak as that is where the summer activities were being held. We entered the ticket office, paid and received wristbands that were good for the entire day—until 4:30 p.m. when they close for the day. The passes were good for the Alpine Slide, Bungee Trampolines, Rock Climbing Wall, an inflatable obstacle course, and the Gondola Ride to the top of Mount Mansfield.


What we saw as we pulled into the parking lot - the little white car is our rental car


Stowe Mountain Resort - Spruce Peak at Stowe - Main Building





Just outside the ticket office

First up for us was the Alpine Slide which we were all excited about although DS did have a few concerns when he realized we had to ride a ski lift to the top of the hill to start the slide. He was afraid he would fall off the lift. He held onto DH very tightly the first ride. The slide winds 2,300 feet down Spruce Peak to the bottom and was a complete thrill! There are two side by side concrete slides similar to a bobsled track. At the top you pick up a hard plastic sled that has rollerblade-type wheels on the bottom. It has a hand brake in the center so you can control your speed. We were told you could reach dangerously high speed, and to be careful. So we all went pretty slow the first time to get a feel for things. The views were incredible. After that first ride, I kept the brake off all the way down. DH tried to race me once and was about to catch up when he became alarmed at how fast I was going. He said my sled was swaying side to side up on the sides of the slide when I went around the curves. He said he was afraid he would be picking up my body parts off the slide if I went any faster, so he backed off. Smart move! He told the lady collecting the sleds at the bottom that I was a maniac.


DH and DS on the way up to the slide



View from the ski lift



This lift was not operational the day we were there. However the very next day, two employees were performing maintenance on this lift when something went wrong. They were on the wire at the tower when something broke loose and they both fell to the ground! It was on the news - both survived, broken bones.












After three or four trips up and down the slide, we decided to take a break and let the kids try the bungee trampolines. They got strapped in and started bouncing. DD was trying hard to do some flip, but I think they had the bungees pulled too taught and she couldn’t get enough momentum going to flip. DS just had fun jumping up and down.













By now everyone was getting thirsty, so we went into the snack bar to get a drink and DH had to make a few calls for work so we took a short break inside. After a few more trips up and down the slide we were all hungry for lunch. Our plan was to eat in the restaurant at the top of Mount Mansfield. It is called the Cliff House Restaurant – elevation 3625’. Since we weren’t planning to hike to the top we had to drive over to the Gondola which was about ¼ mile away. So we drove over and hopped onto the Gondola and rode up to the top. I wasn’t able to get any pictures of our gondola because the windows were very scratched up, presumable from skis. I guess you can ski down this hill in the winter although it didn’t look very wide and there were many towers supporting the gondola which were smack dab in the middle of the trail. Guess you have to be a really good skier to attempt this hill.
Once we got to the top I snapped some pictures.

Here’s the restaurant at the top

And DH with the kids









The view from the top

The views were amazing and the weather about 20 degrees cooler. It was only in the 40’s up there! The food was great. We ordered a bread basket and cheese plate to start with since I had been hoping to try some fresh Vermont cheese while we were here. DH and I shared a steak and cheese sandwich as our entrée. DD ordered mac ‘n cheese which was creamy and homemade with Vermont cheddar. DS ordered chicken fingers. We all enjoyed our selections! After lunch we walked over to the gift shop and browsed around. I purchased some post cards and a 2010 Picturesque Vermont Wall Calendar. It has some beautiful images that will remind me of this wonderful place all year. Then we rode the gondola back down, got into the card and headed back over to the rides. But first DH and I wanted to visit the real estate office to check out how things worked over here. We spoke with the agent here who asked us a lot of questions, and then proceeded to take us on a complete tour of the resort. She took us everywhere—restaurants, lounges, exercise rooms, locker rooms, pool, spa, etc. and then finally into a 2 BR, 2 ½ BA home. This place was enormous and 5 star all the way! And so were the prices!! Wow, is all I can say. This place was amazing—but not really our style.

Here are some of the private homes at Stowe Mountain Resort




We thanked her for her time and headed back to the Alpine slide and bungee trampolines where we stayed until they closed.





