Winters in Vermont can be long for some folks. Vermonters have a condition known as cabin fever, which seems to strike right around February. All the holidays are over, the days are still short, and some folks just get the blues. To offset cabin fever we have mid-winter celebrations that bring us outside, having fun with neighbors and friends. Here are some winter festivals worth checking out:

Burlington Winter Festival

Plunge right in and enjoy yourself… literally. The Penguin Plunge takes place every year down at the waterfront, when hardy individuals raise money by plunging into the icy waters of Lake Champlain. It’s all great fun. I am not sure who has more fun, the plungers or the spectators.

Vermont State Snow Sculpting Competition

Five teams of carvers compete on the Burlington Waterfront to win the opportunity to compete in the US Nationals competition in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, in 2013. WOW, who knew?

Church Street’s Lighting Show

Accompanied by music, the facades of buildings on City Hall Block will dance with color. Shows every hour starting February 3, 6 p.m., ending 24 hours later.

Outdoor Ice Bar

On February 3 and 4, the new Hotel Vermont Ice Bar has its grand opening at the Courtyard Marriot, 25 Cherry Street. Festivities go from 6 to 9 p.m. Chill outdoors with a frosted brew or a custom cocktail that has been run through the ICE LUGE! Great food, DJ, and good times.

Spirit Week

Mount Mansfield Union High School is featuring their Spirit Week, from February 6 through February 10. Monday is hip hop day, Tuesday is neon day (eew no one liked those days), and so on. Come support the MMU team at the Penguin Plunge, this weekend down at the lake front.

So Come One, Come All, join us down at the Burlington Waterfront this weekend to enjoy and celebrate winter festivities. Shake off that cabin fever!

Valentine’s Day and President’s Weekend are great times to come to Vermont to ski and ride. Besides holiday festivities, ski resorts are offering great deals. I’ve compiled a list of activities at the ski resorts near Chittenden County for the month of February. These are my picks for February fun in the mountains.

Snowshoeing

Bolton Valley’s Snowshoe Shuffle 5K is February 11. The event raises money to support the American Lung Association. You can enter a race or just go for a ramble on snowshoes through Bolton’s beautiful and snowy backcountry trails.

Family Fun

Smugglers’ Notch Resort has sweet packages, tasty delights, and Winter Carnival. Families can ski and ride on three mountains, as well as snowshoe and cross country ski. Be sure to check out the snowtubing, and flying through the trees on a 3- or 6-line zip line canopy tour. Over the Presidents’ Day holiday week, on February 22, there’s a free tasting party of Vermont specialty foods. On February 23, Family Fun Magazine Winter Carnival has games, entertainment, giveaways and a barbecue. That night, Snow Sport University instructors light up the mountainside with a dramatic torchlight parade, followed by fireworks against the backdrop of the Green Mountains. For more info, click HERE.

Music in the Mountains

The Spruce Peak Performing Arts Center at Stowe Mountain Resort presents Suzanne Vega on February 24 and Blackberry Smoke on February 25, both shows are at 8 p.m. Tickets are available online at Spruce Peak Performing Arts.

Widely regarded as one of the most brilliant songwriters of her generation, Suzanne Vega emerged as a leading figure of the folk-music revival of the early 1980s when, accompanying herself on acoustic guitar, she sang what has been labeled contemporary folk or neo-folk songs of her own creation in Greenwich Village clubs.

Atlanta based Blackberry Smoke continues to grow into the premiere Southern Rock band of America. Over the last 12 months they have shared the stage with ZZ Top, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Shooter Jennings, Cross Canadian Ragweed and countless others. They strike the right balance between the original purveyors of Southern Rock and the legitimate second-generation revivalists.

The Heart of Winter

Sugarbush Resort is primed for some great skiing and riding. With all the great entertainment, not to mention the excellent snow conditions, February is the time to visit Sugarbush. For more info, click HERE.

Come to Vermont in February and you’re sure to find great skiing and lots to do. And if you decide to stay, contact me and we’ll find you the perfect house in ski country.

I came to Vermont in 1972 to attend St. Michael’s College. I drifted here from a small town in central New York called Baldwinsville, outside of Syracuse. I was the youngest of four, all of us born within five years, and I watched each of my older siblings go away to college. When it was my turn, I was going and not looking back. I wanted new territory to explore, and I chose Vermont.

View of Mount Mansfield from Underhill.

A Home in Vermont

Weather wise, I was prepared for Vermont, since central NY is known for wet and snowy weather coming off Lake Ontario. Unlike Vermont, however, central New York is flat. Vermont’s mountains, lakes, and streams soon won my heart. I was one of the few children that did not go back home to live with her parents, not even for a summer. Vermont was my new home. I spent my vacations and summers here and eventually moved here full time. While I did travel away for a period of four to five years, I came back. Clearly Vermont had made its mark on me.

