EXPERIENCE VERMONT AND FLOWER BROOK FARM
Onsite Winter Activities
From the front deck you can gaze at the magnificent view of three mountains known as the Ox Box, welcoming the changing seasons. When it’s time to move, the hills behind the house make for excellent sledding, and the surrounding woodlands are an invitation to hike or cross-country ski. Mt. Hoag is a good walk no matter the season.
Offsite Winter Activities
If you have a passion for downhill skiing, the closest resorts are Killington Ski Resort in Killington and Bromley Mountain in Peru. Farther away are Stratton Mountain, Mt. Snow, and Magic Mountain. From October through early March, Riley Rink at Hunter Park in Manchester is open for indoor skating.
If the temperatures are below freezing for several days running, Dorset has a pond for outdoor skating just outside the town. Ask for directions at the store.
Merck Forest and Farmland, a 30-minute drive from Flower Brook Farm, is a special experience any time of year. Free and open sunrise to sunset every day, the 30 miles of trails make for excellent walking or cross-country skiing. Merck taps its sugar maples and has a large evaporator housed in a barn where visitors can see how syrup is made. Toward the end of March, which is typically sugaring season, it holds a pancake breakfast. The visitor center is open 9:00 to 4:00 daily and their certified-organic syrup is sold there.
Dining Out
Our own Pawlet has The Barn, with live music every Wednesday night. You can find it just past the post office on the road to Granville, up a sloping drive.
About a 30-drive is the Victorian Inn at Wallingford, wonderful food in enchanting surroundings. Thirty or more minutes in the opposite direction in Manchester is the Wilburton Inn. Wednesday nights in the summer is farm night, featuring locally grown produce and even group singing, Farm nights are great fun!
Provisions
In the summer Dorset has a farmer’s market on Sunday morning. Wallingford Locker is open all year around and sells locally raised meat and poultry. Most of their goods are frozen, so plan ahead. Their bacon is famous. Bring a check or cash; they don’t accept credit cards.
Sheldon’s in Pawlet sells wine and Cabot cheese in a big wheel and is a convenient place to fill gaps in your larder. They only accept cash, but there is an ATM in front of the store.
Groceries can be purchased at PriceChopper in Granville, NY (20 minutes) or Manchester (30 minutes). Rutland, 30 miles up Rt. 7, has PriceChopper, Hannaford, Walmart, and Aldi. PC, Hannaford, and Aldi offer online shopping and pickup. PC and Aldi deliver, but check the website to confirm features and hours.
In Vermont, beer and wine can be purchased at food stores; liquor is sold at state stores. In New York, beer can be purchased at food stores, but you will need to visit a state store to purchase wine and liquor. The closest liquor store is in Granville.
Onsite Summer Activities
Flower Brook, downhill from the house, invites you to wade or plunge in on a hot summer day.
If you’re up for a 5-mile walk, amble around Mt. Hoag; turn left out the front door and head up the road, bear left at the first fork, follow the main road, and after about two hours you will be back home. For a shorter amble take one of the marked hiking trails or explore the woodlands.
Summer is the time for outdoor dining, on the front deck, back porch, or on the “flat spot” up the hill about 150 feet. The flat spot has picnic tables, a fire pit (marshmallows required), a charcoal grill, and a field for croquet, bocce, badminton, volleyball, and basketball.
Offsite Summer Activities
For a swim, visit the Dorset marble quarry, or if a clear mountain pond beckons, visit Green Mountain National Forest in Danby and walk an hour to Little Rock Pond.
Nearby are Lake St. Catherine or Emerald Lake State Park for sailing and swimming.
For a scenic walk, visit Merck Forest and Farmland Center in Rupert, a 30-minute drive from Flower Brook Farm. Merck is a special experience any time of year. Free and open sunrise to sunset every day, the 30 miles of trails make for excellent walking and panoramic views of the surrounding countryside. Check their website for hours.
Other hiking options include short walks on the Long Trail, which traverses the Green Mountain National Forest, trailhead 12 miles away. The North Pawlet Hills Natural Area, managed by The Nature Conservancy, has a trail to the top of Haystack where you are greeted with 360-degree views.
The town of Saratoga Springs, NY, features the Saratoga Performing Arts Center, a venue for popular and classical concerts and summer home of the New York City Ballet and Philadelphia Orchestra.
Tennis: Burr and Burton Academy in Manchester has six public courts.
Golf: Lake St. Catherine Country Club has a public golf course.
Cycling : If cycling is your thing, we often see cyclists along the Danby/Pawlet road and on Route 30, but if you want to cycle on a path, the Delaware and Hudson Rail-Trail is accessible in Granville, NY or Poultney, VT
Photo from tastetrekkers.com
Art & Culture
Summer theater options, in addition to the Dorset Theater, in Dorset, VT, a 20-minute drive from the farm are the Weston Playhouse in Weston and the Williamstown Theatre Festival in Williamstown, MA. Close to this theater is the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, with grounds on which to picnic before the show. W. Rutland is the location of the Carving Studio and Sculpture Center, supported by the National Endowment for the Arts. It hosts aspiring sculptors and lies next to abandoned marble quarries that make great private swimming holes.
Equestrian Activities
For equestrians, there’s the thoroughbred track at Saratoga, horseback riding at Chipman stables, and the Vermont Summer Festival in East Dorset, which runs from early July to mid-August. Flower Brook Farm has enough acreage to park multiple horse trailers and East Dorset is less than a 30-minute drive. Photo from chipmanstables.com
Historical Sites
Hildene in Manchester was the home of Robert Todd Lincoln, the only son of Abraham and Mary Lincoln who survived to adulthood. The property was acquired in 1978 by the Hildene Trust, which restored and maintains the property. The furnishings are almost entirely from the Lincoln family. The house is open from 9:30 to 4:30 daily. Photo from Hildine.org
Useful websites:
300 ACRES TO EXPLORE AND PLAY
