We are entering that lovely time of year when one day it's 70 degrees and sunny and the next day you're cursing the freezing rain and wintry mix. Oh, and who can ignore the mud-sucking back roads that appear even before it's officially "mud season?"
Luckily, I have my husband's birthday to help brighten this time of year up with a nice dinner out, hopefully at Kismet or possibly at J. Morgan's Steakhouse, two of our favorites in Montpelier.
But I digress.
This time of year is also when maple sugaring goes into high gear. When I first moved to Vermont 20 plus years ago, I was delighted and enthralled by this wonderful Vermont process which I learned had been happening since the Abenaki were stewards of the land. Seeing small and large sugar shacks out in the country with the steam coming out of the roof makes up otherwise, a lot, for the rutted, scary, back-road driving.
Where is the best place to see sugaring in action? My preference is to go to The Morse Farm in East Montpelier. If you're lucky either Burr Morse or his brother Elliot will be there to show you the how-to of sugaring. They are both charming guys with great jokes and a lot of history and lore to share even as they practice their sugaring craft with great care.
After hanging out in the fragrant, steamy room and hearing from the masters you can wander over to the gift store and buy all things maple; from maple creemees to sugar-on-snow (with dill pickles to cut the sweet--a seasonal delight), from maple candy to maple kettle corn, and of course, all the grades of maple syrup. I stop by sometimes all by my lonesome (we'll keep that a secret, okay?) because my personal favorite is Grade A Dark Amber. But each to his/her own.
If you have out-of-state guests, this is perfect way to entertain them and entice them back for future visits. But even if it's just you and your family it's still great fun, and heck, if the snow is still right, you can even sneak in a run or two on their groomed cross country trails! Otherwise, break out your waders, it's mud-hiking time...!
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Sue Aldrich, Broker/Owner
Coldwell Banker Classic Properties
3336 Airport Road Ste #3 - Berlin
Barre, VT 05641
802-223-6300 office
802-223-6544 fax
802-839-0213 cell
sue@vtclassicproperties.com
www.vtclassicproperties.com
