The official Maple Open House Weekend is over, but there's no reason not to create your own maple weekend in Vermont.
We have plenty of sugar houses open to visitors throughout the season, some throughout the year. They offer education, tastings, treats for sale, and often offer their own special events like sugar on snow parties, pancake breakfasts, and a chance to help with the syrup making. You can check them out at the DigInVT Maple Syrup page. We've developed these listings with help from our partner, the Vermont Maple Sugar Makers Association.
The Vermont Department of Tourism, another DigInVT partner, has also developed their own recommended maple vacation packages for weekends away (or close to home) available from their website.
And, of course, our maple-related blog entries give some ideas of how to use the syrup that you acquire while you explore.
Vermont's Inn and B&B's can be both a place to stay and a resource for exploring maple and other Vermont foods. Our Places Page lists establishments with a particular interest in Vermont food. One Bed and Breakfast in Chester, VT, Inn Victoria, shares below how they partned with Mitch's Maple Sugar House to create a maple syrup experience for their guests:
Spring is just around the corner in New England, which means it’s sugaring season here in Vermont! Just minutes away from Inn Victoria you will find Mitch’s Maple Sugar House, where you can enjoy some of the best, pure Vermont maple products including Maple Syrup and Maple Cream!
A great deal of time and passion goes into this sugar house, dating back to 1945 Mitch’s Maples is owned and operated by Mark Mitchell. Our innkeeper, Jessica has been going here her whole life, growing up right down the road. Mark’s father Don would let her taste test the fresh, hot syrup right when it was being made, and you can come do the same! The Mitchell's run sugar-house tours all season, where you can see smell & taste the boiling sap. This is a "can’t miss" opportunity while staying at Inn Victoria in the spring. You can come learn about the different grades, where it comes from and how maple syrup is made from sap to syrup. Then taste it yourself the next morning at breakfast, you can't beat it! Don't go home without some of Mark's famous Maple Cream either!
We use Mitch's maple syrup for a variety of things, from our Crème Brule French toast, to whipped pancakes to our famous maple-nut granola! Thank you Mark for your continued business with Inn Victoria.
Penny and Dan Cote
Owners of Inn Victoria, Chester, Vermont
Written by Jessica Knisley, Innkeeper
This post originally appeared at: http://blog.innvictoria.com/
These are some starting ideas - you can create your own maple adventure by saving new ideas to a My Places folder! And, of course, start planning ahead for Maple Open House 2015!
