Need help with a winter vacation?

Winter escapes

It’s not easy. It’s never easy picking a place to go on vacation and even harder when you’re faced with the winter grit.

And what are you to do if you’re choosing from Bermuda? We have the sun and sea here, but in the winter it rains, the wind pushes us over and it’s basically…..ok well it’s not winter everywhere, but it’s our winter.

It’s not a perfectly sunny day every day.

So should you go somewhere warmer than Bermuda or somewhere colder? Not an easy question.

I vote colder.

Good thing CTravel is there with Brenda Warwick is there to help you with all of your cold, winter vacation plans.

This is a one-woman skiing machine who knows the best resorts from the East Coast to the West Coast and everywhere in between.

Check out this interview we did with her here on Robyn’s Wanderings .

Maybe you can ask her about out little post last week about skiing in Vail, Colorado. There are lift tickets for just $14.21 a day! It’s true.

Yep about the price of lunch. Ok so maybe it’s lunch with a drink and dessert, but it’s not a stretch at Bermuda prices.

For just $199 a week you can ski for a week in Vail during the second snowiest month of the year ….. April! Imagine flying through the powder of the top ski vacation destination for the price of lunch in Bermuda!

Well make sure you book the ski pass through Brenda Warwick who can also help you find the right resort for your ski trip!

Or maybe you’re interested in staying on the East Coast! I can totally understand that. Heck I wrote the column on it yesterday.

What are plane ticket prices like right now? Well have no fear CTravel is here for you too! Book your vacation through CTravel and right now they have  flight specials for just $258 (without tax) to Boston.

Boston is only about two hours from some of the best resorts in Vermont so what are you waiting for?

Even better is if you contact an agent at CTravel you know they’re going to find the best deal for you! And

Learning to Ski

without you having to stress or spend hours negotiating those airline sites (expedia, hotwire, etc…) which have now dropped American Airlines.

Or perhaps you’re looking for some more deals?! Well good thing CTravel has some amazing Seat Sales on right now!

Even better? Take a vacation for Valentine’s Day.

Book through quickertix.com and prepare to spoil your loved one for Valentine’s Day with a trip to San Juan, Puerto Rico for as little as $358 (before tax).

Or go to Toronto, Canada for $286 (before tax). Want some ideas of what to do in Canada? Well we have that covered here at Robyn’s Wanderings.

Our new wanderer, Nicola Arnold gave us a complete run down of events in Toronto for all of us to read last Saturday.

Oh you didn’t catch it? Ok well here’s your chance.

Have a happy Thursday!

 

How to learn to ski without ending relationships!

Skiing in Vermont

There are a few ways to end a relationship.

“Wait Robyn, what has this got to do with travel?”

Ha! Relationships and travel are inevitably intertwined, but that’s not the point this week. Nope. I already wrote about how to pick your travel buddies in this column.

That’s why this week, my Rock Fever Column in The Royal Gazette is about skiing. While travel might be the number one way to end a relationship, the number two? Teaching someone to ski.

Believe me I have tried. Seven years ago I took a boyfriend (now ex) to the slopes for a weekend. I became the teacher and there were some kids on the beginner’s slope who learned some very bad words that day.

So when it came to planning a New Year’s ski trip this year I debated what to do. There was going to be five of us: a Brit, a Canadian and two Americans and of course, me, a Bermudian.

Take a guess how many of us could ski….. One. Guess who… The Bermudian. We won’t go into why that is ridiculous, what we will go into is what was a good plan for a ski/combo trip because not everyone in the group wanted to even learn to ski.

Trying to ski in Vermont?

So this wee? Ten tips for planning a ski trip with various levels of people (or basically any good ski getaway from Bermuda). Take tip one: go close to home. Now living on a 21-square-mile island doesn’t usually afford us that possibility. Luckily Boston is not far away. I found a flight on Delta for a little more than $300 and that was over New Years. (remember my tips about using online agencies). With Delta your flight will be under two hours.

Tip two is find good car deals and rent at least one (with a group of friends you might want two to ensure flexibility). There are plenty of sites to investigate prices. You know all of the main car rental places: Alamo, Hertz, Budget, etc… So start with the online agencies (hotwire.com, orbitz.com, expedia.com) and then go directly to the car rental sites to ensure the prices.