I love to travel. I spent months in Europe in my youth, and I’ve traveled back and forth across the U.S. I have lived from the east coast to the west coast and places in between, but always I came back to Vermont. I got married here, started a business here, and had a family here, and I have immersed by husband and daughter in exploring foreign countries with me.

The Eiffel Tower.

My daughter is now almost 17 and she has already traveled with us to Europe, Fiji, the Bahamas, Paris, and Italy with a cousin. Most recently she spent the first semester of her junior year of high school in Spain. She has been bitten by the travel bug and so much lies a head of her! I wondered what it would be like for her when she came home from Spain. Would she crave more travel? Well, turns out she was grateful to come home to her own comfy bed and her own stuff around her.

I see how much she has grown up and how much more confidence she has. I hear her talking about going away to a big city for college, and I know she will not be staying in Vermont. She will leave home, just as my husband and I both did, and find her own path and find her own new home. Like it or not, it’s a natural course of life.

However, there is something about Vermont that weaves its way into your soul and I think there is a good chance she will return from time to time, and when she does, she, too, will know what it’s like to be Coming Home to Vermont!

Our home. Sorry, it's not for sale!

If you are thinking about making Vermont your new home, contact me.

I’ll help you find the right house to call home.

View of Mount Mansfield from the east.

Years ago, when I lived in Stowe, Vermont, on the east side of Mount Mansfield, one of my favorite things to do at night was go to the movies. Stowe had a small theater and the best part was the special seating area where you were allowed to order a cocktail while you watched the movie. The seating was limited and it filled up quickly. You had to go early if you wanted a seat in the cocktail area.

Enter… Essex Cinemas Club Take 2

Now that I live in Underhill on the west side of Mount Mansfield, my movie theaters of choice are Essex Cinemas in the Essex Shoppes, Essex, and Majestic Ten in Taft Corners, Williston. Recently, Essex Cinemas opened Club Take 2.

While the price of going to the movies has gone up, it is still a cheap date. With Club Take 2 you can make it a complete dinner and a movie date all in one place! Recently I had the pleasure of double dating with my husband and friends. We chose to check out the Club Take 2 and the 21+ Showings Theater at the Essex Cinema. Similar but different from Stowe, there is a small restaurant with a bar and you can dine prior to seeing any movie. But, in the 21+ theater you can actually bring your meal and drinks into the theater with you, if you want, and it’s only open to patrons age 21 and older.

Here is my take on my experience there: I had the best burger ever and the sweet potato fries were to die for. There was no need to hurry and finish because you could bring your meal into the theater. You can also keep a running tab. Our server checked in on us to see if we needed anything else. I LOVED IT! The absolute best part was getting carded when we bought our tickets for the 21+ show…”Really? Okay here you go!”

There was only one negative for me, but it was a very large negative… they do not dim the lights. We were told it is because alcohol is being served they can not. Right… bars are always well lit, aren’t they? Really, watching Sherlock Holmes at the movies with the lights on is just not the same. I would not go to this particular theater again, but I would definitely go back to the Club Take 2, and go to a different movie in the same complex. I just wouldn’t take my dinner with me. You can also rent Club Take 2 for private events. It is a nice add-on to the Essex Cinemas, which has a T-Rex theater as well, for 3D movies.

If you love watching movies at a theater, Majestic Ten Cinema is also a good choice. Several great restaurants are within walking distance, and they now have their own little bar/restaurant as well, but alcohol in not allowed in the theaters. I love their stadium seating and the escalator ride up to the lobby.

Whatever your choice of cinema locations, going to the movies is a still a good choice for Date Night. And if you love theaters so much that you have to live near one, contact me about finding a house close to the Essex Cinema or The Majestic Ten.

33 Range Road

Okay… so… living in rural Vermont and owning a 4WD Ford pickup is probably not a bad idea, but I am actually using it as a metaphor for a durable house. Read on…

33 Range Road

This appealing house on a 3.7-acre lot in Underhill was created with a lot of thought given to a rural lifestyle and raising a family. While located within the village limits, its proximity to the country still offers the rural lifestyle many buyers seek.

Here are some reasons why this house demonstrates good solid thinking when building rural.

1. The great outdoors are at your finger tips, yet the location is on a paved town road, a situation that is unique to Underhill.

2. You can actually walk to the town post office, two stores, schools, the town rec area, and a pond. Not a bad thing when you have small children and need to get a couple of errands done or just to go for a walk!

