Simon Pearce’s flagship store in Quechee, VT boasts a magical setting. The restored mill overlooking the Quechee Covered Bridge from the Ottauquechee River falls offers a showroom, glassblowing demonstrations, and a renowned bar and restaurant.
In our last post, we detailed a driving tour of covered bridges near our Woodstock area B&B. In the post, we mentioned visiting The Mill at Simon Pearce, which is directly adjacent to the Quechee Covered Bridge.
Now, you’re likely familiar Simon Pearce stores. They dot the east coast with offerings of stylish glassware and home decor, all handcrafted by American artisans. If not, Simon Pearce is an Irish-American artisan and entrepreneur who learned his trade in Kilkenny, Ireland. After running a highly successful glass business in Ireland, he relocated to the United States in the late 1970’s and established the Simon Pearce company.
Vermont is known for its covered bridges, boasting more than 100 of them, big and small. The Woodstock area is no exception. Consequently, it’s very easy to plan out and enjoy a covered bridges driving tour with our Woodstock B&B as your home base!
The covered bridges of Vermont are picturesque and often historic masterpieces of Yankee ingenuity. Their beauty naturally draws the eye – and the curious! Getting out on a covered bridges driving tour in Vermont is a wonderful way to spend the day and, in many parts of the state, incredibly easy, too.
Woodstock, VT is not only surrounded by covered bridges, we even have a couple right here in town! As a result, we’ve created a list of covered bridges within an hour of our Vermont B&B. A list that includes the longest two-span covered bridge in the world: the Windsor-Cornish Bridge!
Woodstock, VT’s F. H. Gillingham & Sons celebrates their 131st anniversary this year. This makes them one of Vermont’s oldest general stores still under management by the same family! Take a step back in time with a visit to this wonderful, historic store!
Vermont is lucky in that it has a number of contenders for “oldest general store in Vermont,” many still managed by descendants of the original owner. That’s certainly the case here in Woodstock. F. H. Gillingham & Sons has been operating downtown since it opened in 1886! The family that started the business still owns it. Best of all, the store still retains much of its late 19th/early 20th century feel.
F. H. Gillingham & Sons is located in its original building at 16 Elm Street, here in Woodstock, VT. The business is part general store, part history museum. Entering the store is like stepping back in time, complete with creaking, wooden floorboards worn smooth and dark by over 100 years of customers and clerks.
Sugarbush Farm, in Woodstock, VT, is famous for its delicious, locally made cheeses, maple syrup, preserves, and more. Come take a tour and enjoy samples of their farm-fresh fare!
Last post we discussed maple sugaring time and the Maple Madness event that takes place in Woodstock near the end of March. Another great way to celebrate spring’s sweet harvest is with a visit to a family farm known for its pure Vermont maple syrup?
Sugarbush Farm is a 550-acre, fourth-generation family farm located right here in Woodstock, VT. The farm has been run by the same family since 1945. In 1995, they were honored by the American Cheese Society with a blue ribbon for the best smoked cheese in the country.
It’s maple sugaring time! Come celebrate everything maple in Woodstock, VT during the annual Maple Madness event. March 25th and 26th, 2017.
Vermont’s maple sugaring season typically runs from late February to April. Soon the days will begin to warm and the sap of the sugar maples will begin to flow. Sugaring time!
Once that sap begins to run, it slowly drips out of the taps that have been driven into the trunks of sugar maple trees. Out of the taps the sap flows, down into the buckets that hang so patiently from the taps. The buckets are regularly checked by their sugarmakers and, when they’ve gathered enough sap, collected and taken to a sugarhouse.
At the sugarhouse, this sap is cooked down, creating a lot of steam that rolls out of the houses. Consequently, the air of the countryside around a sugarhouse is laden with the delicious smell of pure, Vermont maple syrup! Heavenly.
Woodstock, Vermont has not been left out the craft beer craze that has swept the nation over the last ten years. In fact, there are a number of craft beer breweries near Woodstock, enough to create your own craft beer trail!
Quaint shops, great restaurants, and attractions like Billings Farm and the Simon Pearce glassworks make Woodstock a quintessential New England town. The lovely scenery alone makes us the ideal getaway for those looking for a respite from the hustle and bustle of the modern world.
Perhaps best of all, at least for the craft beer enthusiast, there are a number of great beer stores and breweries near Woodstock. Enough for a weekend’s diversion as you follow along on your own Vermont Craft Beer Trail!
Come see what’s in store for the 2017 season on the Northern Stage At The Barrette Center for the Arts in White River Junction, VT!
We’re very lucky to be in such a beautiful part of Vermont. There’s always so much to do and see in the the Woodstock area, no matter the time of year. Skiing, hiking, shopping, dining, sight-seeing, and more are at your fingertips when you visit.
One attraction that’s been drawing crowds to the area is the Northern Stage at The Barrette Center for the Arts in White River Junction. The new facility opened in October, 2015 and the 2016/2017 season marks the company’s 20th anniversary.
If you’ve not had an opportunity to see their new digs or are just a fan of excellent stage productions, you owe it to yourself to check them out.
Celebrate Vermont’s rural heritage and step back in time to a 19th century Christmas at Billings Farm & Museum. December weekends and December 24th through January 1st, 2017.
Christmas at Billings Farm & Museum demonstrates how our winter holidays were celebrated in the rural communities of the 1800’s.
What many people today may not realize is that the United States did not universally celebrate Christmas until well into the 1800’s. Our country’s Puritan background had many feeling that such overt celebration was simply unchristian.
Christmas celebrations of the 1800’s were much simpler than they are now, even after the day was declared a federal holiday.
Families celebrated with a few gifts and a gathering for a special meal but that was about it. There was too much to do each day that could not wait for a full day of eating, presents, and lounging about.
The Woodstock History Center will play an active role during the upcoming Wassail Weekend – but visitors to the area should stop by the center no matter what time of year!
Woodstock, Vermont has a colorful and fascinating history and you can discover it in depth at the Woodstock History Center. The Woodstock History Center includes the Dana House Museum, a research library, a photograph/document archive, and an heirloom perennial garden.
A visit to the Woodstock History Center museum will take you back in time when you step through the front door. The first floor replicates the home of a nineteenth-century village merchant. You’ll marvel at the kitchen’s original bee-hive oven and the furnishings in the Victorian and Federal-style parlors.
Come out to Woodstock, Vermont and help celebrate the Woodstock Wassail Weekend 2016! December 9th through the 11th, 2016!
Woodstock Wassail Weekend 2016 is a holiday tradition that sees town come to life with festive holiday events and attractions the second weekend of every December. The weekend’s nonstop schedule includes a parade, concerts, craft fairs, holiday house tour, and much more.
Woodstock’s old-world charm is undeniable, no matter the season. Being in Woodstock for the holidays, however, takes the town’s delightful ambiance to new heights – and that’s the Woodstock Wassail Weekend to a ‘t’!
The weekend has plenty to keep you entertained morning, noon, and night. The highlight, htough, has to be the Equestrian Parade, put together by the High Horses Therapeutic Riding Program. More than fifty horses and riders, dressed up in 19th century period clothing, make up the core of this wonderful parade. Also known as the Wassail Parade, this annual event begins after lunch on Saturday and runs all through downtown Woodstock.
Simon Pearce’s flagship store in Quechee, VT boasts a magical setting. The restored mill overlooking the Quechee Covered Bridge from the Ottauquechee River falls offers a showroom, glassblowing demonstrations, and a renowned bar and restaurant.
