Yessiree. What was planned to be a long weekend ended up being only 40 hours, but let’s not start there…let’s start at the beginning…

A few weeks ago I went online in search of a hotel in Stowe, Vermont for a three night stay. Stowe is one of my favorite places in the world, and hubby has been itching to do some skiing. After an extensive search that even went beyond Stowe, I gave up – everything was either booked or had the standards of a ‘Motel 6’. Oh well, I tried.

But wait! One day at work in a casual conversation with a business acquaintance, she asked me if I had ever been to Edson Hill in Stowe. As soon as our meeting ended I was back online and delighted to find availability!

Delighted beyond words when we arrived, shortly after 5pm on Valentines Day…the grounds are quintessential New England, every detail charming and simply breathtaking…

Everywhere we looked, even before stepping foot inside, was visual bliss…

We could not stop saying ‘wow’ at every detail, snapping photos left and right…

“How great that you found this place,” says Peter…”Best Valentines Day ever”, says me. 🙂

We entered the reception area and the joy continued…

A roaring fire was blazing in a cozy living room with crushed velvet armchairs…

The decor is country chic in a very modern, upscale way – this certainly ain’t New Hampshire!

As we were sitting in the living room, waiting to be checked in, I noticed this book on the coffee table…quite apropos for Valentines Day! We ordered two glasses of champagne and had a few laughs…

Fyi, this book is actually available on Amazon, currently on the NY Times bestseller list. OK, time to move on! We strolled down the stairs to check out their tavern/bar and discovered another cozy spot…

Aren’t you already in love with this place? And we hadn’t seen our room yet!

Truth be told, this photo does not really do justice to how comfy/cozy it was. We were in a cottage, not in the main building, so you really walk through a snowy path to your own cottage in the woods…it was very spacious, with a working fireplace directly across from the bed – real wood, not gas – that they refreshed for you daily. The soaking tub (seen on left) was beneath a window overlooking pine trees and falling snow…the modern bathroom had heated floors, great lighting and lots of mirrors. What more could you want? 😉

Ok, it’s Valentines Day and we don’t have a reservation for dinner – by choice, I must ad. Let’s go see if we can get seats at the bar at one of our favorite restaurants, Plate. Will we get lucky or will we need a plan B? Will we need plan C – pizza? No, Cupid was with us, we got seats at Plate right away, enjoyed a wonderful dinner and made new friends, Bobby and Anne Roberts – what a FUN couple! (They also have two Air B&Bs in Stowe, Spaulding Meadows.)

Ok, it’s not even been 24 hours. Friday arrives, we SKI. Not too cold, lots of soft snow, no ice – perfect conditions – except at the top of the mountain…lots of fog, super windy, you could barely see two feet in front of you…but we survived. The trails are beautiful and there is plenty of variety so you never see the same thing twice. While Peter would love to be flying down black diamonds, the intermediate trails kept us both happy on this particular day. And what did we do at the end of this day?

We SHOPPED! If you like boutiques that have unique things with a casual, upscale flair, Stowe is heaven. Clothing, home decor, children’s wear, outerwear, jewelry, you name it, they have it. Seen here, entering one of my favorite shops, ‘Well Heeled‘. I was able to do some damage before we headed off to dinner…it’s now been 24 hours since arrival…

After hitting a few shops we decided to have dinner at the Edson Hill Tavern. As we sat here in front of yet another roaring fire, I felt like I was in a movie, or better yet, in a Ralph Lauren shop – surely he would approve of this place! Cozy to the max. Another wonderful dinner, and chatted with more nice people…

Ok, ladies. That will be the last photo from Stowe. Saturday morning around 6am I woke up so sick. (No, not from drinking.) What is wrong with my head? Felt like a vice was on it – “Peter, can you see how bad my head hurts?” Weak. Nauseous. Could not even get the strength to shower. Ugh. Took some aspirin and sudafed, hoping it would pass…by 11am, no better. Damn, I must have the flu. Damn, we probably should go home. 🙁

Good thing we came home because I was miserable for quite awhile…but all better now, at the time of this writing.

I know this was a long post, but hope you got two things out of it:

1- Edson Hill in Stowe, Vermont is a great place to visit!

2- You can have plenty of fun in less than 48 hours! 😉