Here Comes Audi FIS Alpine Ski World Cup 2019!

November 4th, 2019 by Corey A. Edwards

Audi FIS Alpine Ski World Cup 2019Thanksgiving weekend is just weeks away and that means … Alpine Ski World Cup 2019 time! What, you thought I was going to say turkey? Don’t get me wrong, I love Thanksgiving, but it’s not 100 of skiing’s fastest female athletes racing slalom and giant slalom on Killington’s Superstar trail!

The entire Ski World Cup weekend is like a giant party with fireworks, parades, and more. That includes free concerts from DJ Logic, Grace Potter, Recycled Percussion, and Twiddle. It also includes the premier of two full-length films: TGR’s Winterland and Warren Miller’s Timeless!

The Killington Cup is the East Coast’s biggest ski racing event and general admission is FREE. Since the 2016 return of Alpine Ski World Cup racing to Vermont, the events have seen ever-increasing attendance. Last year’s race drew a record breaking 39,000 spectators! This year’s event is expected to be just as popular, and naturally so. Where else can you have this much fun, in such a beautiful place, and also see 100 of the world’s fastest skiers fighting for fame on the slopes?

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Northern Stage, Lebanon Opera House, and Weston Playhouse

October 28th, 2019 by Corey A. Edwards

Northern Stage curtainThere’s nothing like a little live entertainment to put some zing in your life. Our Woodstock VT inn has some excellent venues within easy reach. Both The Northern Stage and Lebanon Opera House leap immediately to mind. Both of which are within 30 minutes of Deer Brook Inn.

That’s one of the great things about much of Vermont. No matter where you go in our fair state, you’re bound to have both natural beauty and rich culture within reach. That’s certainly true of the Woodstock area. Quechee Gorge and Simon Pearce, Silver Lake State Park and Saint-Gaudens, the list goes on and on.

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Experience a Quechee Hot Air Balloon Adventure!

October 18th, 2019 by Corey A. Edwards

Quechee Hot Air Balloon RidesThere’s nothing quite like the beauty of Vermont’s Woodstock region during autumn, especially when seen from above on a Quechee hot air balloon ride! If you’re an unrepentant leaf-peeper, you’ll adore this new and expansive perspective on Vermont’s fantastic fall foliage.

There’s nothing like a ride aboard a hot air balloon. Floating high and silently like a cloud over the peaceful world below. If you’ve been, then you know what I’m talking about. If you haven’t, well – you really really should!

The serene, gentle beauty of a hot air balloon voyage is the real secret to its appeal. Planes are noisy, with air rushing past the fuselage and the sound of the engine. Hot air balloons make the occasional noise when the burner is activated but otherwise it’s just you and the clouds.

Also, most planes have enclosed and claustrophobic passenger compartments fully separating you from what what little view you have of the landscape below. Not so during a hot air balloon ride! A balloon’s passenger compartment is a large, sturdy basket suspended below the balloon and open to the air. It’s just you and nothing but a few ropes to get in the way of those eye-popping, expansive views.

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Autumn Events in Woodstock, VT

September 27th, 2019 by Corey A. Edwards

Fall events in Woodstock VTBetween the harvest season, Oktoberfest, and Halloween, early autumn always sees a lot of events in Woodstock, VT. If you’re looking to soak up some fun, local color during your Vermont vacation, fall is a great season to do it in!

Summer is officially over and autumn’s golden paintbrush is busy doing its best to further enhance Vermont’s already gorgeous scenery. The first half of October is peak fall foliage time here in the Woodstock area. Add in local harvest festivals, Oktoberfest, and Halloween and you can see why some say fall is one of the best times to visit Vermont!

Fall Events in Woodstock, VT

VINS Forest Canopy Walk – Grand Opening
October 12, 10am-5pm

Take a walk through the treetops of a wild forest at the Vermont Institute of Natural Science. There’s no need for ladders or stairs. Just walk along the level boardwalk as the ground drops away beneath you and suddenly you’re 65 feet up in the forest canopy, eye-to-eye with birds, squirrels, and more! Celebrate this brand new exhibit’s inaugural day. Ribbon Cutting Ceremony at 10am.

Annual Billings Farm & Museum Harvest Festival
Oct 12-13, 10am to 5pm

Head out to historic Billings Farm for a traditional Vermont harvest celebration! Come experience a husking bee and barn dance with cider pressing, root vegetable harvesting, “putting food by” and more. Hot spiced cider and doughnuts, too! Read more.

Oktoberfast Weekend at Suicide Six Bike Park
October 12-13, All Day

Oktoberfast Weekend is Suicide Six’s way of closing out their biking season. The event includes a Downhill FUN Race on Saturday, an Enduro Event with 5 timed sections on Sunday, plus an award ceremony with food and drink both days. Learn more.

Life & Death Tour at Billings Farm & Museum
October 26, 2pm-4pm, 5pm-7pm | October 31, 2pm-4pm

on a Billings Farm Life & Death Tour! Billings Farm tour guides will share tales of the people who lived and died on the historic farm and estate. You’ll also learn about Victorian-era superstitions, death, and mourning traditions through artifacts and stories. Have a spooky good time and learn something along the way! Reservations recommended.

Just Outside Woodstock

Vermont Apple Festival and Craft Show 201937th Annual Vermont Apple Festival and Craft Show
October 12, 9am-4pm

Though the Vermont Apple Fest and Craft Show is held in Springfield, not Woodstock, it’s not that far from our Woodstock VT inn. Artisans from all over Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania come with their finest handcrafted items. The festival features live music, pony rides, apple cider making, kids’ races, 50/50 Raffle, a pie baking contest, pie eating contest, and much more.