But I digress. Back to the truck. Why is this house Ford tough? Well, there are several features that have kept this 30-year old home looking as fresh as it does.

1. The owner, in designing it, realized he was going to be dealing with mountain weather, so he used T111 for siding. It is durable and to this day still looks new.
2. Landscaping was done with the climate in mind, and shrubs and perennials were all chosen appropriately.
3. The two-car garage is attached and enters on the lower level of the house, helping to keep the dirt out!
4. There is a screened-in porch down on the lower level, with a hot tub just outside of it.
5. The upstairs has a year-round sun-porch to take advantage of the southern exposure.
6. A deck off of the kitchen/dinning area looks out over the yard and towards Mount Mansfield, so you’ll always know if there’s snow in the mountains!
7. Every feature of the house was used to enjoy our four very distinct seasons and to accommodate harsh weather.
8. Separate living spaces. The lower level has a full family room with a made-in-Vermont gas Hearthstone stove and egress through the screened porch to the hot tub and yard. There is a full bath and a bedroom as well as an additional room for woodworking, storage, or a billiard room. Upstairs has a formal living room, dining room, three bedrooms, two baths, a great four-season sun-room, a remodeled kitchen, and a fabulous open deck. So, when the kids are needing space away from the parents (or vice versa), the downstairs level offers plenty of getaway space. Also, it provides privacy for overnight guests.

The owner of this house chose this piece of land because of its location, and they he designed a house that would be well suited to those who understand that “Ford Tough” can be a very excellent thing!

Stay tuned for the next blog featuring the new Essex Cinemas. And if you want to see 33 Range Road, contact me and I’ll arrange a private tour.

We could not have had a more picture-perfect Christmas, at least up here in Underhill, Vermont, at the foot of Mount Mansfield! We received a good six to eight inches of the fluffy white stuff on Christmas Day, and I enjoyed a morning of photographing lots of happy people up at Smugglers’ Notch Ski Resort. Here’s a look at what’s happening at Smuggs over the New Years holiday.

Family Fun

Families and having fun is what Smuggs is all about. Imagine being able to leave your little ones at the Discovery Camp while you go check out the freshies on Doc Dempsey’s Glades, feeling confident the kids will be having as much fun as you. Lunch is provided for them, along with afternoon entertainment. Since two- to four-years-old kids can’t spend all day on the slopes, they will need a break, and The Discovery Camp is well versed in this arena!

Smuggs Village Overview

A quick tour of the Village at Smuggs shows us retail shops, ski rentals and demo shops, restaurants, bars, a game room, lounges, an indoor pool, hot tubs, The Fun Zone, The Teen Center, and a small grocery store offering some of our locally made wines. The super-friendly staff is all decked out to ring in the New Year and holiday!

On the Slopes

My husband is an instructor at Smuggs, where this past weekend they had over 600 skiers from Wayne New Jersey, and all from the same ski club! The standing joke for New Jersey is “What exit?” My husband, a New Jersey native, could relate to these good folks. I have never seen Sir Henry’s tube sliding look busier.

This Week’s Activities

Here are just a few of the things listed for fun this week:

Cross country skiing center opens and back country tours are available
Latin/ Salsa and ballroom dancing lessons
Magic shows
Children’s fun feast
Kids night out
Family karaoke
The Great Race cookie race
Sir Henry’s tube sliding
Fun Zone Jamboree
Snowshoeing night tour
Good time trivia
Skiing and riding!

For up to date information regarding the skiing conditions, check out the No Bull Snow Report.

So get out, enjoy the holiday, go ahead and have some fun. Once you arrive you can park the car and relax, knowing everything will be taken care of.

Happy New Year, everyone, and take care! When you’re ready to move to Vermont and ski every day, contact me!

One of my favorite expressions when I try to describe what life is like in rural Vermont is this: We drive to work, but come home to play.

Recreation Options

By this time of year (December 20, or so) I am generally up for skiing, but sometimes Mother Nature does not bless us with enough snow to go sliding, and that includes downhill skiing, cross-country skiing, and sledding. And if you’re not into sliding, there’s always snowshoeing. But snow will come, it always does, and in the meantime there is always some sort of outside entertainment to be enjoyed!

Little River History Loop

Today there was just a dusting of snow and just enough frozen ground showing to make it perfect for a walk in the woods with my good friend Kate Carter and her two border collies. With Pheobe and Brewster leading the way, Kate and I enjoyed a two-hour hike through Little River State Park, located in Waterbury, Vermont.