On the ride back to Trapp Family Lodge DH said he would really like to see if we could figure out a way to own a little piece of the Trapp villas. I guess after seeing the prices over at Stowe he was thinking Trapp sounded like a good deal. So we stopped by the main lodge to talk to Bill Hunt. He invited us to an open house he was having the next day at one of the villas. We planned to meet him at the villa to discuss details, availability, etc. the following day at noon.

Once back at the guest house DD asked me to take a walk with her down the cross country trail out back to a playground she had seen earlier. I agreed, although I would have enjoyed sitting down for a few minutes. Off we went. The trail went down behind several other guest houses and came out at some swings and a small lake behind the Fitness Center, near the outdoor pool. While she played, I called my mom to check in on her. All was fine and we soon headed back to the house as we were getting hungry. I had read several places about the two pizza places in town and one seemed to have better reviews. So that’s where we headed for dinner. It was called Pie in the Sky – wood fired oven – pizza – pasta. Everyone except DH ordered the pizza and it was very good. DH had the spaghetti and meatballs which he doesn’t recommend as they had way too much garlic in them. The kids ate dessert – brownie sundaes and we headed back home. After we parked, we each grabbed a few pieces of wood from the wood shed so that we could have a nice fire tonight. It was supposed to dip down to 39 degrees overnight. We fired up the wood stove and pulled up chairs around the hearth and watched television until we were all warm and drowsy. Then off to bed.

[RoonieRooToo]

That sounds like a fantastic day. Those slides look like quite a bit of fun. I could easily spend a day doing that too.

[Sandra Bostwick]

Great report! Beautiful photos!

I especially like the resturant at the top of the ski montain. I used to love those when I wnt skiing.

[hoosiermomma2]

sounds like you had a busy and fun day!

[chezp]

It does look like a beautiful place. It was really interesting to hear you talk about the temperatures, as from the pictures, it looks like it was a really warm day!

[CinderAbby]

Another great day - those alpine slides sound like a lot of fun and you lunch sounded . And what better way to end the day than around a warm fire.

[Colexis Mom]

Another great day! We've done the same type of thing at one of the ski resorts in NH! Boy, those alpine slides can go really fast and get very scary (for me anyway)! Boy, it's cool up there!! A week earlier and it would have been much warmer!! More please!

[pamcarey]

Sounds like a great day! I'm glad you had so much fun on the Alpine Slide. We just did the Alpine Slide in NH a few weeks ago, and I got stuck behind an older gentleman who was very nervous and rode the brake the whole time. So needless to say, I didn't enjoy my ride very much. And we were just doing it the one time . I like to go fast on those things!

How nice to end your day with a cozy fire!

[MissMousey]

Originally Posted by RoonieRooToo

That sounds like a fantastic day. Those slides look like quite a bit of fun. I could easily spend a day doing that too.

They were SO much fun. I'm normally kind of leary of rides, but since I was in control I felt more comfortable.

Originally Posted by Sandra Bostwick

Great report! Beautiful photos!

Thank you!

Originally Posted by hoosiermomma2

sounds like you had a busy and fun day!

We had a blast, in fact DS wanted to go back again during the week.

Originally Posted by chezp

It does look like a beautiful place. It was really interesting to hear you talk about the temperatures, as from the pictures, it looks like it was a really warm day!

I know, the sunny days make it look much warmer than it was!

Originally Posted by CinderAbby

Another great day - those alpine slides sound like a lot of fun and you lunch sounded . And what better way to end the day than around a warm fire.

You have to try the slide, if you ever get the chance! Most fun I've had as an adult besides snow tubing.

Originally Posted by Colexis Mom

Another great day! We've done the same type of thing at one of the ski resorts in NH! Boy, those alpine slides can go really fast and get very scary (for me anyway)! Boy, it's cool up there!! A week earlier and it would have been much warmer!! More please!

I noticed that the week before we were there, it was in the 90s. Glad we missed that week!

Originally Posted by pamcarey

Sounds like a great day! I'm glad you had so much fun on the Alpine Slide. We just did the Alpine Slide in NH a few weeks ago, and I got stuck behind an older gentleman who was very nervous and rode the brake the whole time. So needless to say, I didn't enjoy my ride very much. And we were just doing it the one time . I like to go fast on those things!

