White Christmas In Vermont
Arlington and Stowe are Two Picture Postcard Winter Destinations
Arlington is classic small-town America, as portrayed by the artist Norman Rockwell on the covers of the Saturday Evening Post.
Norman Rockwell's old home, beside a church and covered bridge, is now the Inn on The Green.
Like all the local inns it’s garlanded with greenery and wreaths, picturesque, against a backdrop of trees and mountains lightly frosted with snow.
Mountain roads wind up through the forest to reach the West Mountain Inn which looks as if it is straight out the 1940s movie Holiday Inn. Visitors can almost imagine finding Bing Crosby crooning White Christmas in the chestnut-panelled dining room.
When Wes and Mary Carlson bought the inn in the 1970s, Wes introduced much of his Swedish heritage. On the run up to Christmas there are lots of activities likeTroll night. Dinner is fungus and weed in puff balls, followed by Field beast of the Valley Dwellers, which looks suspiciously like steak, finishing with wart covered bark chips in mush. Over dinner Paula, the innkeeper, hands out clues as to where she has hidden the troll dolls. After dinner the guests go rooting through the undergrowth seeking out the little beasts with torch beams.
Next night it’s time to decorate the tree with home made ornaments. The knitted stockings, crocheted snowflakes and decorated pine cones recall a lifetime of friends and Christmases for Wes and Mary. Paula has a felt cut out of the inn nestled in the mountains with a bright Christmas star overhead, that her family made, when they arrived as guests more than 27 years ago. Guests string popcorn and cranberries for decorations and drink glogg, an exceedingly alcoholic Swedish punch. On occasion someone will play White Christmas on the piano and everyone will join in. Christmas at the Inn is a delight but it’s also the time of the annual Festival of Light in Stowe a longish drive north.
Arriving in the evening is best to experience the magic of driving slowly along the main street towards the bright windows and tall, thin spire of the white clapperboard church. The small shops along the way shine out with flickering candles and constellations of tiny white lights.
Make sure you arrive in time for Handel’s Messiah Sing-in at the church. This may not be a virtuoso performance but by the time everyone sings that last ringing ‘Alleluia’, everyone is elated and emotional and at one with the entire packed church.
A great place to stay the Brass Lantern Inn where the innkeeper, will greets you with hot cider, cookies and chat. There’s always a huge fire burning in the lounge and there are fires in the bedrooms as well.
Breakfasts at the Brass Lantern are legendary. Scrambled eggs with piles of freshly baked pancakes and pure Vermont maple syrup is a favourite. Stowe is famed for high-speed downhill ski runs but for those not quiet in that league there is a Cross Country centre with loads of trails to suit all levels of fitness. Try some snowshoes and an exhausting but exhilarating hike up the mountain then ski back down on a glorious winding trail through the forest.
After dinner get bundled up in scarves and hats and enjoy the Lantern Tour of Stowe. Christmas morning is always still and white and after the final carol singing in the church you can take a sleigh ride to the Von Trapp Lodge for dinner. By the time you leave Vermont, you won’t believe you’ve sung so many carols or spent so much time in the snow. It’s like living in a Christmas card time warp and the traffic on the highway back to Boston and the bustle of the airport may seem a shade unreal.