Still looking for something to do? Make your own fun with a Covered Bridges/Fall Foliage tour!

Fall Foliage Driving Tours

Vermont covered bridges fall foliage drivesOne great way to get out and see the Woodstock area’s amazing fall colors is on a covered bridges driving tour.

Vermont is known for its covered bridges and Deer Brook Inn, our Woodstock VT bed and breakfast, is surrounded by them. There are seven in the immediate area, including two right here in town. Consequently, Deer Brook Inn makes the perfect home base for any Vermont covered bridges or fall foliage tours.

Read more about touring covered bridges in the Woodstock, VT area. If you’re interested in our Vermont inn’s List of Favorite Driving Tours, be sure to check with the Innkeeper.

Woodstock Country Club Tournament of Champions 2019

September 13th, 2019 by Corey A. Edwards

Woodstock Country Club Tournament of Champions 2019Woodstock Country Club is hosting the seventh annual Zack’s Place Tournament of Champions, September 27th, 2019. The event includes a wine-tasting with hors d’oeuvres, live entertainment, a helicopter golf ball drop, and both a silent and live auction!

If you love a good game of golf, wine, a chance to win some money, and an opportunity to do some good, you do not want to miss the upcoming Zack’s Place Tournament of Champions in Woodstock, VT.

The tournament’s main goal is to raise funds and awareness for Zack’s Place, a local organization dedicated to the empowerment of special-needs people of all ages.

Zack’s Place was founded in 2006 by the parents of Zack Frates, who was a teenager with Cerebral Palsy. Zack died in 2011 but the center lives on in his memory, serving many in the local community. The annual Tournament of Champions is a major fund raiser for the center.

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Mount Ascutney State Park – Views, Trails, and More

August 26th, 2019 by Corey A. Edwards

Mount Ascutney, located southeast of us on the New Hampshire border, is a lone mountain rising up out of nowhere to a surprising peak of 3,144 feet. Views near the summit of this, the second-highest peak in Windsor County, are expansive, breathtaking … and reachable by paved road!

Views from Mount Ascutney State Park

This work, “Views from Mount Ascutney”, is a derivative of two “Mount Ascutney – Vermont” photos by Doug Kerr, used under CC BY SA 2.0

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Plymouth Folk and Blues Festival 2019

August 13th, 2019 by Corey A. Edwards

Plymouth Folk and Blues Festival 2019Come out for Plymouth Folk and Blues Festival 2019! The Labor Day weekend festival features both regional and nationally known musicians at the Calvin Coolidge State Historic Site in Plymouth, VT. August 31st and September 1st, 2019.

Plymouth Folk and Blues Festival is a free, Labor Day weekend celebration of American roots music. This year’s lineup includes such nationally known stars as Dan Weber, Jay Psaros, and The Whispering Tree. You’ll also be treated to regional favorites like The Milkhouse Heaters, Zack Dupont, and The Kennedys.

The festival is spread over two days, with a Saturday night Jam session hosted by Jay Ottaway at its center. This Jam Session is easily the festival highlight as anyone with an instrument and some inspiration can join. You never know who will appear on stage – maybe even you!

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Explore the Hall Art Foundation in Reading Vermont

July 29th, 2019 by Corey A. Edwards

Hall Art FoundationThe Hall Art Foundation operates two internationally known museums of postwar and contemporary art. The first is located in an ancient fortified castle in Germany. The second? It’s just 30 minutes away from our Woodstock VT bed and breakfast, on a former dairy farm in Reading Vermont.

The Hall Art Foundation (HAF) exhibits art from the collection of Andrew and Christine Hall. The foundation was established in 2007 for this very purpose, with a museum in the historic Schloss Durneberg castle in Hannover, Germany. The Foundation has partnerships with the
Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, England and Mass MoCA in North Adams, MA.

More exciting, however, was the 2012 opening of another HAF gallery right here in Vermont. And just a short drive away from Woodstock!

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Discover Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site

July 12th, 2019 by Corey A. Edwards

Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site

“Robert Gould Shaw Memorial detail” by Jarek Tuszyński is licensed under CC-BY-SA-3.0

Augustus Saint-Gaudens created some of America’s most iconic and quintessentially American sculptures. The Shaw Memorial, the Sherman Monument, the Double Eagle $20 gold piece, Standing Lincoln, and more. Come see his work and home up close and in detail at Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site.

Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site, in Cornish, is New Hampshire’s only national park – and also one of the country’s least-visited.

This fact is both a real shame and also a bit of a plus.

It’s a shame because many of the pieces Saint-Gaudens created during his lifetime are on display in the park. On the other hand, lower attendance means a more pleasant, less crowded visit!

So Close By

Saint-Gaudens’ is located in Cornish, NH – just a half hour’s drive from our Woodstock VT bed and breakfast, Deer Brook Inn.

The drive is a lovely one, too. It takes you through Windsor, VT and one of the world’s longest covered bridges: the Cornish–Windsor Covered Bridge.

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The Best Places To Eat in Woodstock VT

June 24th, 2019 by Corey A. Edwards

Best Places To Eat in Woodstock VTOur guests often ask us about places to eat in Woodstock VT. Luckily, the Woodstock area is home to a number of truly excellent restaurants.

Many of the best focus on locally and sustainably-sourced, seasonal, farm-to-table fare. This careful attention to detail helps to provides not just fresh food but a true taste of the region.

Instead of putting together a full list of all the places to eat in Woodstock VT, we decided to focus on some of our and our guests’ local favorites.

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