Skiing in Stowe — Little Miss Party

In 2018, I threw an 80’s prom party for my 40th birthday. What a party this was. I did not expect anyone to bring a gift as it was just supposed to be a fun night to celebrate but of course many people showered us with wine, champagne and some very creative gift cards. A group of friends + family all pitched in and got us a gift card to Lark Hotels. I had never heard of this before but as soon as I looked them up and saw all the beautiful boutique hotels they had to offer I wanted to GO! 5 years later…I booked a trip to Stowe, VT.

This year, I wanted to take every long weekend the kids had as an opportunity to ski. However, Luke has hockey every weekend so this time around, it was just me and Gav.

I had never been to Stowe before and always wanted to go. Since the Lark Hotels were offered there, I jumped on the opportunity and booked the Field House Lodge.

The hotel was ADORABLE. Cozy, warm, styled like a chalet and centrally located in the heart of town which was extremely convenient for our evening activities and going out to dinners.

Gavin and I got in on Friday night and went right to a restaurant called Michael’s on the Hill. Our dear friend Ricki, who used to be the boys camp counsellor at day camp on long island moved to Burlington, VT years ago and had a baby. She and her babe met us for dinner and it was so great to see her! The restaurant was nothing to write home about but it was cozy and warm and we were in great company.

Saturday was a ski day. We got out there first thing in the morning and it was COLD. Since we no longer live in the north east where it’s cold each week I sort of forget just how poor the conditions are for skiing in that part of the country. It was PURE ICE. I should have known and we should have gone west but should have could have would have. NEXT TIME!

So we spent the day exploring the mountain and looking for any small patches of snow that we could find. We kept it simple for lunch that day and ate at the cafeteria in the mountain and it happened to be quite good. There were several food station options like a grill with burgers, cast iron Mac and cheese, soups as well as tacos, pizza and more. It was delish and didn’t take too much time away from skiing.

I put my boys on skies when they were about 6 years old. They took lessons, did ski school and ski team when they were younger and we lived in New York and could get to a ski mountain in less than 2 hours every weekend. So Gavin, now out skies me. He’s such a beautiful, graceful skier. It’s really something to see. The problem is, I feel like I’m holding him back when we ski together. I’m certainly not as adventurous as him at my age. For me, I just want to stay alive. But I didn’t want to let him down so I skied where ever he led me. Unfortunately, one of the lifts we went up, there was a black and blue run. When we got up there, we learned that the blue run was closed. Oh….no. That meant I had to go down the black diamond. And guess what? It was a 90 degree angle and it was a sheet of ice.

I started to cry.

Somehow, I made my way down but woah was that ever scary.

That night, we needed LOW KEY. When we were done with skiing we went back to the hotel and we enjoyed their Apres which was lovely. They have a hot tub that you need to reserve which I thought was brilliant because it meant only your room could use it at that time so there was no awkward interactions in the tub. We had a 4:30 ressie and we enjoyed every moment of the hot water. We then showered and planned to go to dinner and movie. There was a very old school theater directly across from our hotel and a super cool bar/restaurant called Doc Ponds down the road so it was perfect, we were able to walk! So easy. The restaurant that we went to has a waitlist. Around 5pm I signed up for it and they said it would be about an hour which worked well for the movie timing. We got there and they said it would be a few minutes so they offered us a seat at the bar. Most places do not allow children to sit at the bar…but in Vermont…? It flies. So we sat down and thought huh….! This is perfect. Let’s just eat at the bar! It was delicious. We also had a great view of a ton of TV’s, each airing a different sports game so Gavin was thrilled to watch while we ate.

We went to the movies and then got a great night sleep. It was perfect.

Following day was more of the same, ice ice baby. We had lunch in the mountain at a beautiful spot called Cliff House (you need a reservation!) and got lucky with a window seat!

For Apres we went to Matterhorn and it was great scene. Laid back, good food and great service. It looked packed when we walked in but we got a seat right away no problem. After some apps and a glass of wine, we went to Edson Hill for an absolutely lovely dinner by the fire. It was so cozy and the food was delicious. I highly recommend this restaurant.

Now listen, it was cold as hell and the conditions were terrible so I will probably never go skiing in the North East again BUT Stowe is the cutest town and Gavin and I had the most wonderful weekend spending quality time together and for that, I’m grateful.

As a final send off, we loaded our suitcases with some famous Vermont, Hazy IPA’s to bring home for Dad and then hit the Skinny Pancake which was highly recommended to us on Instagram. It was GREAT! Delish food and I got a big bottle of Vermont Maple Syrup to bring home for Luke. Overall…it was a COLD but delicious + exciting trip!