End of Summer

[chapjim]

Summer ended at 6 PM yesterday (Labor Day), at least at Smuggler's Notch. A lot of summer activities shut down then. We are now officially in mud season and the weather is doing all it can to make sure we know it. I don't know for sure that it has rained 100% of the time since sometime last night but if it stopped, it was only to get a better hold.

Checked in late Sunday PM, after over ten hours on the road, the last eight of which was in a driving rain. Although we are Wyndham owners, we are at Smuggs on an exchange with RCI. We were assigned a 3BR unit in Sycamore on West Hill, the entrance to which is about a quarter mile or so from the entrance to the Village Center. My wife went in first and went to the Wyndham counter where we were signed up for an update the next morning. The bribe was two $100 certficates to Hearth and Candle, one of the eateries in the resort. From the Wyndham counter, we had to go to the other side of the room to actually check in. Check-in was speedy and efficient.

The owner's update was a bit confusing because the sales guy thought we were only RCI people. He was not prepared for Wyndham PresRes owners. But, he was a really nice young man and we thoroughly enjoyed the conversation. I expressed some discontent about web site features that weren't working as they should but pretty much avoided the rules changes. He left for a couple of minutes, then came back and said we could go to gifting now.

I'll post a review of the unit. It's quite nice.

 

[silentg]

We are going to Smuggler's Notch next May. Love Vermont but have never been to this resort. What is best thing there and what should we avoid?
Silentg

 

[chapjim]

We are going to Smuggler's Notch next May. Love Vermont but have never been to this resort. What is best thing there and what should we avoid?
Silentg

I honestly don't know that I can say what should be avoided. We haven't seen anything yet in that category. Nor have we seen anything spectacular. We took the toll road up Mt. Mansfield on Monday, the closest thing to a clear day. Great views but you end up walking/climbing on a lot of rocks to get to where the views are. It would have helped if we were a little more spry than we are so we didn't get all the way to the top.

We got a package in the mail with the options that are available, all of which cost money. Non-trivial sums of money. That may be what tells you things to avoid. If I still have the sheets at home, I'll scan and post them so you can get an idea.

We ate in one of the restaurants -- Hearth and Candle -- used one of the $100 certificates from the owner's update. We tried to run up the bill so as not to leave any money on the table. We ended up overshooting by about $30. Other places are quite reasonable. The Brewster River Pub is just south of the entrance to Smuggs. Decent food on a limited menu and a good selection of local craft beers.