What To Explore

You walk into an airport, a hotel room, or a cafe, and what’s one of the first things we look for? Power outlets! How many times have you been to a hotel and struggled to find enough outlets for you and your family to charge all of their electronic gear?

And then there is that moment where you check in and you realize you forgot to bring your charging cables or your USB wall adapter!

When we were creating Whispering Pines Lodge, we thought about that and wanted to make sure our guests never had any of those worries.

Mission Possible: A Memorable Family Thanksgiving

When I think about Thanksgiving, I have conflicting emotions.

On one hand there are the warm feelings about family getting together cooking tons of great food, hanging around the fireplace, and watching movies movies or the big Thanksgiving football games. In addition, growing up, Thanksgiving always meant traveling (normally camping). We’d pack up as a family and head to some campground and enjoy the crisp air and nature.

On the other side, there is the stress of Thanksgiving. Hosting all of the family. Thinking about all of the logistics around cooking. Dealing with all of the unique food allergies or preferences that family members have. (I remember when I was a vegetarian my mom being completely stressed out about how to cook a Thanksgiving meal I’d enjoy). Ensuring that everyone has something to keep them busy and happy (goodness only knows how a bored child or teen can ruin the day). And then having to worry about cleaning everything up after.

The question is how can you have all those positive experiences and minimize the stress? If you are planning a family trip up to the Manchester/Stratton area, here are four tips to make your family vacation a dream.

The recent release of A Star Is Born with Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper wasn't just a re-make, it was a re-re-re-make with previous versions starring Janet Gaynor and Fredric March (1937), Judy Garland and James Mason (1954), and Barbara Streisand and Kris Kristopherson (1976). And just like the latest version was recognized with multiple Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Best Actor in a Leading Role, and Best Actress in a Leading Role, did you know that both the 1954 and 1937 versions were also nominated for the same awards?

When I read Ready Player One by Ernest Cline, I felt like I was thrown back to my youth. As a child of the 80’s I grew up playing video games. On my Atari. My ColecoVision. My Commodore 64. And, of course, at the video arcade.

So the references in the book to Zork, Pac-Man, Tempest, Adventure, and, of course, Joust (which plays a big part in the book), took me back to my childhood. 

I certainly was never a Parzival, but I loved playing Spy Hunter, Zaxxon, Gauntlet (how many times did I hear “Wizard needs food, badly!”), Cyberball 2072, Dragon’s Lair (though I am not sure I ever made it more than a few screens in before dying), and Star Wars. And of course, there were the classics: Pac-Man, Asteroids, Defender, Dig Dug, and on and on.

When we were thinking about how to furnish Whispering Pines Lodge, we wanted something that felt true to the rustic Vermont experience. We weren’t looking for something modern or avant garde. We wanted something that channelled the ski lodge spirit. And that meant wood furniture.

But we were immediately faced with a bunch of choices about how to furnish the house responsibly with sustainable wood. What type of wood should we use? How do we know that the harvesting practices are sustainable? How do we make sure we are buying as locally as possible to support local Vermonters?

Last year, I booked an amazing Airbnb for my family at one of my favorite ski mountains. Ahead of the trip, we kept looking at the weather and saw it was going to be cold (below freezing) and snowy. Perfect skiing, sledding, outdoor frolicking weather.

This was going to be our first trip up to the mountain in our new electric vehicle. I'd researched online ahead of time and while the nearest Supercharger was over an hour away, there were several destination chargers nearby. So, I figured everything would be ok.

We've all done it.  We plan our dream family vacation -- up to the mountains or down to the beach -- and we imagine all of the outdoor fun. And then Mother Nature intervenes.  And we are sitting in the house wondering how to keep everyone occupied.

At Whispering Pines Lodge, we've got you covered.  Step into our decked out heated playroom for all ages. We dare hard core competitors to start up a tournament. Whether your chosen equipment is a cue, paddle or tile, we hope you have a laughing-good time!  Take a look at this list: 

When we set out to build Whispering Pines Lodge, we knew that one of the things we wanted was to build a dream library.

A place where someone could just sit in a chair with their coffee and get lost in a book for hours. Maybe rediscovering one of their favorites from the past. Or maybe finding some brand new world to explore.

We knew that we wanted the library to be for the whole family: kids, teens, and adults and cater to a broad range of tastes.