Fall is in the air!!
Lots of activities are in the local area. One of my favorites is Sculpturefest which continues through the Foliage Season and even into Winter (if you want to snowshoe the farms!). It’s an outdoor exhibit of various artists unique sculptures covering two farms. It’s free and a wonderful place to walk, enjoy and have a picnic in the beautiful countryside. Find directions on their website: www.sculpturefest.org
From Fall until Spring The Billings Farm in Woodstock offers a selection of films – check them out on https://billingsfarm.org/filmfest/
Oct. 14 – Woodstock, VT – Peak to Peak hike to a scenic viewpoint on Mount Peg or Mount Tom from the Woodstock Green, 10-2:30pm
Oct. 14 – Barnard, VT – Annual Oyster Stew Supper, East Barnard Community Club, 5324 Broad Brook Rd., 5-7:30pm
Oct. 14 – Hartland, VT – Turkey Supper, Hartland UU Church on Brownsville-Hartland Road, 4:30 and 6:30 seatings
Oct. 14-15 – Woodstock, VT – Autumn Wagon Ride Weekend, Billings Farm Museum, 10-5pm
Oct. 14 -15 – Vermont – Annual All Day Open Studio Weekend, for more info and a map: www.vermontcrafts.com
Oct. 21 – Woodstock, VT – Farm House/Manor House Tours, Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical park, 1pm, meet at the 1890 Farm House
Oct. 21 – Hartland, VT – Turkey Supper, Hartland UU Church on Brownsville-Hartland Road, 4:30 and 6:30 seatings
*Oct. 21-28 – Windsor, VT – Haunted Halloween Maze – Artisans Park (where Harpoon Brewery is) -Wednesday – Friday 12p – 6p and Saturday – Sunday 10a – 6p (Closed Monday and Tuesday)
Oct. 22 – Woodstock, VT – Glad Rags Sale, Masonic Hall, 9-12 and 1-3pm
*Oct. 27-28 – Windsor, VT – Haunted Halloween Maze Evening Event – Artisans Park – 5-8pm
Oct. 28 – Quechee, VT – Hoots and Howls, VINS Nature Center, 10am
Oct. 28 – Woodstock, VT – Bentley’s Restaurant, Halloween Costume Party, until 10pm
Oct. 28 – Hartland, VT – Turkey Supper, Hartland UU Church on Brownsville-Hartland Road, 4:30 and 6:30 seatings
Oct. 29 – Woodstock, VT – A Family Halloween, Billings Farm Museum, fun for all ages, 10-5pm
Oct. 29 – Woodstock, VT – The Fretless performing at the Woodstock Town Hall Theatre, 4pm, www.pentanglearts.org/music
Nov. 10-12 – Woodstock, VT – Wagon Ride Weekend, Billings Farm Museum, 10-4pm
Nov. 12 – Woodstock, VT – Adaskin String Trio, Woodstock UU Church, 2-3pm, www.northchapelvt.org
Nov. 18 – Barnard, VT – 1st Annual Barn Festival, Barnard Inn Restaurant and Max’s Tavern, 2-6pm
Nov. 23 – Woodstock, VT – Turkey Trot. 5K through the village, 8:30am, www.zacksplacevt.org
Nov. 24-26 – Woodstock, VT – Thanksgiving Weekend, Billings Farm Museum, entertainment, activities, horse drawn wagon rides, 10- 4pm
Nov. 24-26 – Killington, VT – Audi FIS Ski World Cup, www.killington.com/worldcup
December weekends – Woodstock, VT – Christmas at the Farm, Billings Farm Museum, 10-4pm
Dec. 2 – Plymouth, VT – Coolidge Holiday Open House, sleigh rides, old-time music, craft demos, Calvin Coolidge Historic Site, 10-4pm
Dec. 8 – Pomfret, VT – BarnArts Holiday Cabaret at ArtisTree, 7:30-10pm www.artistreevt.org
Dec. 8 – 10 – Woodstock, VT – Wassail Weekend, Billings Farm and Museum, 10 -4pm, horse drawn sleigh/wagon rides (weather permitting) – additional activities in the village of Woodstock detailed below
Dec. 9 – Woodstock, VT – Breakfast with Santa, Little theater, 8-11am
The Ten, Acapella men’s choir, Congregational church
Cello by Candlelight, North Universalist Chapel Society
Holiday House Tour, 9:30 – 2pm, starts at Woodstock Town Hall Theatre
The Wassail Parade, 2pm, horses, dogs, Victorian era costumes, around the Village Green
Lighting of the Memory Tree, Bon Fire And Carol Sing on the Village Green, 3pm
Lighting of the 400 Luminaries on the Village Green, 4pm