Once I start walking or hiking I don’t want to go back inside. I absolutely love being outdoors, no matter what (okay, I don’t like hours in the rain, I admit it). Little River State Park has scenic camping sites overlooking the reservoir, but today I enjoyed a great history lesson as well. The Little River History Loop is a journey through time. The miles of stone walls, cemeteries cellar holes, jeep trails, and orchards give evidence of life one to two hundred years ago!

The walk started uphill and we walked and talked and took pictures with my phone, as neither of us had brought our cameras. The dogs were running around and barking at each other and I kept seeing these little posts with numbers on them that I thought indicated camp sites. I finally commented to Kate that the camp sites looked awfully hilly. She chuckled and told me that they were not camp sites but part of the history walk of Little River, and the numbered posts marked the different family farm plots that made up an active community over one hundred years ago. Well, that made a lot more sense, and gee, perhaps if I had read the signs I could have figured that out myself!

As we came close to the end of our hike we saw this old house and I gave my phone to Kate to take a photo of it (she is, after all, the photographer, and she trained me but she is still better!!). The following is a description of that house, which is one of the family farms that existed long ago:

Almeron Goodell (14 acres)

Almeron Goodell bought this land around 1863. The house frame is made of hewed timers.

Almeron Goodell homestead. Photo by Kate Carter.

Goodell hand-split the original shingles during his evening hours. This is the only farmhouse still standing in the Little River area. All other buildings were destroyed or moved when the land came into public ownership.

On November 3 and 4 of 1927, torrential rains caused local rivers to rise and drove residents to their roofs. A second flood in 1934 spurred the construction of Waterbury Dam. Between 1935 and 1938 the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, constructed Waterbury Reservoir. The CCC camp here was a fully operating, thriving community with more than 80 buildings, and housing 2,000 men at its peak. Now, half a century later, only a few solitary chimneys and concrete foundations remain.

So, today was not only a wonderful hike with a friend, but a history lesson as well! This is a perfect example of what can happen in A Day In The Life in rural Vermont, where we drive to work, but come home to play!

Please contact me if you’d like to move to rural Vermont, where we sure do play a lot!

Both my husband and I are transplants to our lovely state of Vermont, both of us having attended college here (I went to St. Michael’s and my husband, Charlie, went to Johnson State). Both of us decided to stay and make our living here. However, that means we both have families who live out of state!

Road Show

Christmas for our daughter, Shelbe, is about seeing her aunts, uncles, and a multitude of cousins. This translates into what I affectionately call “the road show.” Every year we pack up a big sack of gifts and drive first to my family in Syracuse, NY, and then on Christmas Eve we get back in the car and drive to Bloomfield, NJ, to visit Charlie’s family.

I love my extended family and feel blessed to have them and to spend holidays with them. But really, Christmas in New Jersey instead of Vermont? We live in Underhill, Vermont, and it is very rural, not to mention being situated practically in the mountains. From my kitchen window we look out at the “Chin” of Mt. Mansfield, and I can go cross-country skiing right out my door. I love winter, and Christmas is so pretty with all the decorations reflecting off of the snow and the crisp cold air, but since we have been married we have traveled out of state for Christmas every year.

I’ll Be Home for Christmas

This year we are actually staying home. I can wake up in my own bed, I don’t have to worry if I have remembered everyone’s presents, and we can go skiing at Smugglers’ Notch and see our friends and their families. However, all this is possible this year because Shelbe is spending a semester abroad in Spain and does not return until after New Year’s. So while I am excited about being home in rural Vermont and skiing at Smuggs, there is a caveat…. No Shelbe!

In addition there is hardly any snow! Well, it will come, it always does, and besides, ski resorts are absolutely magical this time of year and offer plenty of other festivities in addition to skiing. It is cold and they are making snow like crazy, so I think we can count on skiing at Christmas. I have pasted links to our local skis areas, so be sure to check out their holiday festivities and the various activities they offer, both inside and outside.

To all my friends, customers, and prospective clients — have a wonderful holiday season from Pleasant Valley Real Estate.

This time of year I generally get a lot of chores done—clear out the house of excess stuff, do a good house cleaning, clean out the garden and put it to bed before winter, paint rooms that need repainting. The list is always long, and every late fall or early spring I attack it with gusto! You know… I get ’er done!

Between the Seasons

I always reserve these types of chores for between seasons, because the rest of the year we put off chore-type activities, as wonderful as they are, to play outside. How can you possibly work on house projects when the weather is beckoning you to come out and play? Well, when November rolled around this year, one of the first things I got done was putting my garden to bed, an easy enough task because the weather was gorgeous, and downright warm!