Now you’ve got the vehicle so drive for two hours to….Quechee, Vermont (or at least that is what we did). Tip three is to book a house in Quechee. Luckily there are plenty of Bermudians who frequent Quechee and you’ll be able to find a place to borrow or even a place to rent (if you want to rent your place out check our my website www.robynswanderings.com which lists them for free!) With a group of friends that is the perfect option.

Which leads to four: Quechee is quaint. Quechee is beautiful. Quechee could be a Norman Rockwell painting. It is also a great place to combine a group that wants different things from a holiday. I wanted to ski. My Canadian and British travel buddies wanted to learn, but my American travel buddies wanted to take photos (there are at least two covered bridges and waterfalls next to a Simon Pearce – a glass blowing factory – to add to your albums) and visit Breweries (Harpoon has their brewery a good 20 minutes nearby). We were all accommodated.

Even better is tip five for planning your ski trip here. There is a great rental place (Henderson’s Ski Rentals) which charges only about $30 a day for boots, poles and skis. That’s a great deal if you look at any other resorts (Killington, which is only 45 minutes away charges at least $10 more). I mean skiing is never going to be a cheap sport, but you can cut costs where you can.

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Which leads to six and the five minute drive to Quechee’s own “mountain” (I would say hill because it’s too small for anyone with experience). But it is right in the middle of town. That means it’s close enough if people are sick of skiing or cold or tired, it’s not a far ride back to home.

Even better is seven, which is for the beginners there are great slopes which will keep them busy and instructors that will help immediately. We showed-up at 10.30 a.m. and had the beginners on the slope by 11! I had to keep myself busy going on the higher slopes that were open, but luckily Vermonters are incredibly friendly and I was always chatting with someone from Harvard who visited Bermuda every year or the wife of a producer for XSports.

And when everyone gets better at skiing you head to tip eight, which is that Quechee offers more than beginner skiing. A 45-minute drive (or so) will deliver you to Killington, which has been named one of the top resorts for skiing in the United States! Even better is if you stay in Quechee you don’t get the prices (www.quecheelakerentals.com can help you find an affordable house for a group. If we had not borrowed a house it would have been about $60 a night each. That’s a deal!)

Cheese at Sugar Bush farm in Quechee, Vermont

Plus you get the choices like nine: which is going into Woodstock ( a town 15 minutes away) with little restaurants, cafes and even a country store that sells everything from rubber boots to gluten-free beer. Yeah it’s old school and very cool! Ha I rhyme. Anyway, Woodstock is beautiful and small, which makes it perfect for those who don’t want to ski. Or even better is the family farm Sugar Bush which offers all the cheese tasting you could ever want. I mean seriously do NOT eat lunch or breakfast and go try their 8-year-old cheddar. Besides a stunning setting that allows a view of the Vermont valley, it also fills the tummy.

Which is good because, as we found, the restaurants in Quechee were definitely hit or miss. Tip ten: CAREFUL where you eat twice. Because our flight to Boston was delayed by five hours, my Philadelphia friends arrived in Quechee before us. They chose a seat at the Firestone’s Restaurant. We eventually arrived, had amazing service and great pub/upscale food. I was relieved because I had booked the same place for New Year’s Eve. What a mistake revisiting. We splurged on Kobe steaks which came cold and sea bass that could have been in the Quechee river. Luckily, like everything in Quechee, our night was salvaged by a view that was spectacular: fireworks leaving the side of the Quechee ski mountain, a fire in the place, and a front seat to the NYC ball drop. As far as we were concerned with Quechee, Vermont, we had it all.

Which is why I would totally recommend it as a destination for Bermudians hoping to learn to ski or even those advanced enough for Killington’s slopes to tackle more! And next week I will give you how to ensure entering the United States is not a problem. Hint: It means a visa!

A Bermudian, a Brit, a Canadian and two Americans walked into a Vermont pub……

Menu from Firestones in Quechee, Vermont

Yes, a Bermudian, a Canadian, a Brit, and two Americans walked into a pub (Firestones) in Quechee, Vermont and we ordered three Dark n Stormys, a gingerale (definitely not for the Bermudian) and a Vermont Ale (for the Brit).

No, this is not a joke. Well what transpired was a comedy of errors, but it was never meant to be. Nope, this was supposed to be my New Year’s Eve.

I had planned ahead. I never do that, but this time I had four other people depending on me. Why? Because I decided to drag two friends who live in Bermuda (the Canadian and the Brit) and my college roommate and her boyfriend to a house in Quechee, VT.