Christmas with Celts concert, Woodstock Town Hall, 8pm
Dec. 10 – Woodstock, VT – Community Messiah Sing, Our Lady of the Snows Church, 4pm
Dec. 14-16 – Woodstock, VT – A child’s Christmas in Wales, www.artistreevt.org/theatre
Dec. 14-17 – Hanover, NH – The Christmas Revels, a Nordic celebration of the Winter Solstice, www.revelsnorth.org/Christmas-revels/
Dec. 15 – Barnard, VT – BarnArts Annual Winter Carols, First Universalist Church, Barnard, Rt. 12
Dec. 26-Jan. 1 – Woodstock, VT – Horse drawn sleigh/wagon rides (weather permitting), Billings Farm and Museum
Feb. 3 (?) – Hartland, VT. – Tiki Torch Trek – fun event…..more to come
Feb 16-18 – Woodstock, VT – The Vermont Flurry: Woodstock Snow Sculpture, on the Green, 10am-10pm
March 10 – Barnard, VT – Annual Masquerade Jazz & Funk Winter Music Carnival, 5:30-10:30pm, www.barnarts.org
New last year is the Ascutney Outdoors organization. They have worked to make Ascutney Mountain in Brownsville, VT a place for all to enjoy various activities.In addition to all the Winter activities held there the trails are great for biking and hiking. There is no charge to use the trails. Check out their website for events planned and future improvements. www.ascutneyoutdoors.org/new-events/
Below are places of interest – dining – touristy – entertainment:
Some fairly new restaurants in the area! Check it out:
New in downtown Woodstock are these restaurants:
Mangalitsa restaurant (for dinner) and Soulfully Good Cafe (for breakfast and lunch).
The Hartland Diner in Jessup’s Plaza at Hartland 3 Corners – open 7 days a week for lunch and breakfast (served all day!).
The owners of the former Stella’s restaurant have opened a restaurant in Windsor at the railroad station (Windsor Station Restaurant and Barroom)serving dinner with lots of music events as well!
Opened in Quechee, Singleton’s Market and Jake’s Market with food items, deli, Vermont products and clothing. It has almost everything you could need from fresh fish, homemade sausages, wine, beer…the list is endless!
Another popular restaurant in Woodstock – The Worthy Kitchen where the Eastender used to be (on the East end of Rt. 4)! Very casual atmosphere, limited menu but the specials change and the food is great (highly recommend the steak!). Draft Beer choices are endless and there is also a token wine selection. The bartenders/wait staff are great fun too!
Another new restaurant on the West end of Woodstock on Rt. 4 is the 506 Bistro in the fancy On the River Inn. In Quechee, The Public House, near the putt-putt golf, offering food and craft beers and they have also just opened the Public House Diner in Quechee. A new restaurant in White River Junction is Piecemeal Pies serving English savory pies.
If you are returning to the area from previous visits please note there are lots of restaurants in the area you may wish to try: Trap Door Bakery and Deli in Quechee, and in Woodstock: Melaza Bistro, Pi Brick Oven Trattoria and Pi Martini Tapas Bar(with Jazz music every Wed. at 7pm), Anchor Wat and Mon Vert Cafe. Of course, many of my “old” favorites are still there: Kedron Valley Inn and Tavern(S. Woodstock)-every Sun. is Burger and Beer night; Keeper’s (Reading), The Black Rock Restaurant (Springfield), Long Trail Brewery(Bridgewater) for lunch, Harpoon Brewery (Windsor), Simon Pearce restaurant and The Parker House Inn(Quechee) and many more!! The Kedron Valley Inn is only 3 mi. from the cabin. Bentley’s restaurant in Woodstock offers dancing to their DJ on Friday and Saturday nights at 10 pm. Harpoon Brewery (at Artisan’s Place in Windsor) is open some evenings for dinner – check first as their schedule changes. In the summer there is often Oven-Fired Pizza offered outside.
