Category: Uncategorized

We are open! We have been working remotely the last few months and are very happy to be back to some new normal in person at our office. We sincerely hope you and your family are safe and healthy. We are looking forward to kicking the summer season off shortly once VT mandates lift. We would like to thank our owners and renters for their cooperation during this unprecedented time, especially while we juggled property changeover like never before! We cannot wait to have you all back in the valley when orders lift!

A few changes you will see from us:
-Office hours remain 9am-3pm, seven days a week, during the summer (In person hours at the office might vary slightly as we remain flexible with the ongoing crisis. Our email is checked regularly seven days a week during these hours and is the best method of contact).
-Only one member of our team will be in office each day.
-Our office door will remain locked for the foreseeable future, we will unlock and let you in as you arrive.
-Only one group allowed inside at a time, and only two people from that group.
-Everyone coming to our office must be wearing a mask, no exceptions. Please let us know if you need one.
-If you prefer “curbside chat” please give a call when you arrive (800-833-0904) we are more than happy to come talk shop at a distance in the parking lot.
-We are showing properties via Zoom and FaceTime! If you are looking to book a seasonal please reach out and we will arrange a meeting with you to virtually see some properties.
-For the safety of our team, owners, renters, and their guests we will not entering occupied homes for any showings.
-We are adding virtual tours to our property listings on our website!

We are booking properties to the summer and winter seasons. Please contact us if you’re searching for a rental for any time of year!

Thank you once again for your cooperation as we all try to navigate this new normal. Be well!
Melissa, Megan, Karen, and Debi

Join us as we toast our Founding Fathers and celebrate the birth of our nation. There are plenty of festivities to partake in over the long holiday weekend. Here are some of our favorites!

The 70th Annual Wardsboro 4th of July Parade and Street Fair. Starting at 9am on Thursday the 4th, this quintessential Vermont event is not to be missed. The Street Fair kicks off first, local artisans and vendors will be displaying their goods ranging from pottery, jewelry, soaps, and much more. Come 10am the church bell rings signaling it’s time to clear Main Street for the parade to start. Expect to see local bands, scout troops, vintage cars, plenty of livestock, and creative floats. The committee welcomes the public to enter the parade, details found on their site. Stick around after the parade to see the prize winners and enjoy the street fair, the strawberry shortcake is well worth hanging around for!

Moving on to Friday’s celebrations, Mount Snow is hosting a “Fireworks for Freedom” event from 5pm-9:30pm. They’ll have a BBQ going, plenty of lawn games, s’mores, and of course an awesome fireworks display! Be sure to bring a lawn chair 🙂

Rounding out the holiday weekend is 2019 Independence Day Fireworks at Hayford Field in Wilmington. Come down in the early evening to enjoy the live bands, bouncy houses, food, and of course the main event starting around 9pm. Parking is very limited downtown but shuttle buses are available from Howe Field in Wilmington.

Wishing everyone a happy and safe Fourth of July weekend of celebrations!

The snow is all but melted and the mud is slowly but surely drying up! These April showers will hopefully bring May flowers and we are thinking ahead to summer plans!

Welcome to the first in our series showcasing some of our favorite off season activities, road trips, and hangouts. We’ll share some popular Vermont “to-dos” and some of our favorite hidden gems!

First up, with the weather still somewhat unpredictable, we’re sharing some museums in the area that are worth checking out.

Mass MoCA

Did you know that one of the country’s largest contemporary art museums is just 45 minutes away? The Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Arts (Mass MoCA) is located in North Adams, a former mill town turned arts mecca. Mass MoCA itself is located in a campus of old industrial buildings, which allow expansive rooms for contemporary art installations, indoor and outdoor concert spaces, and two on-site restaurants. Visit their website for a full schedule of their exhibitions, concerts and events!

• While in North Adams, be sure to stop at Korean Garden for some delicious authentic Korean food.

Brattleboro Museum and Art Center

BMAC was founded in 1972 and is located in the town of Brattleboro on the banks of the Connecticut river. This contemporary art museum aims to bring people together through their ever changing exhibits and educational programs. Open everyday but Tuesdays and with a packed event schedule a stop in to the museum is the perfect accompaniment to a stroll through downtown Brattleboro. For more information on exhibits and events visit their website.

• Looking for a bite to eat and a beer? A visit to Brattleboro isn’t complete without popping into the Whetstone. They brew their own beer in house and even have fresh packed Crowlers to go!

Bennington Museum

Heading west from the Deerfield Valley will bring you into the village of Bennington. Located right on Rt 9, the museum features works from the New England and eastern New York state area from the 18th century to present. The ongoing exhibition that is the Grandma Moses Schoolhouse is not to be missed. The one room schoolhouse was moved to the museum grounds in 1972 and dates back to the late 1800’s. Check out their website for more info on hours and admission.

• After your tour through the museum head over to The Publyk House for a meal with a killer view!

Welcome to Sugar Season! With the waning days of winter comes the prime time to turn sap into maple syrup. How about some fast facts? Maple trees release sap when the trees are below freezing overnight and above freezing during the day. Vermont produces more syrup than any other state in the nation and is responsible for 5.5% of the world’s syrup. Maple syrup is 100% natural and organic, the only ingredient is the sap which is boiled to evaporate the water. For just one gallon of the sweet stuff you’ll need to gather 40 gallons of sap.

Let’s dive right in to the start to finish. The process really starts in the summer as sugar produced from the leaves of the tree is converted to starch and stored within the tree. Spring ahead to the end of winter and that starch is converted back to sugar and trees are ready to be tapped. Tapping involves putting a hole and in the tree to either hang a bucket on to collect sap or string miles of lines connecting all the trees to flow the sap back to the sugar house. Once sap is collected it’s time to boil away. Sap is boiled in large trays over a roaring fire to evaporate all the water and reduce it down to a beautifully golden silky product. The syrup is then filtered and canned into jugs and sold.

