I got married which was a good start. What happens during the next few days is always important, and my answer to that for me and my bride was a stay at the Woodstock Inn. Hopefully the rest of our wedded life will live up to that glorious start.
Vermont has very few dead zones and most of the state is on the spectacular side given its lack of large cities and the verdant presence of the Green Mountains. Throw in covered bridges and New England charm and you’ve got yourself one fine destination, not to mention a marvelous background for golf. Vermont does quaint as well as anyplace and the epitome of this is Woodstock. The town has stately old houses bordering the village green, a century-old library, and home-grown businesses. As I got used to calling the woman I’d been with for seven years “my wife”, we strolled around, finding ourselves wanting to go into most of the stores such as the one that sells nothing but flannel. That would be the Vermont Flannel Company, and the proprietor not only sold me a shirt, but she also turned me on to the source of the chainsaw bear which welcomes visitors to her shop. We ended up visiting the artisan and I am proud to report our very first marital asset, and our honeymoon souvenir, is a particularly adorable wooden animal named Chet.
It is difficult to segue from bears created by power tools to the bucolic Woodstock Inn so I’ll just jump right in. The Woodstock Inn does everything right. Set opposite the village green, the resort occupies lush grounds amid stately trees and specimen plantings. We had a gracious king suite that my wife deemed “perfect”, and which enhanced our euphoric mood. The second “perfect” of the day was dinner at the Inn’s Red Rooster restaurant, which maximizes Vermont’s farm-to-table opportunities and is crazy good. It’s the kind of eating establishment where you want to kiss the chef. Just try wresting the gazpacho championship from these folks.
The Woodstock Inn benefits from a locale in which occasions for pleasure and adventure abound. Its beautiful 18-hole golf course set in the picturesque Kedron Valley was designed by legendary architect Robert Trent Jones, Sr. Tracing its beginnings back to 1895, it has been named as one of the “top 100” courses in the country. And it doesn’t disappoint. While my wife got herself pampered at the spa (which she deemed perfect), I played a round. Of golf that is.
The Inn also offers guests the chance to participate in a falconry program. I had never experienced a giant raptor swooping in to alight on my forearm and I can assure you it’s a thrill. These particular falcons are friendly, which is good to know when their no nonsense eyes are peering at you from over their no nonsense beak at up close and personal distance. A certain amount of mutual trust is involved. Seeing the majestic beauty of these birds in intimate fashion replete with the tactile experience is unique, and belaboring two well-worn commentaries, is fun for the whole family and not something you can do at home.
Woodstock Inn guests also receive complimentary admission to the nearby Billings Farm and Museum where we communed with the cows and sheep who had clearly found their greener pastures. It was originally a Rockefeller property so you get the general idea.
Just outside of Woodstock is the Simon Pearce factory where glassblowing is on full display, and because of the heat involved even for spectators, we a made a beeline for the Mountain Creamery where we inhaled (what else because it’s Vermont), maple syrup ice cream. After all, I didn’t have to worry about fitting into my wedding suit anymore.