Vermont Vacations

Jake and I will be leaving Saturday morning for a quick trip to Stowe, Vermont.  We don't ski so we'll spend the long weekend relaxing and exploring the area.  Oh and we'll also be touring the 2011 HGTV Dream Home while we're in town.  :)  The dogs will be having fun at their favorite daycare and boarding facility while we're away so they'll be blissfully tired when they come home.  Love that!  

The Dream Home's Guest Bedroom - If you win, can I come visit please?

source

During our August 2009 summer vacation, Jake and I stayed a few hours south of Stowe at the Mount Snow Resort in West Dover, Vermont.  It was off-season but the resort and views of the Green Mountains were still beautiful.  We planned to spend the week hiking but instead the very hot and humid weather kept us by the pool, visiting the few places in town that are open off season, and exploring the Berkshires.   We also  discovered our favorite show on the DIY network, Renovation Realities, during this trip.

We stayed at the Grand Summit Hotel in a cozy studio suite.

source

We didn't blog back then and I forgot our camera in the hotel room most of our trip.  I snapped these at a scenic lookout one hazy day.

During one of our day trips to the Berkshires (about one hour south of the Mount Snow resort), we visited the The Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Massachusetts.  If you enjoy Impressionist art like I do, you'll enjoy Sterling and Francine Clark's collection.  You can see a sampling of their Impressionism collection here.  We didn't take the official guided tour of the institute but Jake and I really enjoyed viewing all the different collections on display.  We were mindful of the 'acquired by' info on each piece and made up our own stories regarding the circumstances surrounding how Sterling and Francine may have acquired each piece.  My absolute favorite was their Renoir collection but it's currently off view because it is being displayed in Madrid.

The Clark

source

At the end of our 2009 Vermont vacation, we picked Brewster up from the Vermont breeders' and started our four hour drive home with a 10 week old puppy.  We brought a dog crate for her but I ended up holding her in my lap the whole ride home.  I had a few towels in my lap just in case but she didn't have any accidents.  Whenever she got a bit restless, Jake quickly found a place to pull off the road and give her a break.  Fun times!

Of course, I took plenty of new puppy photos!

It's hard to believe she used to be this tiny just 1.5 years ago.  She's always adored Jake.

Do you have any plans for the long weekend?