# HCC Stowe VT - The Sound of Music



## Steamboat Bill (Dec 30, 2007)

This is kinda surreal...I am at the HCC property in Stowe, VT and ABC television is playing The Sound of Music. 

We are planning a visit to the Von Trap Family Lodge this week to go cross country skiing.

I will post more about this property and Stowe, but there is lots to do here and my computer time is not a priority.


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## pwrshift (Jan 2, 2008)

Hey Bill ... I thought you were going to NYC HCC for the New Year's Eve celebration and was looking for you on the TV with Dick Clark.  How did you end up in Stowe?    Burrrrrrr

Brian


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## bobcat (Jan 2, 2008)

Steamboat Bill said:


> This is kinda surreal...I am at the HCC property in Stowe, VT and ABC television is playing The Sound of Music.
> 
> We are planning a visit to the Von Trap Family Lodge this week to go cross country skiing.
> 
> I will post more about this property and Stowe, but there is lots to do here and my computer time is not a priority.



I Bet you will not be Cleaning Windows up there.


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## bobcat (Jan 3, 2008)

bobcat said:


> I Bet you will not be Cleaning Windows up there.



Bill, I hear a new song. The HILLS ARE ALIVE WITH THE SOUND OF WINDOW  CLEANING.


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## Steamboat Bill (Jan 3, 2008)

pwrshift said:


> Hey Bill ... I thought you were going to NYC HCC for the New Year's Eve celebration and was looking for you on the TV with Dick Clark.  How did you end up in Stowe?    Burrrrrrr
> 
> Brian



I originally had NYC and my wife did not want to be in the city with two kids when it would be so crowded so we switched to Stowe Vermont. Besides, we will be in NYC in 3 weeks.



bobcat said:


> I Bet you will not be Cleaning Windows up there.



Actually, I have been cleaning the car windows 2-3x per day as it snowed like crazy for the first 4 days and my car was parked outside and got tons of snow and ice on the windows. It was mega cold outside.


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## pwrshift (Jan 3, 2008)

Steamboat Bill said:


> ... I have been cleaning the car windows 2-3x per day as it snowed like crazy for the first 4 days and my car was parked outside and got tons of snow and ice on the windows. It was mega cold outside.


 
Does HCC have a service come by and clean your driveway (and car)?  Or is good old fashioned unsafe shovel-it-yourself?


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## Steamboat Bill (Jan 3, 2008)

pwrshift said:


> Does HCC have a service come by and clean your driveway (and car)?  Or is good old fashioned unsafe shovel-it-yourself?



The driveway to get to the HCC unit is about 100 yards long and they plow it everyday....if not, it would be impossible to get to the front door.

I have a 4 wheel drive SUV that is mandatory equipment for this area. Also, this is the FIRST time in my life that I have ever driven in so much snow as I usually go to Utah or Colorado and have an indoor parking garage and here the car is exposed to the elements. In fact, my wife left a water bottle in the car last night and it was frozen solid this morning when we went out for snowmobiling...my kids found this amusing as we are from Florida. My new job is to run out to the car and start it 5 minutes before she and the kids get in....

It has snowed about 2-3 feet since we have been here and there are 4-5 foot deep powder snow piles out the back that the kids have been having a blast playing in. 

I have to admit it that this week has been fun, but I can't imagine living with freezing cold and scraping my windshield daily for the entire winter.


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## vivalour (Jan 3, 2008)

Steamboat Bill said:


> I have to admit it that this week has been fun, but I can't imagine living with freezing cold and scraping my windshield daily for the entire winter.



Lucky you -- you picked a great destination if you planned to ski --this is probably the snowiest winter in the northeast in at least 10 years.   IMO, the best skiing conditions are in temps of -12/-20 C.   

BTW, we eskimos in Canada have garages -- just like in Utah & Col --so we don't have to scrape car windows most of the time.  Enjoy the white stuff while you can!


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## Steamboat Bill (Jan 3, 2008)

vivalour said:


> Lucky you -- you picked a great destination if you planned to ski --this is probably the snowiest winter in the northeast in at least 10 years.   IMO, the best skiing conditions are in temps of -12/-20 C.
> 
> BTW, we eskimos in Canada have garages -- just like in Utah & Col --so we don't have to scrape car windows most of the time.  Enjoy the white stuff while you can!