That stinks, .

[MissMousey]

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

I was up and out of bed by 8 a.m. this morning. When I realized I was the only one up, I decided that some morning alone time with the tv would be great. I like to watch Good Morning America in the mornings and the kids had pretty much been controlling the televison since we arrive. So I grabbed the remote and tried to find my show without any luck. I found the Early Show and the Today show, but no GMA. Crazy, I know. I was searching the digital channels and for some reason, we couldn’t get the ABC channel. Turns out it didn’t matter anyway because within minutes DH and DD emerged from the hallway into the family room with me. Oh well. We decided since we were planning to meet with Bill Hunt at Noon, we would just hang out here until then. I did some more activity planning for the week, and visited some of the related websites to check days and times. I booked a special surprise for our last night. DH and DS played Disney’s Toontown online since we brought our laptop and the property has free Wi-Fi. DD kept busy drawing pictures on her iTouch. We all showered and then gathered around the table for a few games of UNO—that game is so much fun because it takes these unexpected twists and turns. Just when you think somebody is going to win—“Draw Four”.


We met with Bill at noon and told him we were interested in writing a contract on a fractional share of one of the Villas. We discussed a lot of details and he said he would write up a contract and we could stop by later and take a look. He took us over to the actual building we would be purchasing a share of so that we could see the view, landscaping, location, etc.



Here's the actual villa we will own a piece of...


view from the road


Then we headed down to Waterbury which is the town nearest to the Interstate where we had stopped for groceries the first day. All we could find was a Quiznos Sub shop—so we ate there. There were no fast food or chain restaurants to be found anywhere—and we were looking. There were only local stores, restaurants, and Inns. At this point I was sensing that my camera’s memory card was getting pretty full and I didn’t bring another with me. So we needed to find a place to buy one. We asked three different people (gas station, grocery store) and nobody knew of anyplace that would sell them unless you wanted to drive 20 minutes away from town. But the girl at Quiznos knew of a camera shop where I would find one. And coincidentally it was in the same shopping center as the Cabot Cheese Annex, one of our destinations today. But first we had to visit the Ben and Jerry’s for the Factory Tour! The kids had been looking forward to this for months and we were finally here. We parked the car and walked up the steps—it sits up on a hill. We saw a big sign for Factory Tours, so we headed that way. Right near that entrance was the big ice cream pint lid I had heard about. It has holes where Ben and Jerry’s faces would normally be so that you can walk behind it and put your faces their instead.





They also had a really neat sign in front of this entrance—I like the phrasing on it.




The tour is surprisingly short in duration—only 15 minutes. While we were waiting for the tour to start, the guide heard us talking to DD—we called her name. A few minutes later he called her name and asked her if she wanted to be the official bell ringer to let everyone know the tour was starting. Though embarrassed, she reluctantly agreed. And of course, when it was time for her to ring the bell, she did it so fast that I missed getting a picture of it. So he had her ring it again. !







First you go into a small theatre where you watch a 5 minute film about Ben and Jerry, and how they met. It details the history of their business from inception up until today. They are no longer involved in the business and in fact, Unilever is now the parent company of Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream. Next the move you into another room with huge glass windows on both sides of the room that allow you to see down onto the factory floor. The factory was much smaller than I expected. This is not their only factory though. I think the other US factory is also in the northeast and the third in Europe. We must have entered at the end of a run because we saw a few rows of ice cream leave the belt in pint containers and then the whole thing shut down and they began rinsing things off with hoses. What we got to see was neat, but didn’t overwhelm us. Not really sure what we expected, but looking through a glass window doesn't exactly seem like a factor tour to me. Off to the flavor room next where we each got to sample the flavor of the day. That day it was some kind of Cream and Orange Sherbet Swirl (or something like that). It tasted very much like a Creamsicle. He told us that this flavor is not sold in stores—it can only be found at Scoop Shops. The tour was over and we exited back into the gift shop where I browsed around while the rest of the family headed out to get in line for the giant (4 window) Scoop Shop outside. I joined them a few minutes later without any purchases. There was nothing I just had to have. There were some really cute things, just nothing that I trusted would make it home in one piece in my suitcase.