Another food “establishment” which has garnered a big following is the “elevated food truck” called Chef Brad’s Crazy Side. The food truck has relocated from Hartland to Rt. 4 near the Fat Hat on the way to Quechee. They now have an actual building which is open after October when they close up the food truck. It will reopen inside Nov. 1 for lunch 11:30-2:30. Brad is a fantastic chef, thus the big following. You can follow the restaurant specials on his Facebook site. People rave over his fish in a basket. I personally like his hamburgers or lamb-burgers and sweet potato fries. When the temperatures are cool I always try one of his homemade soups.
Harpoon Brewery – Windsor – don’t forget live music on Thurs. evenings. And visit Farmstead Cheese (Sustainable Farmer) next door! They offer lots of local products. During the summer they have oven fired pizzas for sale to eat on the picnic tables outside. Also in the same complex there is the Silo making Vermont’s own Vodka/Gin/Whiskey/Moonshine. Often the Silo and Farmstead Cheese team up with some local musical talent and hold a special event at the Silo, serving cocktails and food bites. These places are located in Artisan’s Park in Windsor off Rt. 5 – home to many other interesting places such as Simon Pearce outlet store and Great River Outfitters who feature a lot of Water Activities – check out their calendar as well as an adjacent hiking area called Path of Life Garden http://greatriveroutfitters.com. Sometimes in the winter dog sledding is there – check with www.braeburnsiberians.com
Brown’s Tavern is also open for dinner at the Ascutney Resort in nearby Brownsville, along with their Maple Kitchen restaurant which features Prime Rib on Thursday nights.
If you stop at Mike’s Mobil just off Rt. 91 on Rt. 12/5 you’ll find some hot foods to choose from as well as deli sandwiches made to order, to keep you from needing to cook that first meal at the cabin! Large selection of beer,wine, and coffee. It’s also the closest place to get diesel and wi-fi.
Montshire Museum in Norwich, VT gets top marks for it’s displays for young and old including the outside grounds www.montshire.org
I recommend a visit to Sugarbush Farm (www.sugarbushfarm.com) where they have a wonderful educational display and video on sugaring, an animal petting area and a wonderful cheese and maple syrup tasting room with of course a gift shop full of goodies to take home or buy for gifts.
The Windsor Station Restaurant(Windsor, VT) has live music every Tuesday and Friday. Harpoon Brewery (Rt. 5 Windsor) has live music every Thursday and first Saturday. Browns Tavern (Ascutney Resort, VT) has Live music every Sunday. Skunk Hollow Tavern (Hartland 4 Corners) has live music every Wednesday and Friday. For details of who is playing check the links below.
For Windsor area entertainment information:
Windsor Station: http://windsorstationvt.com/live-music
Harpoon: http://www.harpoonbrewery.com/breweries/windsor
Brown’s Tavern: http://brownstavern.webs.com/apps/calendar
Skunk Hollow: http://www.skunkhollowtavern.com/Entertainment.aspx
For info on what’s happening at the Woodstock Town Theatre then check out: www.PentangleArts.org
For more cultural activities in the nearby area check out these sites:
http://www.woodstockvt.com/woodstockvt/events
The nearby Billings Farm Museum has an activity going on most of the weekends.
Home
www.hop.dartmouth.edu Hanover, NH
www.TupeloHall.com White River Junction, VT
www.ClaremontOperaHouse.com Claremont, NH
www.OperaNorth.org Lebanon, NH
www.NorthernStage.org White River Junction, VT
www.ArtistreeVT.org Woodstock, VT2016