However, due to the unusually warm and sunny fall, I have had some problems getting all my indoor chores completed. Mind you, I am not complaining. It has been a real fall, not a September and early October fall followed by a gray and dismal pre-winter, but a real and extended fall! As great and enjoyable as this has been, it has kept me from by ability to, well…

Get ’er Done!

It is raining today, so I went to the store and bought some primer so I could finish painting my bathroom. I did manage to sand down the peeling paint areas and clean the walls, but until today, I still found myself wandering outside to do chores, instead of tending to the inside ones that are begging for attention.

How does one get past this dilemma? I have chores that must be done at certain times, like gathering bows for my window boxes and making wreaths for my windows. I repeat, it is raining today, and I am choosing to paint the bathroom!! So, wish me the best! I will take pictures of the finished product and I will GET ’ER DONE! I will do the wreaths over the next couple of days. I promise.

Community Events

When you live out here in Underhill, where there are always fun things to do outside, you have to remember to plan for those “chore days.” We drive to work, but come home to play. Happy Holidays folks, and find sometime to have some fun outside, as there are always those rainy days for chores!

Here are some fun holiday community events to check out:

December 10, 7-9 p.m.

SWEET NOTES: Community dessert and open mic in Jericho, at the Community Center on Brown’s Trace Road, just outside the village green. Desserts are available starting at 7 p.m., Open mic is 7:30-9 p.m. Songs, musicians, story-telling, poetry… anything goes! Some walk-in slots; to reserve a 10 minute slot, call 879-4606 or email lmarkowitz2408@​gmail.com.

Dont forget to check out our local ski areas. Many of them have a few trails open.

Smugglers’ Notch

Stowe Mountain Resort

Sugarbush

The one real estate question I hear almost daily is, “How is the market?” Typically, this time of year the real estate market slows down as everyone prepares for the holidays. In addition, no one wants to move in the winter. However our winters have a tendancy to last awhile, so truth be told, a lot of people move in the winter. Mud season (April)… now that is the time of year I would not want to move.

How is the Market? Well to be brief, it is okay. It is not hopping and it is not crawling; it is simply okay. Things take longer to sell, there is more to choose from, and interest rates are LOW!! So, why wouldn’t buyers be out in the market right now?

Pricing

Homes that are selling vary in price range, as they always do, but predominantly the price range that is moving best right now is the mid range of $225,000 to $350,000, out in the eastern edge of Chittenden County. A spattering of high-end homes are also selling, but the condition, location, and the home’s appearance matter most.

Going Green

Another factor to consider is the “green gereration.” In other words, people who are looking for a home owner’s commitment or investment in environmental factors and efficiency.

Pick of the Week

Here is my pick of the week for “Home Efficiency Improvements and Upgrades.”

15 Ridge Road, Jericho, Vermont

This home, listed in a great Jericho neighborhood at the height of the cul de sac, has had $137,000 in upgrades, including high-end five-star energy rated appliances, PaperStone counter tops made of recycled paper, Argon Low E windows, slate floors with radiant heat, southeast to southwest exposure for full advantage of the solar effect, and really gorgeous views from Mansfield to Camel’s Hump (a small aside!). In addition, the kitchen appliances, all stainless steel, include a 48-inch Liebbher side-by-side refrigerator/ freezer, a Viking cook top with down draft, Kitchen Aide double-wall convection oven and dishwasher, and a stainless steel sink and trash compactor. All are located around a seven-person island. Meals have never been so pleasurable, and with such stunning views!

This home falls in the under-$350,000 price range and will steal someone’s heart, especially if that person is interested in those environmental and appeal factors!

Environmental Awareness

People are becoming more and more concerned about the enviroment. A shorter commute is desirable and a community feel is also important. When I grew up (back when dinosaurs roamed the earth), I lived on a cul de sac in a neighborhood and our mothers were always kicking us outside to play with the other kids whose mothers kicked them outside. When you came home from school there were other kids to play with. So, if you are looking to relocate your family to a home with a good school system, neighborhood, and recent home upgrades (with not just energy effiency in mind but great style as well) go to my Jericho page and compare this home with others you have seen.

Here’s another feature to this week’s pick – in addition to the great views, the property backs up to 60 acres of undeveloped land, with access to numerous trails. It’s a short commute to Essex and Williston, and about 4 to 5 miles from the Interstate for shorter commutes to the greater Burlington area or the Waterbury/Stowe direction. It’s located in the Chittenden East Shool District.

So, back to the question, “How is the market?” It is okay, but what is great is that  phenomenal homes can be bought at great values.

Come back next week for my next “Pick of the Week” house! And please feel free to contact me for a tour of this week’s “Pick of the Week” house at 15 Ridge Road, Jericho, Vermont.