We sat outside under an umbrella and each ate our favorite flavor ice cream: DH Heath Bar Crunch, DD Chocolate Therapy, DS Chocolate Fudge Brownie, Me Oatmeal Cookie Dough. Yum.

Then we drove over to the Cabot Cheese Annex where I had read you could sample many of the Cabot Cheeses. Now remember, we had eaten lunch, then had ice cream at B & J’s. So we were pretty full, but sampled the cheese anyway. Hey, somebody has to do it. They were also giving samples of their Powdered White Cheddar Cheese. It comes in a container like parmesan does, but you shake it onto microwave popcorn to add flavor. We bought some of the popcorn and the powdered cheddar to take back to the guest house.

Then I ran over to Green Mountain Camera and found the memory card I had been looking for. This one should last me for the rest of the week-4 Gig. Yay!

Since we hadn’t actually burst yet, our next stop was the Cold Hollow Cider Mill where they produce fresh pressed apple cider and make fresh cider donuts. Everyone has raved about these donuts. We went into the back room where there is a video playing that shows the cider making process. The machines were not running this day, but there was a tank full of cider and sampling cups. So DD and I tried some. Oh boy, it was quite tart—almost sour. Not sure what that was about, but needless to say we didn’t buy any cider. We did however, buy 6 cider donuts. They weren’t hot though. It looked as though they had made trays of them ahead of time. Hmmm, guess it just wasn’t our day here. We took them home as none of us had any room to sample them now. Inside the Mill, there were tables were you could sit, eat, and drink. Some of the table had checkers boards on them and there was a family sitting there playing. They sell lots of locally made jams, jellies, sauces and condiments here as well.





We headed home with all of our treats. On the drive home, we came across several people off the side of the road standing in tall grass taking pictures of something. We wondered what in the world they were doing. When we looked closer we saw a moose! DH wanted to pull off too, but I was afraid we would cause an accident. So we drove on back to the lodge. From what I can tell moose are pretty common to see wandering around up here. They even have Moose Crossing signs along the roads like we would see for deer back home. Neat.


We stopped into the Villas office as the work day was just about over and we needed to talk to Bill. We did it! We signed a contract for a fractional share of one of the Villas. OMG, I can’t believe this. It feels like a dream. We will get two week up here each year. One late summer and the other we get to choose each year. We just love it up here! I know it sounds completely spontaneous and almost irresponsible to jump into something so quickly. But I promise you we aren't normally like this. We were just so sure about this we couldn't let this opportunity slip away.

Once that was done, the kids wanted to walk over to the lake and go fishing. We checked with the fitness center desk to see if they had some fishing poles the kids could use. They said they had all been broken over the summer, but they did have some nets. Great, that will work. The kids took the nets down to the lake/pond and tried to catch something. But the nets weren’t really long enough, so they took off their shoes and waded into the water.
















They had fun, but still didn’t catch anything. After about 30 minutes we returned the nets and headed back to the house. DH and the kids played Uno while I gathered some laundry to take to the laundry room. This is the only thing I didn’t like—no washer and dryer in the house. The laundry room only had 3 washer and 3 dryers, but luckily I arrived when they were all empty and nobody was around. I spent about an hour washing and drying before heading back to see if anyone was getting hungry for dinner. It was about 7 p.m. Nobody felt like going out tonight and nobody was terribly hungry (can’t imagine why). I remembered passing a Chinese restaurant on the way home, so I looked them up online and called an order in. DH went to pick it up. When he got back, we all ate. The food wasn’t very good, and we probably wouldn’t order from them again. We didn’t even save the leftovers. DH and the kids decided to light another fire in the woodstove and I took the laptop into the bedroom to catch up on some Big Brother 11 episodes I’d missed via CBS.com. When I emerged after watching two episodes, the kids were tired and ready for bed. I sat by the fire for about ½ hour to warm my toes and then went to bed too.

[chezp]

Looks like another great day.

[Colexis Mom]

Congrats on buying into the villa! Great pictures of the day and all the tours!

[jagmom08]

Your trip sounds so relaxing!

[pamcarey]

Sounds like a great day! Ben & Jerry's tour.... been there, done that... yummm!!