We went skiing yesterday and snowmobiling today. The conditions were awesome and the snow was fantastic. All the locals say this is the best New Year in 10 years. We did some cross country skiing at the Trapp Family lodge and were impressed with that location too.

Vermont is very beautiful and all the trees are white from snow.

My only complaint is the FREEZING temperatures as I have to clean the car windows and wait for the heater to kick in....but it is not too bad.


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## tashamen (Jan 4, 2008)

vivalour said:


> BTW, we eskimos in Canada have garages -- just like in Utah & Col --so we don't have to scrape car windows most of the time.  Enjoy the white stuff while you can!



So do we non-Eskimos in Vermont...


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## pwrshift (Jan 4, 2008)

This part of the country is very nice in summer for non-skiers or snow haters.  I had a very enjoyable week on Marriott Reward points last year, with my dog, at a Marriott in NH ... the area was great as was the hotel, grounds, people, food, etc.

I've booked it again (with my best pal) for another late summer week on points.  Just take a look at this place.

http://www.wentworth.com/

Brian


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## vivalour (Jan 4, 2008)

pwrshift said:


> This part of the country is very nice in summer for non-skiers or snow haters.
> Brian



Agree -- I seem to remember that it's also nice for other activities, like shopping. We may try Stowe HCC in summer since my dh hates snow. He can veg and I can shop.


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## ricoba (Jan 4, 2008)

vivalour said:


> we eskimos in Canada have garages



The correct term in Canada is Inuit


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## vivalour (Jan 4, 2008)

ricoba said:


> The correct term in Canada is Inuit



I know, I live in Canada. Used the lower case "eskimo" to suggest a stereotype, so our American friends can relate ... maybe too subtle. Saw some great Inuit kids at an international tournament last weekend and they sure play a mean game of hockey.


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## Steamboat Bill (Jan 4, 2008)

This is the last night we are in Stowe and we had a wonderful time here. I have never been to the New England states before and I would love to return and explore Maine, NH, and other parts of Vermont.

This is also the first time I have been in a location in the Winter without a heated garage. I have never understood why car manufacturers made heated seats and remote car starters....I now fully understand!!!

One invention that needs to be made --- something to keep the snow and ice off the fron windshield of a car parked outside.


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## Brian222golf (Jan 4, 2008)

Hi Bill,

I will be staying at the Stowe property in both Feb. and March.  Do you have any activites you would recommend?  How is the town of Stowe?  Any suggestions as far as eating out?  Did you use the spa at Stoweflake and if so how was it?  Is there a shuttle to the mountain?

Thanks for the info.

Brian


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## bobcat (Jan 4, 2008)

Steamboat Bill said:


> This is the last night we are in Stowe and we had a wonderful time here. I have never been to the New England states before and I would love to return and explore Maine, NH, and other parts of Vermont.
> 
> This is also the first time I have been in a location in the Winter without a heated garage. I have never understood why car manufacturers made heated seats and remote car starters....I now fully understand!!!
> 
> One invention that needs to be made --- something to keep the snow and ice off the fron windshield of a car parked outside.



Bill, Just think, you can start a Window Steam Cleaning business up there . Now i am sending this back to you.


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## bobcat (Jan 4, 2008)

bobcat said:


> Bill, Just think, you can start a Window Steam Cleaning business up there . Now i am sending this back to you.



You then can change your TUG handle. You could call yourself STEAM CLEANING BILL.


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## travelguy (Jan 5, 2008)

Brian222golf said:


> Hi Bill,
> 
> I will be staying at the Stowe property in both Feb. and March.  Do you have any activites you would recommend?  How is the town of Stowe?  Any suggestions as far as eating out?  Did you use the spa at Stoweflake and if so how was it?  Is there a shuttle to the mountain?
> 
> ...



Brian,

FYI - Bill has a great review of the HCC Stowe property including answers to your questions at DC4MS.com.  Look in the High Country Club forum.  Also, the HCC concierge can send you a suggested list of restaurants created from HCC member's input

Bill's review is so good that I'm going to skip my review when we travel to the HCC Stowe property on Tuesday.  Maybe I'll just take a picture or two...