A local favorite farm of ours is Corse Farm in Whitingham. They’ve been producing syrup since the late 1800’s! With an annual production of 4000 gallons, they really know their stuff! We recommend stopping in to their showroom for a peak into the process and be sure to take home some goodies!

Aside from the obvious choice of topping a stack of flapjacks, we think maple syrup is perfect in a salad dressing or marinade. What are your favorite ways to use it?

Let’s face it, every time the Olympics come around we all wonder what event we could see ourselves in. So we now interrupt your regularly schedule rental blog post with a little winter Olympic day dreaming…

There is no shortage of action packed  sports to cheer on in these winter games, truly something for everyone. Each of us took a look and came up with the event that we could see ourselves taking home the gold in. We pictured ourselves in the moment, if you will 🙂

Melissa: Speed skating! I could really get in to the competitive drive and methodical moves that pushes these athletes to the top of the pack. 

Megan: Curling! A game of strategy and finesse.

Karen: Figure skating 🙂 I would jump and twirl like no other.

Debi: Ski Jumping! How fun does it look to soar through the air?!

Bella and Fen: Of course we had to have a little fun with our resident office assistants. These two would be the perfect match for a doubles luge team!

Be sure to catch all the Olympic action when the games kick off tomorrow night in PyeongChang!

We are 8 days away from the kick off of the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in PyeongChang South Korea! The buzz around here is high and we’re keeping our eyes on a few familiar faces to watch. Help us cheer on these local ladies!

Kelly Clark (Halfpipe-Snowboarding): Arguably the pioneer of her sport Kelly Clark has been at the top of the podium in every snowboarding event at one point or another. Heading into her 5th Olympics, Kelly is a well seasoned pro in this event. Her Olympic medal tally stands at one gold (2002) and two bronze (2010, 2014) in addition to her impressive Winter X-Games medals. Ms. Clark is even the recipient of an ESPY. Kelly grew up in Dover and began her snowboarding career at Mount Snow Academy. Her family still owns and runs TC’s Restaurant in Dover, be sure to swing by for a drink or bite to eat and check out some of her memorabilia! Off the slopes Kelly heads up The Kelly Clark Foundation which strives to provide opportunities for younger generations to fulfill their snowboarding dreams. Kelly will drop in Tuesday Feb 12th for qualification and Wednesday Feb 13th for the final. *Photo courtesy of US Ski and Snowboard

Devin Logan (Halfpipe-Freeskiing and Slopestyle-Freesking): The reigning silver medalist from the Slopestyle event in Sochi is poised to take on Slopestyle and Halfpipe in PyeongChang. Devin Logan also got her start at Mount Snow Academy. Coming up to Mount Snow on weekends from Long Island, following her siblings around to ski competitions, she was destined to join in on the action. Following a season ending injury in 2012, Devin took a year off to rehab and even became a certified judge to further her knowledge of the sport from that perspective. Her hard work on and off snow clearly paid off as she walked off with the silver medal in the inaugural ski slopestyle event. You can catch Devin on Saturday Feb 17th in Slopestyle and Tuesday Feb 20th for the Halfpipe. *Photo courtesy of Team USA

A full schedule of all the events going down in PyeongChang can be found here. Tune in to the blog next week where we have a little fun and share what event we’d go for the gold in!

 

Oh the weather outside is frightful alright! This bone chilling cold snap has more than overstayed it’s welcome. We’ve rounded up a few of our favorite hot cocktails for indulging in this time of year. How do you warm up in the bitter cold?

Melissa: Baileys Hot Chocolate

Megan: Hot Toddy, please!

Karen: Irish Coffee

Debi: Hot Buttered Rum, especially good with a drop of local Maple Syrup Liquor from Hogback Gift Shop

Stay thirsty (and warm!) my friends!

 

Winter has officially arrived in Southern Vermont, with a foot and a half of snow in the last week it’s shaping up to be a great season! Perfect timing to pass along some winter driving tips to keep everyone safe and get to where they need to be (VT!).

Who doesn’t love a good powder day? Fantastic for skiing in but not so much for driving. Here are some tips/resources to keep in mind when you’re making the trek up to the Deerfield Valley.

-We’re all big fans of snow tires for a that extra grip on questionable road surfaces. Kind of like trading your flip flips for snow boots.

-Always check the Vermont Dept. of Transportation website for any weather alerts or closures. The  “Plow Finder” is a very cool feature!

–Waze is another great app for any road trip. Help out your fellow motorists and report conditions in real time.

-Lastly, be patient and go slow, these mountains aren’t going anywhere. Be sure to ask your resident rental staff for some great powder spots on the mountain! And if you’re snowed in in Vermont and need a doctor’s note for work, we can help with that too 🙂

See you in the valley!

 

Happy Holidays from the Rentals Only team! We hope to see you here in the valley to enjoy all or part of this festive season. Here are some of our favorite activities to partake in over the next few weeks.

Melissa– Aside from dashing her own horses through snow in her one horse open sleigh of course…Melissa loves taking a few runs down Mount Snow’s snow tubing park, especially fun in the evening under the lights!

Megan-After baking up some holiday treats, a snowshoe trek through the woods is top of her list to unwind during the holidays.

Karen– All about being cozy, watching classic Christmas movies at home or heading to our local theater to check out the latest Star Wars!

Debi– Once she’s done delivering food baskets to local families in need, she hits the slopes!

What are some of your favorite holiday week pastimes?