Some skiing, New England quaintness and a place where I wouldn’t know anyone was just what the doctored ordered. I had rock fever.

Unfortunately this ailment is nothing that a doctor can cure. Nope. Instead, it is what Bermudians feel after spending too much time on our 21 square-mile island. That and my travel column every Wednesday in The Royal Gazette, of course!

After Delta delayed our escape by five hours we arrived in Boston by 7 p.m. and began our trek to Vermont. It’s only two hours so it wasn’t too bad.

The Americans had already made it to Quechee and we found them ensconced in beer and nibbles at the Firestones’ Pub waiting for us. It was busy, but our waitress was so amazing it made the time fly.

She even carded me! I felt young again. Heck maybe I’m a questionable 21-year-old at 31? Works for me. This was going to be a good vacation.

Even better, we had a little bit of Bermuda waiting for us on the menu. Yes I wanted to escape, but I always love seeing my home country featured somewhere. Well especially because we’re so small!

There it was listed on the Firestones’ menu: a Dark ‘n’ Stormy. Arguably Bermuda’s National drink,  the Dark ‘n’ Stormy consists of our Black Seal Rum (a dark, rich

Quchee's Waterfall/Glass Blowing Company

and smooth alcohol) mixed with Barritt’s Ginger Beer. Any other ginger beer just simply will not do.

I was sure Firestones did not have Barritt’s, but I thought I would give Firestones’ the benefit of the doubt (the friendly waitress who carded me, helped) and we decided to book our New Year’s Eve dinner here.

There were not many other choices. I mean, I love Quechee. It’s quintessential New England. But as far as eating on New Year’s Eve we were at a loss.

Sure we could have chosen Simon Pearce and spent $80 on a four course meal, but that would not have included drinks, tax or service. We didn’t have that kind of money.

The 31st came. We put the skis down, showered and even donned some make-up for the occasion. At 8p.m. we were ready for a good night.

Too bad our Firestones’ waitress wasn’t. Our friendly, first night waitress had been replaced with another.

“What do you want to order?”

Well, hello to you too. Yes, we would love to have a great New Year’s Eve, thank you for asking, I belittled the waitress in my head. I bit my tongue and we gave her the drinks order.

Three Dark ‘n’ Stormys, a gingerale and a Vermont ale.

“Ok, now do you know what food you want to order?”

“uhh, I mean, uh…no!”

She was starting to get downright pushy. I was getting tired of it. She left.

Five minutes later, she returned.

“Ok fine we’ll order.”

That meant our starters. We were still holding out on her. I mean we planned to be there for midnight. We were not going to get so lucky. As soon as she placed the order in the kitchen she was back.

“Now do you want to order your mains?” Not much of a question really. We did. Three Kobe steaks at various levels of cooking, a sea bass and chicken parmesan.

Easy, right? Nope.

The starters came, they entered our stomachs and the cutlery was taken away….never to return. Well not until we’d already had the steaks and the chicken.

Robyn, you forgot the sea bass?! Nope, nope I didn’t. Actually the waitress did.

I remained gracious: “Dig in guys. Please don’t wait for me.”

Drive-by photo of Firestones

“Ugh, mine’s cold. Mine’s not cooked enough,” echoed around the table.

We called over the waitress. Our conversations turned from borderline impolite to downright rude.

Us: “Sorry, but our steaks are all cold and we still don’t have the sea bass.”

Waitress: “What do you want me to do about it?”

I get it’s New Year’s Eve. I get that no one wants to work, but well, we would have spent a decent chunk of change. She would have done all right if she had managed an iota of pleasantness.

“Are you sorry they’re cold?” I asked her.

“Yes, I’m sorry. So what would you like me to do?”

Fly to the moon, solve world poverty, find the cure for cancer, I don’t know, maybe cook new steaks?!

The men at our table decided to confront the manager; I had already tried to no avail.

Manager: “Oh, yeah well I only heard about this five minutes before. I’m supposed to have dinner with my wife of 27-years. Um….let’s see how this turns out.”

It turned out that after fixing the steaks, my sea bass came out colder than before, the chicken parmesan had congealed cheese and we were done.

And so was her tip and half of the bill! We bid Firestone’s farewell.

A quick trip to the gas station delivered a few beers and some wine into our party and as we arrived home fireworks erupted on the ski hill!

I think we had the last laugh!