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## vivalour (Jan 5, 2008)

Brian222golf said:


> Hi Bill,
> 
> I will be staying at the Stowe property in both Feb. and March.  Do you have any activites you would recommend?  How is the town of Stowe?  Any suggestions as far as eating out?  Did you use the spa at Stoweflake and if so how was it?  Is there a shuttle to the mountain?
> 
> ...



Re: restaurants see Bill's review below:
High Country Club - Stowe, Vermont review 

This is our last night in Stowe and we had a fantastic time here. 

The HCC property was extremely nice and our entire family really loved it as it was so large. We had some friends stop by to visit as they own a home about 2 miles away and have vacationed here for the past 15 years. They were very impressed with the quality of the Stoweflake property and indicated that these places sell for about $850k.

Here are a few things we did that may interest others:

Lunch at Pie in the Sky pizza was awesome and was much better than Piecassa (poor service), wow Pie in the Sky really has great pizza.

Skiing at Stowe was fantastic as conditions here are the best in 10 years according to locals, but it was extremely cold for us as we are used to spring skiing. The gondola ride to the top was a nice bonus, but we actually had to take a warming break after each run from top to bottom.

We did not use the spa services, but they looked very nice and classy. This is something I wish we did, but we just ran out of time to do everything.

Cross country skiing at the Trapp Family Lodge was awesome...two thumbs up. I am not a huge fan of cross country skiing as I love to go fast downhill, but the trails were very beautiful and peaceful and non-crowded.

We also did the Ben and Jerry's factory tour (great samples), Vermont Teddy Bear factory tour (in Burlington), Burton Snowboard factory, Lake Champlain chocolate factory tour, and Cold Hollow Cider Mill (awesome cider and dough nuts).

One of our favorite restaurants was The Dutch Pancake Cafe for breakfast. I highly recommend everyone to visit this place for breakfast...the best I have ever had!

We also attended a New Year Eve party at Stoweflake and everyone had a great time...buffet, DJ, dancing, etc.


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## Steamboat Bill (Jan 5, 2008)

Brian222golf said:


> Hi Bill,
> 
> I will be staying at the Stowe property in both Feb. and March.  Do you have any activites you would recommend?  How is the town of Stowe?  Any suggestions as far as eating out?  Did you use the spa at Stoweflake and if so how was it?  Is there a shuttle to the mountain?
> 
> ...



HCC provides a great list of activities and it is pretty comprehensive. We did not do everything as this was a "relaxing" vacation just to enjoy a white Christmas/New Year and that mission was well accomplished. You MUST rent a car and I highly suggest a 4-wheel drive SUV...It was needed as it snowed a tone up here and I actually helped push a few cars out of the snow at the Trapp Family Lodge as they has front wheel drives and were stuck.



bobcat said:


> You then can change your TUG handle. You could call yourself STEAM CLEANING BILL.



Awesome idea....the windows of my car and most homes/business are very dirty here.



travelguy said:


> Brian,
> 
> FYI - Bill has a great review of the HCC Stowe property including answers to your questions at DC4MS.com.  Look in the High Country Club forum.  Also, the HCC concierge can send you a suggested list of restaurants created from HCC member's input
> 
> Bill's review is so good that I'm going to skip my review when we travel to the HCC Stowe property on Tuesday.  Maybe I'll just take a picture or two...




I will post the HCC list when I get home or Travelguy can cut-and-paste it for you. I did not visit the Spa  and did not go out for any fine dining. Perhaps you can add to my  review.

One interesting thing is how NICE people are her in Vermont...this place really has the Sound of Music!!!

One small example is when I was getting take out from The Pie in the Sky for the kids a parking space opened up and someone behind me pulled in ahead of me (something that happens all the time in Florida as we have to fight for spaces). When the lady saw me, she came up to my window and asked if I was waiting for that spot and that she would move her car if I was...I laughed and said, no thanks as I was  waiting for my take-out order. 

There were several other examples of nice Vermont people.


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## pwrshift (Jan 5, 2008)

Montreal is about a 2 hour drive away ... Wentworth by the Sea is about 3 hour drive.  Nice stopovers before or after (or during) a trip to Stowe.

www.wentworth.com


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## Brian222golf (Jan 5, 2008)

I just want to thank all those that gave very useful information.  Much appreciate!!

Brian


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